#basically. it's VERY good but it's not a 3d game. keep that in mind

[blueskittlesart]

without dropping anything super specific what do you think of EoW's story? in particular i'm kinda worried over if they made Zelda basically replaceable with any other silent protag and i'm holding back on getting the game if that's the case...

I think they handled a playable zelda incredibly well actually! In particular I was impressed that although she is a silent protagonist, she is NOT link, and the game takes care to remind you of that in everything from dialog to physical gameplay. Though she does technically have the ability to wield link's sword, in practice it's almost always more practical to use echoes, her own unique form of gameplay, to get through combat instead, which is a good reminder to the player that this isn't link's story, and we're not going to be able to beat it link's way. You're required to be ZELDA and think like zelda, utilizing mechanics unique to her, in order to progress through the story, and those mechanics emphasize creative problem-solving in a way that clearly envokes her core trait of wisdom. so in that regard i'd say she's definitely a unique protagonist and I never felt like she could have been replaced with someone else! (mild spoilery note: in the final battle you do actually have link fighting alongside you, and because of that, your sword ability is removed entirely, meaning you HAVE to end the game on zelda's terms, with zelda's abilities, which I thought was a nice touch.)

In terms of actual story, it's honestly a fairly classic zelda formula, but the twists and turns were well-written and kept me VERY engaged throughout. The act of searching for link felt different not because chasing after a captured friend is uncommon in a loz game, but because HE was different. The things you learn about link and how he ended up in this story compel you to keep searching for him in a way that you almost... don't need when you're link chasing zelda, because OF COURSE the hero is going to go after the princess. but this game had to engineer a situation in which the PRINCESS wanted to go after the HERO, and a hero she'd never met before at that. and that to me is what made the story interesting.

I will say, don't go into this game expecting it to have the same amount of story as a 3d installment like botw or totk. this is a topdown classic-style game, and it treats itself like one. the story is good, but it's not pushing the boundaries of the genre or anything. eow is a game that knows what it is and what it wants to do, and it does it exceptionally well. I think where the game really shines is in the implied narrative of the worldbuilding--pieces of personal memorabilia in characters' houses, little hints of the past and references to previous games in map design and details that allow you as the player to theorize and put together the less overt pieces of the story on your own. this has always been one of the things that I personally really enjoy about zelda games, so I absolutely LOVE how much detail is left for the player to find in eow if they're paying attention.

[sunshine-jesse]

The Incest End is Not The Bad End, Part 3: The Only End I Know For Real

Alt title: We're roleplaying the endings, not choosing them.

I've focused a lot before on how sickly sweet the chemistry between Ashley and Andrew is and how unproblematic their relationship would actually be under different circumstances, mostly societal ones. I mostly did so to counter the idea that the incest end was primarily a bad end and bring up the assertion that it was the one with the most hope. In doing so, I basically interpreted all of the text within the game in a very positive light, giving off the impression that I think it'll be all sunshine and roses. The reality couldn't be further from the truth? While I think it's the end with the most hope, I ALSO think it'll be incredibly difficult for everyone involved.

As a matter of fact, I think the Questionable end will be the most difficult one to navigate through for Ashley herself.

"But wait," you say, alarm bells ringing in your head, "doesn't she literally fucking die in the Decay ending?"

And I don't think it's that obvious.

First off, why do I think the Questionable end will be difficult to navigate through? After all, Andrew is calm, collected, and Ashley is just a little bit nervous about how he's changing. She also has that ultimate leverage over him, knowing that he's sexually attracted to her and she can use it to keep him by her side. There's little for anyone to worry about, right? Well, no. Not really. As another analyst has pointed out, in the Questionable ending, Ashley has no OTHER leverage over Andrew.

The trinket? Shown to be only situationally useful to them. The future visions don't always show danger, sometimes the demon can just troll them. Sleep? No, he no longer needs Ashley for that. A scapegoat? Not even that. In the Burial ending, he starts to take responsibility for the violence he inflicts on others and has no need to pin the blame on Ashley.

Outside of sex, Ashley is more or less useless to him now, at least in her own mind. Truthfully, Ashley is still the most important person in the world to Andrew and doesn't seem to need a reason to keep her around anymore, but Ashley doesn't realize that; it's part of why she's so confused and uncertain. Their dynamic is changing, and she doesn't like it. But in the Questionable ending, all Andrew has to do is not have sex with Ashley (easier said than done if the fanbase [myself] is any indication) and she'll have nothing left. She'll likely have no other choice but to look inward at this point, especially if Andrew doesn't give off any of the usual red flags that make her think he'd leave her.

There's a good chance at this point that their dynamic will flip entirely. Ashley will be the one who needs comfort, and Andrew shows every indication of being emotionally stable enough to provide it. We'll see some Real Mental Illness instead of Possible To Infer But Maybe Problematic To Do So Mental Illness. Whether or not she changes for the better or worse will likely determine the ending we'll get.

…

Except probably not.

Sane vs Questionable can't be THAT different, or we'd be getting 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D instead of 3A and 3B. And, y'know what? Now I'm gonna start reaching really hard into theory territory rather than just analysis. So, hear me out here.

Both dreams are canon no matter the ending. The only difference is whether or not Andrew sleeps or not; if he does, the vision he gets is for HIM, and Ashley only incidentally sees it. It's much more important to him than to Ashley, because Ashley doesn't get a clear vision like she did in the motel. If them fucking was actually relevant to Ashley, she likely would've seen it no matter the ending. Her reactions reflect this; at first, she appears weirded out, maybe uncomfortable. Then she finds it hilarious. She considers it as a means of manipulation, sure, but the writing is on the wall: She won't NEED to do so no matter what.

Unfortunately, due to her not being able to open both doors, she won't be able to realize this. Oops!

At this point in time it's basically impossible to ascertain what her own personal vision means. I've given my interpretation before, but I ultimately have my doubts that the specific sequence of events is all to relevant. Most weird dream metaphors are clear parallels to past events, but the dream seems to be a metaphor for what the future will hold. The most relevant part is not the ghosts, but instead how Ashley reacts to what is clearly Andrew's soul. She jokes about trapping it in the bottle, but it being as a joke more than anything is a far cry from how desperate her attempts to keep him normally seem. So what gives? What does this mean?

I think, funnily enough, the Decay ending holds the answer.

My most-distanced-from-a-literal-or-metaphorical-reading-of-the-text-but-is-relatively-easy-to-accept theory is that the choices we are given in the game aren't asking us what we want to see from them, but rather, how we see the characters and their relationship. People are distracted by the idea of choice, but the reality is that we're being asked to roleplay (this is an RPG after all) as the siblings and do what we expect them to do. This isn't about choice. This is about BEING them and DOING WHAT WE THINK THEY'D DO.

Here's what I mean.

If we interpret Ashley as having trust in Andrew and his judgment, then it makes perfect sense she'd trust him with her parents. She might be a little worried, but it's pretty clear that her overwhelming desire to keep Andrew by her side is underscored by genuine love and trust. From there, if we interpret Andrew as having genuine love for his sister and a desire to take care of her, then it becomes everyone else's problem that they can't be together; not his. In killing their parents, he comes to terms with this and self-actualizes. He's willing to take responsibility for the violence he inflicts on others and has no discomfort with dismembering them.

But if you interpret Andrew as viewing Ashley as a burden and a problem, he can't bring himself to save their parents and have a better life because he views himself as too far gone. He hates himself as much as Ashley hates herself for being unable to break free from her influence. He still feels like she's his responsibility, but the love that exists there is greatly muted and overshadowed by his sense of responsibility and a carnal, physical desire for her. Knowing this is likely part of the reason he hates himself; part of the reason he can't let go.

He, crucially, also squanders Ashley's genuine display of trust. It's HIS fault that things break apart, which is why the skull appears over his head when you accept the mom's offer. Ashley genuinely, seriously loves Andrew and wants what's best for him. She's posessive, but her care is a lot less selfish than Andrew thinks, and he can't see that because he's too blinded by his hatred and (partially sexual) frustration to see who she really is.

On the other side of things, if you view Ashley as being a primarily toxic influence that views Andrew as more of an object than anything, she doesn't trust Andrew to deal with their parents and it's HER fault that things break apart, as the skull appears over her head. She sees him as an object, as a child or toy. She sees him as Andy, not Andrew, and can't process the fact that he can change. It's very overbearingly maternalistic, and I believe this specific choice is the only one where Ashley is actually more like their mother than Andrew, eye colors be damned.

In Burial, she wants to share the vision with Andrew, and he wants to share it with her, because their feelings are genuine and mutual and they want to share the experience (because they might get two visions from it, sure, but the principle isn't that much different) But in Decay, she keeps it to herself. She doesn't trust him or his input, either because she doesn't view his feelings as important or because he either almost squandered her trust (if she was listening in), or because he was generally hostile and disincentivized her from wanting to share.

There are other examples too, like when we're allowed to control Andrew to kill the hitman. If we view him as unprepared or unwilling to kill, we empty the whole clip because he's nervous and doesn't want to do this. If we view him as prepared, calm, and in control, he kills in one clean shot without much of an issue. Washing the [REDACTED] out of the shower drain? We basically get to see if Ashley is actually all that competent at housework or not, and if we don't know the right order, neither does she.

This comes to a head in both of the endings.

In the Questionable ending, we're shown that Andrew slept through the dream. We see what he really wants and the depths of his true feelings. He has very obvious romantic feelings for Ashley, and it's not just physical desire. Ashley's very obviously obsessed with Andrew still, but the fact that he can be present in every painting shows that she ACTUALLY views him that way. She's not just seeking validation; her feelings are real, and she knows it.

Remember, this dream is SHARED. We are seeing how BOTH of them feel.

In the Sane ending, Andrew isn't present, and Ashley is never given a chance to view their relationship as anything other than platonic. We don't know how Andrew feels, and we're arguably never given a view into Ashley's true feelings either, because that would-be revelation is cut off by a vision (indicated by eyes). We're just shown what she should do, needs to do, or will do.

Because we don't view their relationship as romantic, light is never shone on the reality of their dynamic. We never see how obsessed Ashley really is (if anything, we're being misdirected by being shown the opposite), and we never see that Andrew has romantic- if buried- feelings for Ashley that can't just be passed off as carnal physical desire. But since it's still the Burial ending, the dynamic still clearly exists; the endings would be too different otherwise. We CHOSE how we see their dynamic in the basement scene.

In other words…

Without love, the truth cannot be seen.

Reader who is in the know: "…hey wait a fuckin' minute" Me: "MOVING ON"

At some point- probably early on- the Sane and Questionable endings have to converge. Andrew and Ashley will have to have the nature of their dynamic laid out for them in a way they can't deny, and the likely only difference between Sane and Questionable will be whether or not Andrew is surprised/embarrassed, or just goes "I guess that dickhead demon wasn't just tricking us after all" and then the route will proceed as normal. Whether or not they have sex will likely be determined by your choices in Chapter 3 itself rather than Chapter 2 with this in mind. Either way, I think Ashley will go through most of the chapter confused and uncertain and will be forced to develop as a person, for better or worse.

In the Decay ending, as said, we're shown that Ashley doesn't even attempt to share a vision with Andrew, so we get to see a vision where Ashley's frame of mind isn't one driven by mutual affection. In this route, we see Ashley constantly running from -something,- and given dreams are metaphors, I think it's reasonable to assume that it's showing us that Ashley is primarily motivated by a fear of Andrew. Fear of what, exactly, isn't really clear; we know for a fact that she's afraid of losing him, but she's also afraid of the violence he can inflict upon her. Either way, she runs away, we can see the demon say "hmmm how interesting," and then we get a vision of the future.

But it's important to note, that vision is a metaphor, not a literal vision of the future. It takes place in the dream world- unlike any other vision, which takes place in the real world- and there are no out-of-frame eyes in the CGs like there are in the Questionable route. Also, (albeit less convincingly), all the eyes are in the background rather than on the map themselves, like they are when we see the hitman vision. The eyes only exist in the background in the Sane vision too, further adding to the idea that they're a metaphor.

So. If it's not a literal depiction of what will happen, then what exactly is it a metaphor for? Okay. Hear me out. This is my wildest fucking theory yet.

It's a metaphor for the Burial route. Or rather, the kind of event that happened in the Burial route.

What we are being shown in the metaphor is a reconciliation of their relationship, where their true feelings are laid bare. We are put in a situation where they are forced to decide how they feel for each other once and for all. If Andrew holds all the power in the relationship but has no control or awareness of his feelings- represented by whether he was composed enough or not to unload his entire clip-, he unceremoniously kills Ashley. Without that awareness, Ashley cannot even defend herself. She has no control because she isn't dealing with someone who has any either.

(Whether he actually kills Ashley or just some abstract representation of Leyley isn't clear, but it doesn't matter much for the purpose of analysis.)

But if Andrew does have that awareness of his feelings- represented by only shooting one bullet- they can negotiate. Because Andrew is in control, Ashley is also in control, and she can make one of two choices:

She can choose to save herself (and either maintain the status quo or just fucking kill Andrew depending on how literal the vision is). With this choice, she lets her fear overtake her and discards Andrew- the cause of her fear- like trash. He is an object that only exists for her sake, after all, and she can discard him just as easily as he seemed like her could discard her during the strangulation scene.

She can choose to trust and accept Andrew. And given a heart appears over her head, she can choose to love him, and overcome her fear, even at the cost of either her life or their prior dynamic (once more, depending on how literal it is).

Decay is asking us if we think Ashley is primarily motivated by selfish fear or genuine selfless love. But both exist either way, and their relationship must be understood and reconciled at some point; this route might honestly be their only hope for a platonic good ending, but it's going to be dismal and painful either way.

So with that in mind, why is the gun not relevant to the Burial route (yet) if it's such a strong metaphor?

Because the reconciling event WAS the basement scene.

We had to make that same choice there. Was Ashley too afraid of Andrew's interaction with her parents to let him handle it? Or did she love and trust him enough to make that choice? In choosing yes, the ball in Andrew's court. If he chooses to care for her needs, their relationship evolves. If he or Ashley refuse make that choice, that can is kicked down the road, and their relationship continues to deteriorate.

Or decay, as it may.

But in Burial, with that reconciling event having happened, the ball is in Ashley's court. With Andrew having come to terms with many of his feelings (minus his sexual desire), most of his arc is finished. There's probably still a lot of him to unpack on the Burial route, but in the Decay ending, as long as Ashley shows love for him, the final choice always falls on his shoulders. And with his final choice having been made in Burial, all that's left is Ashley's.

And what final choice will she have to make?

I don't know, I'm not a prophet.

But either way, she'll still have to make the choice of whether or not to be ruled by her fear of losing him, and desperately try to grasp for control she no longer needs, or cast aside that fear and allow for genuine, mutual love to flourish. Think about it this way: When you see a corpse, how do you react? If you don't care for the corpse or fear it, you stay away and let it decay. If the corpse belongs to someone you love, you tend to it and bury it.

And what do I think the best case scenario is? Well, I've made my opinion obvious, but I think there's one final thing I need to emphasize:

You don't claw at someone's back like a wild fucking animal if you're not really into it.

[chronicbeans]

Hey how about some cute welcome home headcanons of Wally and co. With a human s/o who found and brought them to their house and they see their s/o playing on video games (they have a ds lite, a 3ds, a ps3, a ps4, a Wii and a Switch and a newly brought gamer laptop with some games installed) and get curious about it and want to try too and their s/o teaches them?

YIPPEE!!! Game time!

Wally Darling and Co. with a Human Reader who plays Videogames:

TW: Brief Mention of Murder (in the context of videogame violence/mystery games)

🎮 They all would be so excited to try to play videogames. They have never seen anything like them before. Well, they have seen the very early videogames, but the ones you have are so much more... MORE!

🎮 So, they all begin asking you random questions about the games you play. Who is that guy? What's a Mario? Who's MegaMan? Then, the most important question of all: how do you play?

🎮 This begins the task of teaching all of these puppets how to play various videogames, all on different consoles. It can get difficult due to their hands being different from one another. Poppy has wings and feathers, Barnaby has large paws, and Howdy has so many hands he can't decide which ones he should use to hold the remote or DS.

🎮 However, once you teach everyone how to play whatever game it is, it gets pretty fun! Especially party games or competitive ones. Watching a group of puppets get overly invested in a game of Mario Kart, no matter which game in the series, is enjoyable to watch. To your surprise, Wally seems to be the most competitive out of the group, causing you to have to teach him the value in letting others win from time to time and how bragging can hurt people's feelings. He takes that lesson to heart, though, going on to be more calm while playing.

🎮 Frank usually sticks to his own games, enjoying puzzle games, like Tetris or Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (he claims that these two games are COMPLETELY different due to the plot in Dr. Robotnik's). He is really good at them, too! Sometimes the others will watch him play it in awe, mesmerized by the pretty colors and music.

🎮 The final big surprise to you is how much Eddie loves mystery games. He can play any game based off of Sherlock Holmes or any other mystery novel for hours. He might not get exactly what is going on, especially in games that involve violent crimes like murder, but he gets the basic concept of "find the bad guy" and using clues to do so.

🎮 Most of the others stick to multiplayer, casual party games or racing games. Poppy does love baking games, though, including flash games revolving around baking. You kind of expected this, however, due to her preexisting love for baking. Sally likes any game with flashy style and drama. Barnaby likes to play Fibbage from time to time, of course, keeping the jokes clean (mostly because none of the puppets entirely understand or are aware of adult topics and humor being... Well... From a children's show). Sally likes Hello Kitty games because of the adorable aesthetic, and Howdy likes games about... managing things? He keeps finding these oddly specific games about running stores and such. Like, a VERY specific genre of tycoon games.

🎮 Home, whose puppet you found seems to be the size of a small cardboard box, can't really play games, but it seems to like to watch you play games. It shows extra happiness when you play home care/restoration/design games like House Flipper. It also enjoys watching you play The Sims, too, which you have made a household just for the Welcome Home crew.

🎮 Sometimes, due to little accidents, things break. Since controllers are designed with human hands in mind, felt or feathery puppet hands can drop things by accident. Over time, it becomes a little rule that they should try to keep their hands as close to the floor or whatever surface is closest to their hands as possible. That way, if they drop the controller, it will have less of a chance of breaking.

🎮 They probably ask you numerous questions about subjects discussed in the games they play. They can range from "why does the dog in Nintendogs act so different from Barnaby?" to "what is murder?" Needless to say, depending on the topic, you get some very strange whiplash due to puppets asking about dark, disturbing topics. You try your best to explain, though, because you know if you don't, they'll try to figure it out on their own. Might as well be you so they don't get any misinformation or stumble upon something horrific.

[explodingsilver]

Book review: Skyshade by Alex Aster

Lightlark 3D: Game Over

Once I had a life! I had dreams! Now I’m just the Lightlark guy!

I’ve done reviews for the first two books in this series, and in the process unfortunately earned myself a reputation as somewhat of an expert. Maybe I could push back against that by not reading and reviewing this book, but where’s the masochistic fun in that? Plus, with the way my life has been going these past few weeks, a new Lightlark book is actually a welcome diversion. 

To be honest, of all the books in this series, this is the one I disliked the least. Maybe I’m used to the pain. Make no mistake, however; it still doesn’t approach anywhere near good.

(Obligatory spoiler warning, though I suspect most of my audience is reading this review specifically because they refuse to read the book itself.)

Synopsis

The book starts where the previous one left off, with Isla returning to Nightshade with her husband Grim, ending the battle. Feeling torn on her loyalties, she decides the best way to help Oro would be to play the part of the loving wife and queen, while secretly relaying information back to Lightlark, which is made harder by the fact that the Nightshades don’t really trust her. Worse yet, she learns that one of the Wildlings is a traitor, poisoning the nightbane flowers and desecrating graves.

She also has a more pressing issue: in the last book, she found out that she was fatally wounded before the events of the series, and only survived because Grim bound his life to hers. Now she’s on borrowed time, and when she dies, he will die with her, killing all of Nightshade in the process. The only way to save herself is to go through the portal on Lightlark to the other world, but if she does this, the island will be destroyed, killing Oro and all of the Sunlings. It’s also been prophesied that she will kill either Grim or Oro herself. She only has until the end of winter to make her choice.

As she tries to prevent her impending death, Nightshade is besieged by massive storms that have apparently been a recurring issue, but which have never come up until now. Isla learns from a visit to a secluded order that these storms are coming from a secondary portal somewhere on Nightshade, which no one knows the exact location of, and would kill her if she tried to go through, as it’s a weaker connection than the one on Lightlark and she lacks the power to use it properly. She vows to find this portal and close it for good.

On a technical level

So the first book is pretty infamously badly written. The sentence-to-sentence prose is better in this, but a noticeable step down from the second book. It reminds me of the unedited stuff I write for fun when I have intoxicants in my system and decide “fuck it, we ball”. The stuff I don’t intend to ever show anyone, let alone publish. I kind of get the feeling that Aster has improved, but her editor sat this one out. Given that she wrote this in only a year and has three books scheduled for release next year, it may very well be the case that the editor is simply not making an effort beyond basic proofreading.

My main complaints about the prose: holy shit I get it already, you don’t need to tell me for the 28th time that Isla will either save the world…or end it. Her being a murderous WMD is enough for me to keep that in mind. The sheer number of times that Grim referred to Isla as “wife” instead of her name annoyed the hell out of me as well. Honestly, the dialog overall is a bit clunky. It’s not the worst I’ve read, but in general, I feel like this book would have benefitted from the advice to make characters unable to say what they mean. Holding back some information could’ve helped the tertiary characters feel more like people and less like video game NPCs whom Isla is talking to for quest information, even though that basically is their role in the narrative.

On that note, I had the thought while reading that I would probably be a lot more forgiving of this series’ flaws if it was an RPG? Not only because of the above, but also because the amount of portal usage feels like fast travel. And if this was a video game, the way the whole world is warped around the protagonist might actually be more fun than irritating.

I know many people (myself included) felt that the previous book suffered from Middle Book Syndrome, but this one’s got it even worse. The first two acts are split between romance stuff and Isla trying to figure out a way to not die, and the last one is establishing what these world-threatening stakes actually are and getting everyone into places for the grand finale (the next book). It eventually gets exciting in a bullshit 11th-hour-superpower sort of way, but before it gets to that point, you have to put up with several hundred pages of Spicy Romance™.

Romance

More so than the previous two, enjoyment of this book lives and dies on how you feel about the romance. More specifically, how you feel about Isla and Grim as a couple. The major plot point of Isla “pretending” to be in love with Grim (read: unconvincingly telling herself that she hates him because she feels like she should) means there are countless scenes of them spending time together and him telling her his tragic backstory. And later, fucking. The sex scenes continue to be alright. In the midst of all this, she just kind of forgets that she’s supposed to be spying and reporting back to Lightlark.

After three books of this, I’m still not sold. All their interactions feel like they were written to be quote-mined, the individual sentences taken out of context for TikTok marketing purposes. Every beat in their relationship feels like it was inspired by posts that say “I love it when the enemies-to-lovers do this” but no actual examples of that. Or maybe there are plenty of examples and I just haven’t read them because believe it or not, most of the books I read are ones I expect to like.

Theoretically, there’s a love triangle going on, given that she still loves Oro and thinks about how much she misses him, but he only gets one actual appearance in the first two acts, which is quickly interrupted by her having to go do something with Grim. And in addition to the above bonding scenes, she also has a second, more public wedding with Grim (ostensibly to get the Nightshades to trust her), and agrees that it would be nice to have a child together if she wasn’t about to die. This does not read like a woman who is still deciding between two men. This reads like a woman who has made her choice, but keeps second guessing herself.

In the third act, we finally get to see more of Oro, and the reunion feels mostly like two exes who haven’t quite moved on from each other. What doesn’t help his chances are that an ancient wizened character recommends Isla kill him instead of Grim, since if Oro dies, the Nexus curse that ties everyone’s lives to their leader will be broken. (This curse was introduced in the last book, I just didn’t bring it up because it didn’t feel relevant at the time. Though perhaps I should’ve; making the divine right of kings a literal curse is actually one of the better retcons.) I’m unclear on whether the curse will be broken before or after all the Sunlings die with him.

If there’s one positive thing to be said about this, it’s that Oro’s heartbreak has actually restored some of the traits I liked about him in the first book that were noticeably absent from the second. I suppose if there’s anything that can truly get me on board with the Isla and Grim romance, it’s the fact that Oro is a much more interesting character when he’s sad and heartbroken than when he’s in a happy, committed relationship. If only I got to see much of him in that state this time around.

In general, I feel like my biggest problem with this book is that the author has stopped pretending to give a shit about anyone who isn’t Isla or Grim. It’s not just Oro who gets shafted: Cleo and Azul have practically become non-entities, getting three and two appearances, respectively. This is especially frustrating in Azul’s case, not only because he could be the best character in the book if he got any focus, but because I naively hoped that a book with ‘sky’ in the title would give the ruler of the Skylings more time in the spotlight, not less.

The third act

At the end of act two, Isla finally discovers the identity of the Wildling traitor: Lark Crown, her ancestor who created the island with Grim and Oro’s ancestors. She has been alive this entire time, kept deep underground, bound by Metal That Makes You Powerless, being used as an infinite source of magical energy to power Nightshade. Now she has finally been freed by Grim's surprisingly still alive ancestor Cronan Malvere (who immediately fucked off to the other world afterwards), and she is now raising an army of the dead so she can destroy this world and remake it to her liking. Grim and Oro have both known the entire time that Lark was chained up underground and itching for revenge, and didn’t tell Isla because they were afraid she might want to free her, just to have a family member around (in which case, Grim should have told Isla that his current general is her cousin years ago). Now I remember Oro saying all the way back in the first book that he leaves Grim alone because Grim is holding the line against a much greater evil, but I also remember the later scene where he says “We’ve decided to kill Grim anyway”. Why did he make that decision if he knew that doing so would release Lark and doom the world?

(Also: since Cronan cast the Nexus curse in the first place, killing him would end it. Here’s How Oro Can Still Win!)

Isla also comes to a realization: her true flair is actually the ability to steal the powers of whoever she kills, and her curse immunity actually comes from having accidentally killed her curse-immune father by completely destroying the castle with her cries when she was a baby, which she only survived because Lynx shielded her. Ever since, her guardians have been faking her powerlessness by lacing all of her food and clothing with the Metal That Makes You Powerless. Not only do these retcons feel unnecessary, I’d also bet they would not hold up upon a reread.

In the climax, an overpowered-due-to-serial-murder Isla enlists the help of both Grim and Oro, getting them to begrudgingly work together and wait on standby for her signal to open the portal together and send Lark through. After waiting a long time, the two men realize that Isla tricked them into staying put, and rush to the portal, discovering that Isla opened it with artifacts taken from their ancestors and went through, taking Lark with her. Now the portal is closed, with Isla and Lark trapped in the other world.

Given that my thoughts upon finishing the book were not “are you fucking kidding me”, I’d call this ending an improvement over the last one!

Miscellaneous points

The second chapter contains the line "She remembered the outrage when Grim had announced her as his wife to the court—as his equal—right before they left for the Centennial.” Correct me if I'm misremembering, but didn't he mind wipe her right after the wedding?

The “Starlings getting trafficked and enslaved by other realms” subplot that was introduced in the second book without being mentioned or foreshadowed in the first never comes up even once in this one.

The reveal that the other world is called Skyshade is treated as a big dramatic twist, but that word being the title of the book is the only reason it has any significance at all.

The future

Because a conclusion doesn't quite feel right this time around. This book went a tiny bit off the rails towards the end, and I for one hope it continues down that path. Let me see what crazy shit Isla does when she fully enters Creative Mode. I'm probably setting myself up for disappointment, but that's a problem for next year. But even if the final installment holds back, I'll still hoot and holler if it pulls some Challengers shit.

Yes, I will return for the last book. I will ride this train to the end of the line. If I'm up for it, I may even read the forthcoming side novel. Until then, I'll be working my way through stuff that is (hopefully) actually good. 

[notoneopinion]

10 Ways I Soothe Anxiety

Hello. I have anxiety.

I have anxiety, but I have also managed to somehow keep a pretty good life for myself through it all. Getting out of bed when you have a paralysing fear of the world is not an easy task, but there are a few things I have found that make it that little bit easier, life that little bit smoother. And because we certainly don't gatekeep here, I thought I'd share the ten main ways I soothe anxiety. Basically, ten things I do to switch off and remove myself from my brain.

1. Turn your phone off.

An obvious one, but probably one of the most important. It's insane how clogged a person's brain will get when they spend their day glued to a phone screen. For me, it's not even just social media that sets me off, though that is a massive trigger for me and many other people; it's the phone in general. I could be playing Angry Birds for twenty-four hours and still finish the day feeling gross and anxious and guilty. The screen itself just makes me feel groggy, which in turn leaves me feeling anxious by the time I'm getting into bed that night. There are some days I will wake up, and just turn my phone off completely - usually days when I know I'm going to be at home all day, but still. That extended break from screen time is a life saver.

2. Fidget toys.

Okay, so I may also have autism.

But!!!! Fidget toys are miracle workers for all kinds of mental illnesses and uncomfortable feelings, so don't think you can't invest in some just because you're not on the spectrum. Fidget toys are literally made to soothe anxiety, so get yourself some!! I have one called a Tangle that I keep on me at all times, and I just mess with it in my pocket when I'm in a social situation and I don't know what to do with my hands, or I start feeling a little overwhelmed. It brings my fight or flight right down. I don't know the science behind it, but I honestly don't even care. Give me fidget toys, or give me death.

3. Model making, eg Legos, 3D puzzles.

Legos and 3D puzzles are another thing that has changed the game for me when it comes to anxiety. Like fidget toys, they are the perfect way to keep your hands busy, but they have the added bonus of keeping your mind busy, too. These are, of course, more of a relaxation technique, something you come home to after a stressful day rather than something to eliminate anxiety on the spot, but we'll take what we can get. These also keep you relaxed and distracted for hours, because there is hours worth of work to be put into them. Plus, they're very addictive - once you start on a Lego set, or a puzzle, you don't want to stop until it's finished. I've sat for eleven hours straight doing a Lego set just because I wanted to see the finished product as soon as possible, and during those eleven hours, my anxiety was non-existent. I was just enjoying myself the entire time.

4. Have a nap.

Very self explanatory, and yet controversial???

But genuinely, just go to sleep??? If you're having a gruesome day, and your mind is bullying you, and you're exhausted, just lay down and go to sleep. Fuck what other people say. There is nothing wrong with clocking out from the horrors of the real world for a few hours. As long as you get back up, all refreshed and ready to tackle another day, who cares??

5. Talk to a loved one.

I am very blessed that I can put this on the list. I know this can be a very difficult coping mechanism for a lot of people - trust me, I know. Growing up, my anxiety was my own, and not once did it ever occur to me to share that problem with anyone else. However, after meeting the right people, and understanding that nobody is going to be annoyed about hearing my problems, talking to people became one of the best and most useful coping mechanisms I've got. It can be as simple as sending your best friend a text telling them how you're feeling, or you can go all out and sit your Mum down with a cup of tea and bawl your eyes out. Getting those feelings out will give you a physical relief as well as a mental relief; the weight you've been carrying, a weight you probably don't even notice any more, will be gone in a matter of minutes. I promise you.

6. Exercise.

I know. I was shocked too. All those scientists that told us exercise and moving your body is good for your mental health were right. Bastards.

Just go on a walk. That's what I mean when I say 'exercise.' If you want to go to the gym and lift weights, or run a marathon, you go right ahead. More power to you. But by 'exercise' I just mean. . . move your body. Take the dog on a walk! Walk to the shop instead of driving! Get a bike! The tiniest bit of movement in a day can do wonders, whether we want to admit it or not.

7. Blast happy, sing-in-the-car music.

There's a playlist of Spotify that I highly recommend when it comes to wanting to escape reality and just have a good time. It's literally called Songs to Sing in the Car, and it's one of those playlists Spotify make themselves, just full of songs that you can sing at the top of your lungs, or blast through your headphones, and just have a real good time for a little while. I know it's easy sometimes to just go straight to that playlist full of sad songs that you can relate to in that moment, but try and go for a different approach - go find old bangers that you used to jump around to as a kid. It's a breath of fresh air.

8. Do chores.

Two in one baby!

A good chunk of the time, our anxiety is stemming from our to-do list, even if we're not thinking about it. All around us is evidence of all the unfinished tasks we've got to do, and that can really stress you out. Personally, whenever I'm anxious, I become almost camotose; I will just sit on the sofa and stare at the wall, feeling everything all at once. However, I've found that using this time to do little tasks around the house actually makes me feel better. I'm not saying I go and do a full massive clean; I might push myself just a bit to wash one or two dishes, or the whole sink if I can manage it. I'll hoover the living room floor. I'll go upstairs and put my clothes away. Just tiny jobs, only as much as I can push myself to do. A lot of the time, one job turns into two, and then two turns to three, and soon my house is spotless, and you know what they say - clean space, clear mind!

9. Take up knitting/ crocheting.

This one is pretty self-explanatory. I only discovered this as a coping mechanism when I was suffering from really bad insomnia and I couldn't sleep; I somehow found myself watching YouTube tutorials on knitting, and I was overcome with this intense urge to learn. It was literally one in the morning, and I drove to my Mum's house (dragged my fiance out of bed to come with me, too, sorry babe <3) and grabbed knitting needles and some yarn. I was up knitting for about an hour, and I felt so relaxed that I actually managed to go to sleep! For the first time in days! So not only can you make really cute clothes and nick-nacks and learn a new skill, you're also relaxing that anxious brain of yours for a little bit.

10. Have a good cry.

Yeah. Just this.

[brodorokihousuke]

How did you make the custom Apollo animations?

- one very tired fool who thought it would be fun to attempt similar model shenanigans with Athena

Keep in mind three things,

one- I have never touched 3d animation before and this has just been me beating the shit out of this program until it does what I want, so this might not be the "right" or easiest way to do anything

two- I am using 3DS max for this so this might not apply to blender or any other program.

three- I'm going to assume you know how to load models and animations, at least directly from the game files

Also this is a very slapdash tutorial so you can send any other questions in, knowing I won't hit everything at all.

The easiest thing for you to do, amateur to amateur, is pick an animation that makes a good base. This can just be the neutral pose, a talking pose, whatever. I don't like dealing with talking and blinking so I usually make sure I have those loaded beforehand.

Before you worry about animation, spend time posing and adjusting things that aren't going to be moving, and just generally solidifying the pose. It's much more annoying to do this after you start animating. In my... very non-professional opinion.

Once you have that down, look at the bottom of the screen.

It's a lot, but you're going to be staring at it if you want to animate. What I do immediately is click on that little icon directly below the frame slider, at the very left edge. After that, click "Editor" and then "Curve editor". Then just enlarge it a bit, and...

boom, animation curve timeline. Let's get an actual animation to show what this actually represents...

I'm selecting bone15 here, which corresponds to his left upper eyelid. The red peaks in the curve timeline represent him blinking. So basically, this is a linear representation of all of the moving parts in the animation over time... very fun.

If you grab onto a node and move it around, you can see the effect it has, so this is one method of adding animation points. Another method is to move to the frame you want, and, after turning on "auto key" move the model to the pose you want.

this automatically adds animation keys when you move things around, which is better than physically editing the timeline sometimes. I do both depending on things.

I'd honestly just suggest screwing around in here with no goal first, as that's how I started. But, as for actual things...

Don't move the parts themselves, move the bones. If you must, messing with the mesh is possible (I had to do it for his jacket in the bashful emote) but it is very very janky. Try to stick to rotating things instead of moving them when messing with joints. "," and "." advance 1 frame back and 1 frame forwards respectively.

As for how I edit them out, you probably see my great green screen up there. It's just a flat plane turned green. I just screen record the animation and use websites online to crop out the green, turn the video into a gif, and resize it to my liking. I... should probably figure out how to directly get a transparent video or gif out of the program, but oh well, this works.

[einsatzzz]

For the artist ask game:

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

There are so many good questions 😭😭😭 I hope it's okay that i just spamed a bit 👉👈🥺

It's ok bro !!! Ask as much as you want !!! So that l can keep yapping about art as much as I want too lmaooo Thank you for sending this over hehehe 🫡✨💜

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

Since it's you sending this ask, the fave I got to answer this with has to be the one and only, Hib/ari Ky/oya 🤣🤣🤣 The first look at his design, it looks so simple. Nothing really too complicated with his hairstyle. He would fit into that one meme where this user is trying to compile "basic black hair guy" from various media (basic black hair guy??? but he's so ikemen and popular??? that's how you know he has 10000 aura & charisma *biased*). But then when you actually try to draw him, there's just something about him that I find hard to capture. Or maybe it's because he's my fave, that my brain just hyperfocuses on the tiny details that makes him *HIM* that sets him apart from other characters with similar designs. Then, I just end up overthinking how I draw him. And that makes him such a bitch to draw.

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

Game OSTs and maps/areas! I listened to the whole playlist of Enka//nomiya (from Gen/shin) so much, it lowkey ended up as an inspiration for Kana's character and general vibes, especially for a certain part of her lore. I originally listened to it for just studying because it helps me focus, then somehow the whole playlist AND the map/area itself is Kana-core now.

If I just have to rec a few from this playlist though, these are the ones: Soft Moans of the Remains, Sink Into Oblivion, Tearless Souls of Byakuya, Hope or Nostalgia, Vanished Beyond Recall, Combat Beneath the Waves (most of the titles ahahaha...🙃)

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

The first one that came to mind for this is Hiro/hiko Ar/aki-sensei! He's the mangaka who made Jo/jo's Biz/arre Adv/enture. His style is so legendary and iconic, I'm very sure you've seen it at least once. It's so different from mine that leans more towards the conventional pretty anime character style, but I LOVE Ara/ki-sensei's art so much, especially the fashion, poses and his grasp with drawing the forms/shape of his characters with such a god-level of consistency.

I remember someone making a gif of his character in different panels, arranging them so that they're facing in different angles. The result is so smooth, it's like you're rotating a 3d model with how consistent he drew the face structure, even if each one is from a different manga panel! 🤯🤯🤯✨✨✨

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

It's a 50-50! Sometimes I do when I remember, then sometimes I don't because I either forgot to or it's just that good of a day for me to draw. And when I do forget, I would only remember because it kind of feels off for no reason, especially when I'm just at the sketching stage. When I realize that, I would open another canvas asap and start drawing random stuff. If it's coloring then, I usually don't need to warm up.

For my warm up subjects, I usually go for Kana or Kurumi, depending on my mood. I drew them so much, so they're the easiest and quickest to draw for me, they're great for warm-up sketches for that very reason. They're also a test to see rq if a certain day is a good drawing day. Because if I can't even draw KanaRumi properly, then I know my brain is not in the right setting to draw at that particular time just yet. I can stop the clownery very early and just switch to doing something else.

[courtofmatchups]

I saw that your asks for matchups were open and I wanted to have one from Twisted Wonderland if you don't mind! 😊

Some basic info: In terms of mbti and enneagram, I'd be an INFP 9w1. I'm often told that I'm easygoing and chill seeing as how I don't seem to stress or revise that much in my studies as an I.T student(hehe whoops..). I'm also very quiet to the point where sometimes people mistake me for being mute until I clarify that I'm not, leading to some people lightly teasing me that it'd make their day if they could hear my voice since I barely speak(I do say "Hi" back to them)🙉 But I DO get talkative but it's only really around my close circle of friends even though I do have some friendly acquaintances here and there. I've also been described as being somewhat of a "sweet girl" or "goody-two shoes" since I try to do my best in treating everyone with patience and trying to do the right thing by them since I do find helping people out fulfilling(also probably because I tend to follow rules a lot but there are times where I do slip up 👉👈). As well as the fact that people have commented that they have rarely saw me angry and are always trying to see the other person's perspective on an issue, a "conscience angel" or "devil's advocate" if you will.

Hobbies: I like playing games on my phone and 3ds, drawing, reading, working out when I have the time and energy and I've only recently started practicing taekwondo!(I'm not good at it yet unfortunately, I'm a white belt for now..🙉) In terms of interests, I've always been interested in entomology, plants especially flowers 🌸, and just about the entirety of biology! So, expect a lot of nature documentaries whenever I'm watching something. If I'm not delving into biology, then I would be researching about parkour or martial arts since I've always been amazed at the different styles that are developed in these fields(and just how fluid and elegant the people executing these moves are✨).

What I don't like: I personally don't like sudden loud noises like popping balloons or people sneezing very loudly (the same cannot be said for let's say, a concert or dance party) I also tend to not like people who are impatient and are prone to complaining since I can't help but see them as childish or immature(sorry 😔) I tend to also not like people who get very cynical and pessimistic as although I do understand where they're coming from sometimes, I can't help but feel as though their cynicism can sometimes get in the way of making sound judgements since I'm a firm believer that being a hyper skeptic has it's own dangers of closing off to people and situations that could have brought you good if only you didn't let your hyper skepticism get in the way of taking that leap of faith🤷🏻‍♀️.

In a relationship: I'll be honest when I say that I haven't been in a relationship before so I'll start by saying that in terms of love languages, I like receiving words of affirmation and acts of service the most while acts of service and quality time are the main ways that I show my love for a person(romantic or not 😁). In a relationship, I prefer a more long-term commitment rather than a casual one since I do like the idea of getting married one day. I would like it very much if my partner was someone who's not overly clingy, as much as I love spending time with people that I care about, I'm still very much an introvert at heart and would still like to have my alone time 💅🏻💁🏻‍♀️. One undesirable trait in a partner for me would be someone who keeps me in the dark and doesn't talk to me about certain issues, as much as I dislike conflict and confrontation, I would rather prefer to face that than sensing that something is wrong and having no real way of helping because someone doesn't want to tell me what's bothering them(the anxiety kills me 😭🤧)

Appearance: I've no clue if this is of any help to you but, I'll include it just to give you a better visualization of what I look like 🤷🏻‍♀️

• I have long, black hair up to my hips I think

• I have round eyes with long lashes (people have commented that they wanna put mascara on me but I don't want to 🙉)

• In contrast to my hair, I have pretty fair skin so much so that I've sometimes been compared to Snow White

• Though I've only started working out recently, I've made a little progress in building muscles 💪🏻😁

• not much of an appearance but people have described me as "cute" and "pretty" before 😅

• I'm a bit on the shorter side: 5'3 to be exact

• In terms of style, I tend to wear a combination of black cargo pants, a white woven belt, a coquette inspired beaded necklace, a pink/black top, a pink/black coverup sleeves, and some white and pink sneakers with black compression socks underneath. It's something very simple, practical, and stylish for me to wear given my hobbies and lifestyle since I still want to dress pretty girly and feminine while still maintaining my need for mobility and functionality ✌🏻.

That's all that I can think of! Thank you if you've somehow managed to survive my ramblings but it's just been so long since I've requested something so I want to make up for lost time I guess.. Anyways, Please have a good day or night! 😅💗

It seems to me, you've captured the heart of...

Kalim Al-Asim!

Hear me out: Kalim's bright and cheerful personality would complement your "sweet girl" and patient demeanor. He has a naturally uplifting aura, which would counterbalance any stress or negativity.

Kalim is very open with his emotions and thoughts. This aligns well with the user’s dislike of being kept in the dark and preference for clear communication in a relationship.

Like you, Kalim is known for his kindness and desire to help others. He would likely appreciate and reciprocate the acts of service and quality time that the user values as love languages.

Both you and Kalim have a laid-back and calm approach to life. Neither are prone to anger, and both prefer seeing the good in people. Though Kalim's optimism can become naivete at some points, so I hope you're aware enough to know when someone's trying to take advantage of him.

Kalim loves vibrant and lively environments, including lush greenery, which ties well with your passion for plants and flowers. Also Kalim is open-minded and would likely be fascinated by your interest in entomology and biology.

As for your relationship dynamics, Kalim's carefree personality wouldn't be overly clingy, respecting your need for alone time. Also Kalim's inability to hide his feelings would provide the open communication you desire in a partner.

Overall a happy relationship

[peachiecure]

Character introduction: Larissa/“Cure Jump”

~Basic info~

Name: Larissa Frausto

“Alter Ego”: Cure Jump

Age: 13

Birthday: September 22

Hair color: Brown (w/ red ombré as “Jump”)

Eye color: Brown (Blue as “Jump”)

Larissa is a girl from another world who happens to visit from time to time. She holds the ability to transform into a magical girl known as “Cure Jump”. She is a side character in Project: SFA.

Larissa is a very shy and awkward person. She often is seen to be either panicking, not able to put out words or trying her best to do what is asked of her. Coming from another world, her surroundings here seem to fascinate her in a way as if she has been observing from the outside for a long time. In her free time, she seems to like to draw and play video games.

Her “Alter Ego”, Cure Jump on the other hand is much different in personality. She is strong willed, brave, leader-like and overall a joy to be around… she fights with the power of fire, along with a few other new tricks up her sleeve that she learns from Mario as they protect the kingdom at times. Though… there seems to be something behind those blue eyes of hers.

For more information on Larissa & Cure Jump, including more details and voice claims, please visit the side blog @nintendoprecure for her intros there~

A Precure? What’s that?

For my non-precure fans here, it’s a magical girl franchise. If you’re familiar with the concepts Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura, it’s pretty similar. Hopefully you don’t need to know that much about the franchise to understand the concept. A lot of precure fans like to make OCs, and that is where Larissa is from. So yeah it’s another project of mine. Larissa transforms and fights for what’s good with the power of her transformation device! (Which is a 3DS aha) She pops into SFA every now and then. You don’t need to dive deep into my other project though to understand her role in SFA, so I hope she is still a fun character to SFA’s overall story and lore. Just know that she pops in every now and then, helping out the best she can!

~Relationships~

Mario: “O-oh— I need to talk about Mario? U-um— he… he talks much more than I imagined… I’m so used to hearing reused voice lin— I MEAN from what I’ve heard from others!! He’s very nice!! I’m… I’m not good at socializing… at all. He seems to care about me though… I-I just feel that I’m to… incompetent to be standing by his side. He always tells be how I do such a good job as Jump but… I’m n— I mean, yeah I’m… Jump… but— sigh, never mind.”

Peach: “I could cry. I gonna cry. I-I can’t just cry?… she’s everything to me… seeing her in front of me physically of course I’m going to cry!! SHE’S MY FAVORITTTEEEE…. MY QUEEN…. And she’s so nice to me too I’m crying. I-I’m sorry I’m crying. I can’t help it. Little kid me prayed for moments like this… oh my gosh—“ (the rest is incoherent, we cannot understand her through her sobbing)

Sweetheart: “Finding out that Peach and Mario were married was one thing… but finding out they have a child… was something else entirely. I didn’t know how to process that information— my ship— I mean I’m very happy for them!!! Sweetheart herself is a very sweet little girl… well… she’s currently 10 but her behavior is very pure. Sometimes I think she looks up to me like an older sister which… I-I am an older sister in my family but I— I don’t feel like one. I’m cowardly, but she somehow finds the good in me when I’m around and wants to do things with me… her parents have explained the… situation with her powers, so I do have to keep an eye on her just in case anything happens.”

Luigi: “… I like Luigi, he… he really understands me when I can’t really get words out of my mouth… or… or when Mario drags the two of us somewhere impulsively as we’re both worrying… it is also surreal seeing him talk in front of me… oh my good they’re real the Super Mario Bros. are real and they’re in front of my oh my god. I’m gonna explode….”

Daisy: “Daisy has so much energy that she really overwhelms me— but not in a bad way! I really like her I’m just… I-I just like to take things slower and stuff. She’s a wonderful princess! She really cares about her friends and she would definitely fistfight a god for them!…”

Rosalina: “Mario brought me to the Observatory once and… it felt very weird to be able to breathe in space— where I’m from you— you can’t do that you’ll die. I got to meet Rosalina and the Lumas, and I really had a nice time with her. She’s gentle and made sure I felt comfortable and safe in her home… even read me a few stories from her iconic storybook that surely the soundtrack— I mean the music that so happens to play around when she reads— has not made me cry! Not at all!—“

Flame: “Flame is a new face I met upon coming here. I’ve never heard of his Kingdom at all. He seems like a nice kid who just wants to have fun with his friends. He-he’s very panicky, like me, so I— I relate a lot with him. He seems to always fight with Aqua and… I can’t blame him on that. Aqua… is… something… I just find it a bit odd how he always does what Sweetheart says?… I-I hope he’s only doing that because he wants to be a good friend…”

Aqua: “… C-can I tell the truth?—I-I don’t currently like him. I hate sounding mean but— he reminds me of someone from school with his spoiled attitude and I just can’t stand how he constantly arguing with Flame… there’s still a-a lot I don’t know about him, so I am open to change my view on him. It just seems like he isn’t willing to tell anything besides what he wants us to hear… and I don’t want to pry… I won’t say it to his face though, that’s just mean… he hasn’t really DONE anything to hurt me yet so I wouldn’t talk back… not like I ever would in the first place… he’s royalty…”

Toadsworth: “Toadsworth started calling me Master Jump after one battle and… I cannot get used to the title. I am no master at… anything. Unless it’s crying, I’m… very good at that… ahaha… ha….”

~Rumors~

“Yeah I’m… I’m not related to the Mario Bros… I-I don’t know why that’s such a popular rumor… I’m not even Italian… ahaha… w-wait who thinks I’m related to Mario—? Is it because of my brown hair?— o-or how I’m small?… I’m simply just learning alongside him… because of Ju— because I’m a magical girl!…”

And that’s it for Larissa’s intro! Next will be… well, a certain jester…

[sleepy-pigeonn]

A Look Into My Hades Fan Animatic

I don't know to call this other than a collection of resources and reflections about the process of making the animatic. Hopefully it's interesting or helpful for someone. But feel free to ask questions if you'd like clarification/more info!

___

Inspiration (A non-exhaustive list)

It's possible that I've seen/read fan works that may have inspired me unconsciously, so there's no way I can possibly include references to them all. However, the ones I listed here are ones I recall looking back at repeatedly.

The fancomics "First Flight" and "Bonehead Boon" by Liana Sposto

Robbie Elliot Art's animation "Take Tonight"

Toastyglow's animation "Glitter & Gold" and PMV "This Year"

Storyboards posted by Paige Caldwell (@/papernewt) on Instagram

Zag admiring some of these beautiful fanworks.

The following sections are below the cut: References, Songs, Script and Thumbnails, Studies, Drawing, Editing, Random Facts

___

References

These were very helpful to creating the animatic!!

In-game references

Hades Wiki

3D Model of Zagreus by @/chunyou_ on Twitter

I also used screenshots I took while playing

General references

"How To Direct A Fight Scene" by Howard Wimshurst

Poses from the photo libraries of The Pose Archives and AdorkaStock

3D Model of Male and Female Heads by William Nguyen

I also just looked stuff up online or took videos of myself acting out some of the movements.

___

Songs

I thought of basing my animatic on any of the following songs:

"Icarus" by Bastille

"Dirty" by grandson

"Underworld" by CYPRSS *

"I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)" by John Rzeznik

"I'm Gonna Win" by Rob Cantor **

"Could Have Been Me" by the Struts

They all have a varied degree of "Zagreus vibes" but I wanted a song that could be used to show as much of the game as possible. "Could Have Been Me" was the song that I could imagine more things for, so it is the one I ended up using.

* Look at this awesome Zagreus fan art based on this song

** Some of the lyrics for this song are so fitting for Zag but others are pretty ooc.

___

Script and Thumbnails

I've seen other artists annotate the lyrics to the song they are working with and attempted that here. But that process is a little confusing for me, so I kept these descriptions vague. It was helpful in keeping track of ideas, since some of them are faster to write down than draw. Especially for fight sequences.

I used Storyboarder for the thumbnails. I opted for this program because (1) it lets you add an audio file and (2) it has very basic tools. It can be used in a more nuanced way than I did. However, with 3 and a half minutes of frames to work out I needed something that helps me draft down ideas efficiently and without overwhelming me. And this was pretty good program for that.

The script and thumbnails happened in tandem a lot of the time. Think of it as brainstorming, both in vague writing and loose drawings. At this point I am trying to see if these ideas flow with the song, if they are readable, if they achieve what I had in mind.

___

Studies

Okay. So I am happy with my ideas. Now. How do I make sure the drawings are identifiable as taking place in the game?

This is where those in-game references came in handy. I looked back at my thumbnails and made a list of everything I would need. From characters to locations. Once I had these down, I made folders to make sure everything would be nice and organized.

I tend to avoid backgrounds like the plague. However, for some of these shots to work I need to give the viewer a sense of where the action is taking place. I know that I struggle imagining three-dimensional spaces while drawing digitally. So, using my thumbnails and the references I gathered, I did studies of all the locations I thought would be important using good old paper and ink. This also served to fine-tune shot compositions.

___

Drawing

The animatic itself was drawn using Krita. Usually, I worked on all the backgrounds using the studies as a base and then added the characters. My drawings started very rough for a couple of reasons. The main one was that with ~200 frames ahead of me I was afraid of letting my inner perfectionist get me stuck. I kept reminding myself that, being an animatic, the drawings could be rough as long as they are still readable. As I got more comfortable using Krita, I was able to create cleaner backgrounds.

Even so, I hit an art block around the two minute mark where I Could Not Draw. This is where I heavily relied on those References I Keep Talking About. They were my savior and are the main cause for the more "finished" look towards the end of the animatic. I think the best example of this was the shot featuring Thanatos. I was deep in the art block territory by the time I needed to go from thumbnail (top left) to final frame. No matter how much I redrew them, I didn't like how they turned out (top right). To work this out, I found references from The Pose Archives and used them as a guide (bottom left) to get a sketch that I liked (bottom right). I felt this look was more sketchy than I've would like so I ended up cleaning it. I followed a similar process for most of the frames following this one. As a result, the final frames of the video turned out cleaner.

___

Editing

Once I had all my frames ready to go, I imported them into HitFilm Express and made a composite shot where I basically just matched the timing of the frames to the music. Frames that have camera movements (like the very first frame) were made in their own composite shots. I ended up having to delete some frames so some sections didn't feel rushed. In the end, there's like 5 versions of the animatic because I kept making little changes. The biggest was adding Zag's dialogue at the beginning since I felt the video started up too quiet. I don't have any images for this stage. Please have this comparison instead.

___

Random Facts ✨

Adding color was a last minute decision, it was mainly because I thought a colorful sunset would be prettier. My original plan was to shift the gray tones of the background into more yellowish tones once Zagreus reaches the surface, but keeping everything monochromatic.

If you pause quickly on the very last frame you'll see I accidentally made Zag's leggings black instead of red. I was on auto pilot at this point. Adding color was worth it overall but so time consuming. My respects to people who do fully colored animatics.

I wish I made Meg a pinker (or blue) hue rather than purple. In my mind I saved purple for characters related to Nyx (hence why Hypnos, Than, Chaos, and Charon have shades of purple). But I guess it is a sweet detail because of how Meg confides in Nyx in the game.

I kept a log of all my progress. Apparently getting the thumbnails done took about five months (August 2023 - January 2024)?? Anyways I leave you with these entries.

___

Thank you for reading! I hope it goes without saying but I really appreciate all the support this animatic has received. All the hearts and comments and tags, they mean a lot.

[leavemetoexist]

I finished all 4 Studio Investigraves games and I have opinions. (Spoilers to all the games by the way but you already know that)

I played them all backwards from the most recent to least recent by complete accident hence why I shall be reviewing them from least recent to most recent. I'll be judging them based off gameplay, characters and story. Of course don't take this too seriously it's my general opinion and I wouldn't mind hearing other people's personal tier list about which game was their favourite. My interpretation of the characters can of course vary from others opinions as well so keep that in mind.

4. Eloquent Countenance

Gameplay: the gameplay in this one wasn't actually bad, I quite liked doing the different tasks however with that being said, I also got lost multiple times about what I was supposed to do (I think i'm to blame for this once honestly because it was spelled out for me). Overall I still liked it but again I had issues. I did however adore the mix of 3d modelling and 2d models.

Story: The story isn't bad, if anything it leaves room for so many things. The explanation to the end did confuse me though because I couldn't tell if Forcas was talking to the woman trapped in the body or if he was talking to the angel that had taken over the body. And also why did us the angel decide that we did want to give the body back to her? Again a lot of questions that I think can be expanded on if they ever to second game. (I think this is mostly me wanting a second game so badly lol)

Characters: Our character Lisa is alright, I have no grievances with her, she's funny and sarcastic as hell and honestly my favourite. Forcas on the other hand... I like his shenanigans, but there is only so much fourth wall breaking one can take before it isn't very special, I guess? The way he speaks is like how I would write an overpowered annoying know-it-all character when I was 13. So yea not my favourite. I do love their characters designs though, absolutely gorgeous in my opinion.

3. Cold Front

Gameplay: I had no problem with the gameplay, except maybe when I was running from the monster, that was the only hard part. This was a shorter game so there wasn't too much gameplay and coming down to the end I was honestly a little annoyed that we'd basically ceased gameplay and had started basically just started reading out the rest of the story. I wish there was a boss fight to the end, a little something something to really close it off would've been nice.

Story: It was heartwarming (ironic). I can not express it enough that I really love how well done the story is, both endings really got me. One was a happy ending technically with only Augustine living and it was so dark that he was happy to finally feel seen again once Winnie was dead. Winnie had no idea that he was breaking a lot of Augustine's boundaries but at the same time, these two just needed some communication and they were fine in the end which was perfectly okay with me. They both reflected and became better people together.

Characters: No notes, they were good. I loved the fucked up anxiety version of Augustine and Winnie, it really shows how anxiety is and how overthinking and keeping everything in can really harm a friendship.

2. Dead Plate

Gameplay: There is so much that needs to be talked about with the gameplay. First of all, our character Rody, does not have a side and back angle so that you can tell which way you're facing, which messed me up a lot when I tried to serve tables. When I first booted up the game it took me way too long to figure out the what to do in the tutorial (This one might be on me tbh so I won't be too mean to the game about it). The various customers did not make any facial expressions as to help indicate to the players their level of annoyance going from good-> annoyed-> angry-> leaving. I really wished they had that, even if it weren't a face at least some sounds would've been nice.

Story: I adored the story, it's fucked up, it's nice and it's overall really good. Genuinely no notes, it's cut and dry, nothing overally complicated and I loved it.

Characters: I loved the characters. Rody is so deeply in love with his girlfriend (Marieanna) and loses his sense of self. He literally does not know who he is without her and instead of listening to her and improving himself and becoming his own person, he makes himself think that if he just had enough money, that she would take him back. Vince on the other hand, woah that motherfucker is a little mad in the head isn't he? I was expecting your usual obsessive yandere esc character but no. He becomes not really obsessed but more like testing a theory. He has never tasted food and wants so desperately to make food where you can taste the love in it so when he found out about Rody whiles dating Marieanne, well he just had to put this theory to the taste test right? I also live for the theory of him wanting to express his love to Rody by feeding him the thing that he loved most (I think this theory is actually pretty solid tbh and I'm not sure if it's a theory or confirmed within the game. I played this so long ago that I've kind of forgotten).

1. Elevator Hitch

Gameplay: This one might be obvious to most people who follow me but Elevator Hitch is literally my absolute favourite. The gameplay itself was quite fun, I enjoyed the puzzles and tasks that had to be done and the uniqueness of each floor. I had one problem where I didn't realise you could look around the elevator, I wished there were some arrows to indicate you could do that but overall the gameplay was solid.

Story: The story is simple, simple in a fun complicated way. It certainly didn't answer why the building is the way it is but that was alright with me. I enjoyed especially the small glimpses at protag's life before he got stuck in the elevator. I loved the ending, the fact that he had no real choice but to go back was *chef's kiss* Sad ending for Protag but that's okay, solid story.

Characters: One of my favourite head cannons about this game is that coworker is actually pretending to be stupid about the situation that we the player are experiencing and I can be more than be convinced about that. Our main character definitely has shit going on, as saw in the end he needed that job and well the fourth floor with his parents. I loved the dialogue options and the dynamic going on between the two of them. They're both silly and share one brain cell and I adore them for that.

[centurymage]

After many days of fighting my canvas I have finally created the sugar fairies, a species of gluttonous little creatures that blesses those that make delicious desserts! The perfect little playmate for those that don't mind gaining a bit of weight on their shoulder..

I'm quite proud of how they turned out, and am looking forward to making myself one too and seeing how my friends dress up as sugar fairies~ This Halloween is gonna be great!

If anybody wants to make their own sugar fairy I'd like to take a look as well!

Redbubble

Lore/design details below:

Sugar fairies: creatures attracted to sugar and sugary goods, they often bless those that make delicious snacks, and always give a gentle forehead kiss to those that give them snacks, protecting them for a short while. 

Whilst some sugar fairies are gluttonous, it is usually in their nature to be soft and sweet, just like a delicious cake. Though, don't try to play games with them too often, you'll probably gain a little bit of weight on your shoulders..Not that you'd mind,though, sugar fairies are just too sweet to resist!

Basically, if a sugar fairy comes to see your baked goods, then you know your stuff is Hella good .

Design details: 

-Eyes- shaded like round gems with a ring of silver around them (matches wings)

-Hair- is two tone, and the sharp ends of hair end with cute lil round lumps kinda. Also sparkles

-Wings- are mostly silver, but can be other colors. The inside of the wing is like sugar glass (transparent) and sparkles. The silver of the wings is not flat, but rather encases the inside of the wing, giving it a 3d effect.

-Bodies- they have markings on their foreheads that are accompanied by the silver(or other) color of the wings and any other colors. Some fairies have gradients or markings on their limbs but they usually match their forehead markings. All sugar fairies have sharp teeth.

-Most of their design patterns contain swirls or lines. Sugar fairies fashion sense is very closely based with ballerinas and theater, with them being made to be danced in.

-most sugar fairies have a glamorous and/or decadent tastes in both clothes and foods... Some of them though, do enjoy the more junk-food variety of sweets. However, their clothes only resemble food, and are not made of it.

-Sugar fairies are born from sugar piles like they're little marshmallows being dusted with  powdered sugar to keep them from being sticky.

-They have human skin tones in order to become closer to humans , but they can have unnatural skin tones as well.

[legacydevice]

Do you know what old pc I should get for retro gaming?

Thanks for the question! Keep in mind that this is written from the assumption that you have no/very basic knowledge of older computers, so I apologize if this comes off a bit patronizing! Even if you know quite a bit, other people reading may not and I want to make sure people are knowledgeable before making a purchase!

If you dont care about hardware, and your current pc can handle it, I'd recommend setting up a VM with the operating system of your choice (windows xp would probably have the most flexibility). Look up a tutorial on how to set up a VM with VirtualBox, and you can easily find .iso files of your operating system of choice online. (Obviously be careful of what you download). This is also convenient because if you dont own physical copies of your games it's pretty easy to get the files from the internet archive and transfer them to the VM! If you need any more help with this, feel free to send me an ask and I can help you out!

If you're a hardware lover like me though, I definitely understand wanting to have the experience of the real thing! Please keep in mind im not totally educated about specs and technical stuff, so take my opinion with a grain of salt and look for others input as well (followers please add on / correct me)!

A lot of it depends on the kind of games you want to run, if you're fine with only 2d games you should be fine with most computers that have an appropriate cpu/ram for the year it was made! However, running 3d games will definitely need a good gpu. There are plenty of people on ebay who sell custom built computers geared towards retro gaming, I'd recommend looking into listings of those even if you do not want to buy on eBay just to get an idea of what you would like!

I personally use Facebook marketplace to look for old computers that I want to buy. A lot of times you can get pretty good deals on there! While not a gaming oriented computer, I got my micron millennia, including the crt monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers all for $80! It also runs pretty much any games I want to play on there, but I haven't tried any beefier 3d games yet so I'm not sure how it will do with those. You can also check local thrift stores around you as well, I've been able to find a Dell optiplex for $40 once before. I would recommend local shops rather than goodwills since most goodwills usually sell their good stuff online for auction, but it doesn't hurt to check if you're feeling lucky!

Keep in mind that buying locally very much depends on if you can drive/have access to a car, so I totally understand if this isn't an option for you. I also have only ever lived in the US so your buying options will probably be different if you are in another country. If you know of any local retro tech enthusiast groups, they could probably help you out specific to your location! Again, Facebook is a good resource to find local groups.

The other option is buying from eBay. It will be more expensive because of shipping but you can at least get something more geared to your specifics and it's more convenient if you do not have access to transportation. Searching up something like "custom retro gaming pc" or "vintage gaming pc" should help you out!

Also, if this is your first time buying an old computer, or you do not have any experience with technology repair, you may want to buy from someone who has that experience and has already refurbished the computer for you. Blown capacitors and shitty power supplies are no joke, they can be very dangerous! If you absolutely need a computer that is advertised as not working/not tested, take it to someone who knows what they're doing before plugging it in. Again, I apologize if this comes off as patronizing but I want to make sure everyone is safe and no one has any bad experiences that may turn away people from this hobby!

Another recommendation I'd give is to get something you like! I know this might be a bit obvious, but I really like windows 98 because of nostalgia reasons, and my roommate would often ask me why I didn't get a pc with windows XP. Personally all the games I want to play run fine on 98, and i'm willing to use a VM for games that need XP. Get something that makes you happy if it is within your budget and convenient for you!

I apologize if this is a bit rambly! I'm waiting for an oil change and im bored lol. Other people feel free to add on and im willing to answer more questions if needed :)

[canmom]

to (specific person) - I can't reblog yr post about game accessibility and you won't see any replies since I'm shadowbanned, so I'm posting on main, hope you see this on your dash ^^'

re: this post

so.... I think AAA studios actually care a lot more than you might think about tutorialisation and getting non-gamers up to speed on the conventions of games. they're targeting a much broader audience than most indies after all, and they have more resources to dedicate to playtesting and writing tutorials, as well as implementing accessibility options in general (look at the examples of 'best practices' for many categories). over the last decade, games have gotten much much better at creating tutorials that feel less intrusive, and teach how to play more effectively.

of course, whether they do, and how they go about it, depends a lot on the genre of game and the company in question. but if anything, a very common complaint among gamers is that modern AAA games are 'too handholdy' and don't give you space to work out how to play on your own. that isn't necessarily the same as being accessible without existing 'game literacy', but I think it is a big concern for at least certain types of AAA game.

anyway, the real question - at this point the indie dev scene is so big and diverse that it's hard to generalise. a boomer shooter and a narrative Bitsy game are both 'indie games' but they're targeting completely different people and trying to communicate completely different things.

I think Jackie's comment is right that many genres of indie games tend to be aimed at a self-selecting target audience of people who are already fans of that genre, and therefore often dispense with trying to explain it. that said, there are some indie games that really do put a priority on getting a player up to speed with a genre.

fighting games are notoriously opaque to beginners, but Them's Fighting Herds has a really good interactive tutorial on relatively advanced fighting game concepts such as frame advantage, way better than a lot of big-studio fighting games with minimal tutorials. I have yet to play it, but Neon White is widely praised as a game that gradually eases you into speedrunning.

for me as a game dev at a small VR studio, we end up talking a lot about how to make the basic interactions understandable, because interacting with VR games is a lot less standardised than interacting with flat screen games. it's also a medium where a lot of players are kids or don't play a lot of games. this is something you really gotta keep in mind when making games, because game devs tend to get into the business because they're very passionate about games, which means we have no idea what is unintuitive to most people.

an experience that was quite eye-opening to me was watching my dad try to play Portal many years ago.

on the face of it, you might think Portal would be a great first game. Portal is a game that is around 50% tutorial described as puzzles - it gradually eases you into the mechanics of how portals work and how to use them. the first few levels teach you to carry boxes, walk through portals, then they give you the ability to place just one portal, they teach you how to fling, how to redirect energy balls, etc. after you solve a puzzle, GLaDOS will usually say something funny, and this may be used to reinforce the 'lesson' of the level. the first half of the game teaches you the palette of mechanics, then the second half of the game assembles them into challenges.

but what Portal doesn't teach you is how to navigate a 3D environment using an FPS character controller. it assumes you know that, and briefly flashing the controls on the screen is enough. and for many players who are used to FPSes, this is second nature. but for my dad, the puzzle mechanics weren't the problem - simply moving around was confusing to him. he never got very far with Portal for this reason. my dad is someone who's played a lot of strategy games and adventure games back in the day, but almost no 3D games.

the tricky thing is always working out how much to assume your audience knows, what should be explained outright, and what should be set up as a puzzle to solve. people tend to find 'unnecessary' tutorials patronising, unless they're wrapped in enough humour. the game design side of youtube definitely talks about tutorials and teaching game concepts now and again, for example Adam Millard attempting to categorise the different ways games can communicate information and their relative advantages. I think it's definitely something we could stand to talk more about though, and a lot of that depends on listening to people who want to get into games but run into barriers that are invisible from this side ^^

oddly, difficult games like Dark Souls can actually be... better than you'd expect for non-gamers, because the reason they're 'difficult' is that everyone had to learn how to play them. Dark Souls is a very obtuse game which explicitly explains very little and expects you to learn to play through trial and error. however, that means someone who has played very few action games can learn Dark Souls with a comparable amount of difficulty to someone who's played other games, but not necessarily Soulslike games.

you may be interested in youtuber Razbuten's 'gaming for a non-gamer' series in which he observes his wife play through various games and what she finds unintuitive. naturally she does learn quite a lot about how games work over the course of the series.

the comments about Dark Souls in the previous paragraph are inspired by the video where she plays Elden Ring (a later game by the same developer) and ends up getting a pretty solid handle on how Soulslike games work. although I'm sure 'male gamer gets his wife to play games for a Youtube video' probably sounds pretty... ehhh, he genuinely brings a pretty thoughtful analytic perspective on the 'language' of games and how it's communicated, and I could imagine that would be interesting to hear about ^^

for my own part, I used to be pretty hopeless at action games. and I got better by playing a bunch of action games of broadly increasing difficulty. the first time I played Dark Souls, I really struggled - the hard bosses would take me hours to beat. but I liked the genre so I played lots of others like Demon's Souls, DS2, Bloodborne, DS3, Sekiro, Elden Ring alongside its cousins like Hollow Knight, and without really noticing it, I got way better at this type of game. When I came back to Dark Souls again a few years later I could breeze through challenges that were overwhelming struggles the first time.

humans are very plastic and very good at adapting to things. the constantly advancing skill frontier is a complicated problem for games. there's a fascinating video by Folding Ideas on how the way people play World of Warcraft has evolved, with an interesting anecdote how when they released WoW Classic, bosses that had been brutally difficult were blasted through in days because the way people played the game had become so hyper-optimised in the intervening years...

one problem resulting from this is that this leaves new players in the dust, and makes the game increasingly inaccessible. this is particularly acute in PVP multiplayer games - try to play a modern competitive FPS and you'll have a miserable time where you constantly die without really knowing why.

even in single player - a game aimed at satisfying experienced players in a genre is going to be a brick wall to people who haven't climbed that ladder already. a game that's still accessible to new players could end up being trivial to experienced players, who will then trash the game. but by trying to challenge the experienced players, you can increasingly paint yourself into a corner. (see a lot of complaints about the design of Elden Ring bosses from experienced Soulslike players.)

some games do manage to thread the needle though! Final Fantasy XIV very gradually (almost painfully slowly) introduces its core mechanics over the course of the very long game, and its 'roulette' system provides decent incentives for experienced players to regularly return to old content, so it's possible to find groups for almost anything. endgame FFXIV raids are fascinatingly intricate dances requiring all sorts of esoteric knowledge, but there are many gradations on the way up to that which will get you comfortable and are satisfying to play on their own. there's no obligation to play at the highest level to experience the story, but the option is there for the people who want it.

as far as CrossCode - I'd be curious about what your experience has been, what's been a sticking point, maybe I can think of some games that are an easier introduction to that type of mechanic!

if I wanted to position it relative to other games, I'd probably call CrossCode a 'Zelda-like isometric action/puzzle game'. it's leaning on the aesthetic of the last generation of 2D isometric games, like Chrono Trigger or Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, but it plays a lot faster like a modern action game (I think it has an iframe dodge, but it's been a while). CrossCode as I recall has a reasonable tutorial on its controls (shooting discs and stuff like that) but I could imagine going from that to stringing up long combos and quickly moving between groups of enemies, or navigating the large multi-screen areas, could be quite a jump.

but yeah I wanna help haha. I do genuinely love games, and I want to make games that don't necessarily assume you're intimately familiar with the last 10+ years of the medium lol.

[neonbutchery]

Hi! Did you use any specific tutorials to learn how to mod bg3 heads? I was wondering if you shared/didn’t mind sharing

i did!

obligatory disclaimer that i already have years of experience doing 3d and working with blender, so there's probably a bigger learning curve if you also have to learn blender. if this is the case, this is the shortest tutorial i can link that covers how to navigate the program and basic interface for beginners. you don't really need to know a lot of blender to edit head meshes, just the basics.

you can extract all the head meshes using lslib, opening it, going to the PAK/LSV tools and choosing the Models.pak file from the Baldurs Gate 3/Data folder. head files are often found in Generated\Public\Shared\Assets\Characters\_Anims, and then classified by race and gender. Ex: Lae'zel's head mesh is located in Generated\Public\Shared (or SharedDev)\Assets\Characters\_Anims\Githyanki\_Female\Resources. head meshes are always named something like (RACE)_(GENDER)_NKD_Head_(character creator preset number or character name). the ones that end with a letter (Head_A, B, C, etc) are mostly character creator presets, whereas named characters with their own unique head meshes will have their names (Head_Laezel, Head_Karlach, etc). if you're just looking to edit a specific character, searching for their name on the file explorer is faster and easier than to go looking through files tbh.

you'll need this blender addon to be able to open .gr2 files (which is the main file bg3 uses for 3d meshes). there are installation instructions in the page itself, but if you need help feel free to reach out!

now, onto the head mesh editing itself: this is the only tutorial that has ever worked for me. it's easy to follow (provided you know how to use blender already), fast, and works for every head mesh from every body type.

a couple more tips that aren't in the video: in blender sculpting mode, click the "mask" brush and then paint the areas closer to the ears, eyes, and neck seams to avoid the final result looking wonky because of deformation. the mask basically keeps those areas from being deformed and shows up as gray spots on your mesh.

follow the rest of the tutorial linked above, and you're done!

i still have no clue of how to add modified heads as new standalone presets, so i honestly can't give you any advice on that. my skillset right now lies mainly on replacing already existing in-game meshes with modified ones. if i ever figure out how to or find a good tutorial i'll update this!

and i don't mind sharing my mod process at all! in fact, i myself am frustrated with how inaccessible the bg3 modding community can be sometimes to total beginners (tutorials tend to be very technical and specialized), so i hope i explained this well. if you have any further questions let me know or pm me and i can help with most stuff as long as it's within my skillset (editing textures and meshes and replacing them in-game.)

[munchbell45]

yahiko and yamato for the character ask game :D !!

I'm not good at the song association thing, so I will skip that one. Sorry. IDK, I tend to listen to instrumental stuff, and I don't always think "OMG, this is so Skleeby from Splungo's Adventure" when I listen to music.

I will say that i sometimes picture (in my mind) angsty AMVs or animations of Nagato and Konan (post-Yahiko's death) set to Anemoia by Oliver Buckland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0guReRtGWI&pp=ygUHYW5lbW9pYQ%3D%3D

Though that may be because the song was used in a really cool video game trailer.

Yahiko

Favourite thing about them?

I love his sincere desire to change the world for the better, as well as his love of others and hope for a better future. Of course, it's not just hope but also a DRIVE to make the world better. He just seems like such a sweet, hardworking dude, and if he was real I would love to know him.

Least favourite thing about them?

The fact that we don't get to see more of him. TBF, he died well before the start of Naruto, so we only see him through memories (and that one weird Infinite Tsukuyomi filler story, but I digress.) I want to see how he'd interact with MORE canon characters, I want to see MORE of the original Akatsuki, and I want to know MORE about the Hidden Rain Village.

I'd love a spin-off miniseries about the Hidden Rain Village.

Favourite line?

I'm not always the best at memorizing lines, but I'll go with this one, where he sets out to go on a mission to scout out an area.

"This land is crying, as usual. It continues to endure much pain. In the past, I hated this land that was crying all the time. But now... I want to save it... I truly feel that way. It's too much like the crybaby I used to be for me to leave it alone."

brOTP?

Obviously he is besties with Konan and Yahiko, they have a truly inseparable bond. I also imagine that he was close with each and every member of the original Akatsuki.

Sadly, there are only a few characters we see him interact with in canon, and many of them are minor.

In a happier timeline where nothing bad happened and the Hidden Leaf was magically not corrupt at all, I could see him being friends with Naruto.

OTP?

Nagato/Yahiko/Konan. They have a deep bond, forged through their collective efforts to endure many hardships. To me, it's as if they are destined to be together and to always develop a deep, intimate care and affection for each other. Even if they were to reincarnate, they'd find each other once more.

nOTP?

Yahiko/Obito, Jiraiya/Yahiko (IDK if anyone ships that, LOL,) Zetsu/Yahiko, Madara/Yahiko (Is that a thing?)

Random headcanon?

He learned how to do a lot of basic repairs, so that if the shack got beaten up, he could fix it. I could also see him loving children.

Unpopular opinion?

My man's underrated. I feel like most people tend to either forget about him or just think of him as the guy that became the Deva Path. I mean... I get why, but I wish he was more popular. How can you not love him?

Favourite picture of them?

Two options. I hope these load in.

A: This panel (I am typing this on my computer and GIMP is being a bitch, so no crop.)

B: (My PFP as of 2/5/2024)

Yamato

I am very neutral on him, so my apologies for some lame-ass answers. Also, i felt like I spent a lot of time writing my opinions on Yahiko.

Favourite thing about them?

His abilities were neat, as one of the few who could use Wood Style. i also respect how he tried his best to keep Team 7 in check and (later on) help rebuild the Hidden Leaf after Pain destroyed it.

Least favourite thing about them?

The fact that he was sidelined for most of the War Arc, serving little use outside of buffing up Zetsus. IDK, that was kind of disappointing.

Oh, I also feel weird about the fact that he's supposed to watch Orochimaru in Boruto. Like, if we treat the anime backstory as canon, dude should be traumatized by Orochimaru.

Favourite line?

That one where he threatens to use "draconic measures" on Team 7 when they keep arguing and fighting each other, I guess.

brOTP?

Kakashi once they are both adults. Sai after he is free from Dan's control, since they could relate to each other a lot (especially if you treat his anime backstory as canon.)

I could see maybe see him befriending Anko as well.

OTP?

KakaYama?

Maybe Yamato/Shizune. Yamato/Anko would either be cool or would suck.

nOTP?

Yamato/Orochimaru, Yamato/Kabuto

Random headcanon?

After the War Arc, he hangs out with Asuka, Kurenai, Guy, and Kakashi. They all reminisce about being teachers and vent to each other about weird crap that happens on the job.

Unpopular opinion?

Um... I thought the ANBU Kakashi filler arc (and Yamato's role in it) was overrated.

Dude needs more development, but that's probably the opposite of an unpopular opinion.

Favourite picture of them?

I hope this one loads in. I've been taking way too long writing this.