#because as of right now i am literally just sharing my gameplay

[druidberries]

anddd now we're switching perspectives a bit, meet hades and belladonna crowe. hades is a reaper living in mourningvale with his dog, belladonna. bella passed away many years ago now, but with the help of a spellcaster she can now live on as an immortal skeleton dog!

hades was left at an orphanage in ravenwood as a newborn and spent his entire childhood there. he was always seen as the strange kid and didn't have any friends, until belladonna came along. when he was 17 he attempted to run away from the orphanage but was stopped in his tracks by a near-death experience. when the grim reaper came for the reaping and discovered a teenager- alive and well, it created an...awkward...encounter. grim took pity on the poor boy and realized he could make an opportunity out of this...one thing lead to another and hades has been working for grim ever since!

previous // next

like with lorelai, I have already made a few posts about hades so if you'd like to check those out you can do so here and here!

also because I didn't put it on the pictures: his aspiration is renaissance sim and his traits are macabre, dog lover, loner, music lover, hot-headed!

[iraprince]

I love the entire concept of Cookie... the look, the fashion, the gender... Would you mind telling us a little more about him? I'm also intrigued about why she's named Cooking with Gorgeous!

HI i would LOVE to talk about george thank you so much. also this makes me realize i've never actually sat down and just made a post unabashedly infodumping at length abt an oc before and it seems silly that i haven't. i ask only for all dear readers to please temper their expectations for this post with the knowledge that i just smoked half a joint before sitting down to answer it. a small one. but still. anyway

FIRST OF ALL FOR THE UNACQUAINTED THIS IS COOKING WITH GORGEOUS, aka cookie or george for short. he uses he/him and she/her pronouns interchangeably!

hi sorry that's not cookie that's a horse in a bridal veil that i. found in my stuff while trying to scroll and find my cookie art. i just got distracted and had to show you. okay no for real here's cookie

he's the character i'm playing in a playtest campaign of the absolutely mesmerizing sapphicworld, an in-development ttrpg!!! and if i'm going to be talking about cookie i feel like i HAVE to say i think a huge amount of her charm and dazzle and charisma comes directly from the charm and dazzle and charisma of the setting i created her for. i know i am laying it on really thick right now but that is on purpose. i want, desperately and unashamedly, for this game to get really popular bc 1. it's genuinely that good. and it's not even DONE yet and 2. i want everyone to get into it so that everyone will make sapphicworld characters and then i'll get to see everyone's sapphicworld characters.

EDIT i'm scrolling back up here and adding a readmore bc this is already getting so long lol. you asked for "a little more" and apparently i have graciously decided this means "literally every fact about cookie that exists in my brain"

SO a lot of the info/tidbits i haven't shared about cookie are i guess gameplay-specific stuff... his title (which is like a class/playbook) is "The Noble Sweetheart," though in sapphicworld "nobility" no longer has anything to do with wealth or class, and is instead entirely about amassing a court purely via devotion/popularity; her subculture (which is like, Who You Hang Out With; drifters, goths, poets, debauchers, cowpokes, etc) is Babe; and her kind (which is like ancestries but in sapphicworld is really just like, a physical form, which u can change more or less at will) is Lunarthrope, which is basically a werewolf!! or more broadly a furry, since u always look like whatever were-animal you are 24/7. just MORE at night, tho i suppose i don't represent that aspect much in my cookie art... ANYWAY i am restraining myself from just sitting here and like. transcribing her entire character sheet. but basically what all this means is that cookie's role in the world (at least at the beginning of the campaign) is "Professionally — no, VOCATIONALLY Hot Person who everyone loves so so so so so so much." cookie really enjoys this role.

he's named cooking with gorgeous because he's an avid cook, and he wants to share that with you, and he's gorgeous!! though honestly the cooking hasn't ended up as important to his character as it was when i first came up with him, lol — but my initial concept was kind of like, what's the equivalent of a bouncy normie recipe blogger/lifestyle influencer but in the context of the lush horny trans deathless psychedelic universe of sapphicworld. and it's cooking with gorgeous, a doggirl dyke with big blue boobs (six of them!!) who is so devastatingly cute and darling that a bunch of people just kind of pledge their fealty to him for no real reason other than he feeds them. and is cute

also her name is def influenced by the fantastic names of many canon sapphicworld npcs! like, quick example list of some npc names off the top of my head: the booty commie, death cybernetic, princess eureka!, the culinary goof (whom cookie dislikes. btw.), pizza friday (whom cookie loves!!!)

cookie is very very determined, and she's ALMOST always very confident. even when she isn't feeling confident, she's still very good at forcing herself to keep putting one foot in front of the other — maybe just while screaming or crying or uncontrollably barking or at least very ardently complaining. he has a tendency to be spoiled and, like, tactless-via-obliviousness, so sometimes he can be grating to interact with, and he has a petty/vindictive streak; but in general he's an AGGRESSIVELY kind person and usually aims all his shrill, cheerful stubbornness directly toward the goal of refusing to accept anything but the best for everyone.

at the beginning of our campaign cookie has JUST received a brand new castle!!!! (chateau gorgeous.) which he doesn't actually "own" bc, remember, no wealth or class in sapphicworld, but he's the ENTHUSIASTIC new caretaker and is chomping at the bit to renovate it so ppl can live there and he can throw a bunch of magnificent parties and basically continue living exactly as he has been, But Even More Fabulous. obviously this is exactly when the main plot threat of the campaign shows up and spoils everything and compels cookie to go on his First Ever Adventure!!!!!! she HAS to save the world otherwise NOBODY will be able to go to the first big party at chateau gorgeous :((((

at this point to prevent myself from just like, giving you guys a play by play of the entire campaign so far i am going to just start listing every cookie fact i can think of as bullet points

🎀 he owns a magical sword in the shape of a giant microplane. it's called The Microplane. he pronounces this "mee-crow-plah-nay"

🎀 george desperately wants to resurrect The Dog-Lich, an entity that once ruled over all beasts from its palace on the moon but was murdered and torn to pieces in a cosmic war far in the past. her attitude towards this desire is 50% devoted lunar cultist, 50% parasocially obsessive twitter stan

🎀 this isn't really a cookie fact but going back to how his title is The Noble Sweetheart — just for a glimpse at party composition, his fellow party members' titles are The Intimate Scholar, The Tentacle Advocate, and The Tw*nk Controversial (the * is the canon spelling).

^ aforementioned tw*nk. its name is Mwah ("pronounced like the kiss you blow at someone you just fucked over"). mwah is played by @/squiddelyfather on twitter!

🎀 mwah and cookie used to be very, very tight, BEFORE mwah became the tw*nk controversial. now that it's so.... you know.... controversial, well. they're still very close, but it has gotten a little stilted and weird (and watching them slowly un-weird it together as the campaign goes on has been one of my fav roleplay experiences ever honestly)

🎀 cookie's other adventuremates, skarligge and delaryn, are both very indulgent towards him. delaryn acts the most grumpy/dismissive about it but is honestly sometimes the worst about spoiling cookie out of anyone in the party (skarligge's player is twt@/clown_dream and delaryn's is twt@/glaiveguisarme and hey while im at it our fantastic gm is the sapphicworld dev, twt@/ddemoneclipse. hi guys i hope u don't mind me chattering abt ur ocs here lol it's just hard to talk abt the best of cookie w/o bringing up everyone else's characters and roleplay also!!!)

🎀 cookie is very VERY sensitive and will burst into tears at the drop of a hat. the precursor to this is her eyes getting So So So Big And Wet And Round. one of my favorite bits to menace the other party members with is when something is not going cookie's way i will lean into my mic and say "cookie's eyes are getting so so so big. they're getting so big and wet and round and shiny. they're so so round and fucking big her eyes are like big wet black glass marbles" and this is like kryptonite to them. this is like getting hit with deadly radiation

🎀 oh speaking of fashion!!!! one of cookie's perks from being a Babe is that she can always change her look whenever she wants. she will ALWAYS have whatever outfit she needs and can quickchange instantly. wait this reminds me i have a bunch of seasonal holiday outfits sketched out and i don't think i've ever posted them here but it'll only let me put one more image in this post. well here have this one

🎀 okay well suddenly i have forgotten all other george facts so that's all for now!!! from now on i will try to just dump oc facts like this more often tho this is really fun. ty for getting me going lol!!!

[dangan-stuck]

We're here, dammit. This is DanganStuck, and these are the V3 character casts!

SPOILER ALERT. This whole thing contains major spoilers for V3! 

So, this all started when we found a dead body in the Lab… 

Sorry, it’s an inside joke!

Hello, I guess? I don’t know what I’m doing, but here I am, telling you about the Danganronpa x Homestuck AU crossover.

I’m developing this project (?) with [ @happy6machine , @julia-bunncat ] and with the help of some other cool guys as a support team. Lots of headcanon material has accumulated, and progress in the development of the au has simply... stalled, and I thought I’d try to share it >_< because I haven’t seen anyone else doing something like this so extensively!

I’ll start with V3 (my current fandom fixation) and castes, I guess!! The choice for some characters was pretty obvious and straightforward (ex: olive cast for Ryoma and Tenko, purple for Kokichi, indigo for Gonta and etc.), others were more unusual options (violet for Kaito, whaat?), but I swear I have an explanation behind them :Ъ

But first, I’d like to make a small remark: We hadn’t set a specific lore for the whole thing. Sometimes we experimented with transforming characters into trolls during gameplay to see how it would work, leaving the game plot, killings, interactions and so on untouched. Other times, we made up certain plot snippets and events as if they all lived on Alternia. Occasionally, we’ve stayed in the session area (which we’ll discuss further), prescribing classpects, castes, quadrants, and so forth—all these options were considered.

Now back to the castes, let's go in order:

• Himiko is the weakest, slowest, and laziest member of the V3 cast. She isn't very bright, or at least she's too caught up in fantasies. She's also, well, red. I didn't see the point in making up something special for her, so I just put her in the rust caste. It also makes the dynamic between her and some of the other characters very intriguing, which I'll discuss later. Her desire to perform tricks can be interpreted as 'service/entertainment for the people', literally a jester for the public, which suits the lower castes. But what are the tricks? Well, rust and psychic powers, right? :D So Himiko has psychic powers, though not very powerful ones... And still calls it magic, of course.

• Kaede was a… difficult case. OK, my excuse: I wanted to include a representative of every caste (except Fuchsia) at least once, and Kaede got caught in the hot seat. But she's bronze for more than just that reason!  There's a joke that I'll tell you about some other time, because I want to hold its punch for a while. As it is, we're hooked on the scene in the first chapter where Kaede immediately falls on her knees in front of Miu (instinct of subordination??). Also, the music is associated with birds, and all animals are associated with the bronze caste. Of course, Kaede is extremely... feisty and enthusiastic for such a caste, but luckily she has many highblood friends—including Kaito, who stood up for her in-game, and if they were trolls, it would work perfectly ;)

• /heavy sigh/ Keebo.

I originally drew this art [link] when my friends and I were just starting to get through V3, and I just liked the sort of black dynamic between the three of them. I didn't think much about the castes at the time, but ironically they haven't changed.

There are some problems with Keebo, because he's obviously a robot, and I want to keep him as a robot in this AU. The most realistic option is that Keebo is a prototype for a new kind of drone to be used on spaceships. After all, he is an advanced AI imitating a troll, so it makes sense to give him some blood color. Gold blood is often associated with the "trolls are used as batteries on ships” theme, and Keebo was literally created to maintain ships. It's... a bit of a stretch, really, but that's all we have for now. I think the lore will be expanded upon in the future.

• Korekiyo. Giving him gold blood was sort of a joke at first, playing on the fact that Korekiyo, like Sollux, has a point that grants him duality—his sister. However, as we fleshed out the lore, the choice felt increasingly fitting. I'll be writing separate posts, probably more than one, to outline his lore because, folks, this is FIRE. I never particularly liked Kork in the game, but now- hell, I LOVE him. Have pity on the poor boi; he's suffered a lot.

• Ryoma and Tenko. Since they both get the olive caste on the same principle, I will combine them. Guys, It's literally a catboy and a catgirl; what other questions could there be?

Okay, technically, Tenko also receives olive blood because she is combative and strong, which are characteristics of this caste. She generally looks like a cat herself ([EN] we’re referring to her fangs and headband with ears in the beta design, her collar with the bell and some of her facial expressions on the sprites), and her temper matches her caste. I'm not sure how to adapt her hatred of men to Homestuck... yet. Maybe she'll hate highbloods instead? That's something to think about.

Ryoma, for his part, with his whole cat theme (his Lusus is a cat, of course), the resemblance of cat ears on his hat, and his tendency to stare into space—he's a good fit too. And despite his small size, he is quite strong.

• Maki. And that's where the problems and doubts begin to unfold. We were deciding whether to make her olive or maybe jade, given her backstory. After all, she disguises herself as a caretaker in canon, and you wouldn't expect a girl from an orphanage to turn out to be a professional assassin. On the other hand, you might expect that from an olive caste troll. Actually, there are indeed olive assassins. But several factors convinced me to give her this particular caste:

- Maki herself is like a wild cat. Her killer stare, mouth shape, quick reactions, strength, agility, grace.

- raising jade trolls as ''assassins'' sounds not only ideologically dubious (after all, the jade caste has a special place in troll society), but also illogical. Jade's killing instinct is probably suppressed, otherwise there would be complete bloodbath in the brooding caves, they wouldn't get along with each other, they wouldn't be able to take care of wigglers.

- yeah, we've sort of canonised Maki being raised by a group of trolls to be an assassin. And raising an olive for that purpose is a perfectly reasonable idea, given their natural abilities.

- the idea for the jade caste came from the fact that children are attracted to Maki. However, Maki gets surprised by this fact every time. She calls it silly, paradoxical, and strange. Well, it wouldn't be strange at all if wigglers were attracted to a jade blood troll; that's natural. But the fact that they are attracted to an olive one should come as a surprise, even to Maki herself.

• Kirumi. Wasn’t overthinking it. The caste is given to her at the same time because of the method of exclusion (others don't really fit) and because of her calmness, composure, and desire to care for others. Kirumi can also be very, very dangerous, just like the jades in canon ;)

• Rantaro. Anybody ordered male jade? I love them personally, despite knowing they're very rare. Well, that choice is pretty obvious: Rantaro is filled with the desire to care for and protect his younger siblings. Where else could he end up but in the jade caste? He's also just a handsome guy with the cutest face, and he's GREEN, dammit! I made my choice immediately. And there's already a story about him! It's small, but we're definitely going to expand it.

• Shuichi. Do I have to explain anything??? Well, in case someone doesn't know, teal caste and detective work are two sides of the same (hee hee) coin, there was simply no other way.

• Angie. Blue caste. Uuuh, yeah, the elimination method again, I suppose? At first, I considered gold blood to maintain the original palette, but Angie has a blue caste psycho vibe to me. Damn, she's brainwashed half the class at some point! What else could it be but minor mind control? Also, Angie is quite bossy, feels at ease, and has the markings of a dominant personality (oh, the Love Hotel scene...). Blue caste suits her.

• Tsumugi. So, okay, given all her statements about her being "plain" and "nonexistent," it would seem that she should have been given low blood. But listen to this: she BULLIES MIU!

...okay, this might not be entirely obvious, but Tsumugi often makes all sorts of sarcastic comments about the other characters, most of which you can only notice if you replay V3 with knowledge of the plot. Her tweaks towards Miu are more noticeable, though, and considering that Miu herself is an indigo blood, it goes down well. Tsumugi is high-blooded enough to tease the indigo troll, saying things like, "Hey, why is it that as soon as someone starts talking back to you, you immediately turn into such a wimp?" She's also high-blooded enough to ignore Kaede when she tries to talk to her at the beginning of the game. Her blue caste might be the reason the killing game worked out at all, considering how many mistakes Tsumugi made. Who knows, maybe she also created Flashback Lights with her psychic powers...

And... eh. I confess. I wanted to keep her in blue colors, in addition to all the above reasons, so I didn't really consider any other castes.

• Miu. Indigo caste, wow! Well, considering her behavior and the fact that no one had ever punched her through the entire game, it’s CLEARLY obvious. Only a high-blooded troll, a really high-blooded troll, could afford to be so rude to those much lower down. The funny thing is that she targeted low and mid-bloods more often: Kaede, Shuichi, sometimes Himiko, Korekiyo, and Keebo. She didn’t bother, or almost didn’t, with Gonta, Kaito, and even COOPERATED with Kokichi—as if she had to, as if she were afraid of crossing the paths of those above her in caste. Also, Miu said she liked it when Kaede and Shuichi knelt before her...

You might ask—why not purple caste? Still, Miu’s strange behavior is a bit like that of a purple-blooded schizo, isn't it? Well... Firstly, there's nothing to suggest that Miu belongs to this weird purple cult. Secondly, Miu’s odd behavior when someone insults her gives us an interesting, almost Equius-like, God forgive me, “I'm superior to you, but I want to obey; it's SO WRONG but so arousing” conflict.

• Gonta. There was no reason to even try. I did have a stray thought, due to Gonta's nature and his connection to bugs, to place him in the bronze caste, but...no. Given his immense power and his lack of insanity like that of the purple-blooded trolls, you can't put him anywhere other than the indigo caste. Plus, he's from a noble family himself. And this ALSO creates a cool dynamic and adds interesting lore aspects to Homestuck!Gonta that I like VERY much and will definitely cover in other posts!!!!

• Kokichi. Oooh reeeally, who'd have thought? Of course he's purple-blooded! It's not that simple, though. Kokichi is definitely not a crazy purple cultist like most members of the purple caste. We are going to be talking about that separately, and believe me, I will give this guy a lot of lore, because I freaking love him. There isn't much else to say–no other blood color suits him better.

• AND HERE WE ARE: VIOLET-BLOODED KAITO, WAT???? Okay, let me explain!

1. I have a headcanon that violet-bloods are not as obsessed with the hemospectrum as land trolls. This is due to the fact that they are mostly isolated, living in the sea. In that environment, there are only fuchsia caste above them, and no one below them Occasionally, rare purple-bloods get caught on the shores, but EVEN then, their status isn't significantly lower. They don't live in a society where lower-bloods are constantly stigmatized and killed for no reason. They simply don't have any possibilities to "grow" those oppressive, rigid attitudes. Eridan shows this well: no matter how much he talks about hating land dwellers, he always interacts with other trolls on almost equal footing—for example, by hitting on everyone and asking Karkat for advice.

2. Kaito has strong leadership skills and a desire to guide, mentor, and support others. He stands up for Kaede, takes Shuichi under his wing, and protects Maki. This demonstrates the attitude of a strong leader willing to take responsibility. It seems very reasonable for an intelligent, thoughtful violet who knows that he is in a position of authority and must be relied upon. He can't afford to appear weak. No wonder he hasn't told anyone about his illness...

3. He conquered the sea... AND CAME TO LAND!!! All these stories about Kaito in Homestuck could become TRUE if he really is a troll with access to EVERYTHING. Fight a pirate king? Hell yeah! And he WANTS to go into space! Maybe not to enslave worlds, but to get off the planet and pilot a ship—why not? He has nothing to fear, unlike many other trolls, as he'd literally be in charge, with only the Empress above him. But back to his travels: tired of his life at sea, Kaito could just go and explore the land, and nothing can stop him. No other troll but a sea troll could afford to do that (although land trolls shouldn't go to sea).

4. Kaito is daring. And combative. He is pretty much the only one in the class who has no problem expressing his displeasure to Kokichi (a purple blood!) regularly and hitting him. Kaito is generally capable of aggression (I shudder to think how Shuichi must have felt when he was punched—minus another protagonist?) and emotion, which is also characteristic of the highblood. Even when he tries to stop Kokichi at the end, he's probably the only one who can do so after Gonta and Miu was killed.

5. COLOUR SCHEME. Let's just leave him with a beautiful violet. Especially as a highblood, he has every right to dress up. Even a star coat :з

Aaand yeah that's it! It has been a bit of a journey, hasn't it? Gosh, I'm really embarrassed. If you made it to the end, I love you guys so much!!!! I hope you enjoyed it!!! I'll develop this thread if there's minimal feedback and people are interested. And, uh, if you have any questions or anything, go for it. Questions help develop this whole thing.

TRANSLATION PREPARED BY MY FAVORITE WONDERFUL FRIENDS SUNSHINES I LOVE YOU WITHOUT YOU THIS WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU <33333

[fanon-elio]

Ya'll just know imma write for him when he releases.

So, there is this new open world gacha game that's currently in beta testing. Neverness to Everness

And they have a lot of stunning characters, but one character captured my interesst in peticular.

being this dude right here.

He feels like a mixture of both Lycaon and Gallagher, and I'm here for it honestly.

This might also just be me coping, cuz I still haven't gotten over Gallagher's death 😭

When I look at him, I just immediately think Police officer or Body guard or something.

And honestly I'm hoping for that, cuz I love men and woman in uniform.

One of the big reasons why I believe he might be a Police officer / Body Guard is due to the guns in their holsters on his Design that he, funnily enough, doesn't even use in battle.

His weapon if choice is actually his Shadow which I find very creative. It does make sense since as far as I know his name is Skia, which means Shadow in greek.

The undone tie around his neck, makes me assume that he's gonna be a bit more like Gallagher when it comes to appearence and perhaps personality (even though we know literally nothing yet)

Also, sorry for the horrible quality of the gifs (-.-')

He's still very dapper dude though. When I first saw him, I immediately sat down to draw him. (Even though the colors might be wrong but ya'll know the drift by this point) Also because I'm currently trying to wrap my head around lighting and color theory. If you have any tips that can help me improve, do share them with me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Yes, I am aware that some details in the drawings are wrong, but when I realized it had already been too late. 🤷‍♂️ Certainly a very interessting concept, and ya'll just know that I'm gonna write for him as soon as we know more about his Character, Lore and Personality.

Alright, that's all for now.

I'll upload something in the following days after all of the holiday stuff is out of the way.

I also wish everyone a happy late Christmas.

Btw Here is the Tiktok from which I used the videos of his gameplay.

Stay safe everyone.

-Elio

[luvtonique]

I feel like my artist career might be nearly over.

Now mind you, not because I'm burnt out, or because of some kind of controversy, but entirely because I don't know how much longer I can keep trying to push forward with it.

I don't hate my art, I don't even dislike it. It's my passion, and I want my entire life to be a life or creating art and telling stories.

I love sharing what I create with the world and I love having support from my fanbase.

But as of right now, I just can't get anyone noticing anything I do.

I've been working on a video game for almost a full year now, have gameplay footage I've shown, sprite animations, story I've shown off, characters I've been drawing and describing and giving backstories, and I get like 20 notes tops on anything I post.

I do streams for an average of 5 viewers every Monday and Wednesday and Friday. 5 viewers.

I have had a fundraiser to get me out of California because I can't afford to live here, I'm disabled, and I have a 75yo mother and an autistic brother I'm trying to get out of here too, and I barely scraped together $3000 of donations over the last year.

I pour my heart and soul into music that I've been writing and I'm met with backlash or people flat out ignoring the songs I post because people say my lyrics I write aren't worthy of notice or a paycheck. Soundcloud outright denied my ability to monetize my music. Completely. I am no longer able to request monetization.

The state of California has spent the last 15 years denying my attempts to get SSI, state disability, any kind of social security for my rheumatoid arthritis, and I even got told by a disability lawyer that they had to decline my case because I don't take medication for my disability. When I told them I don't have medical insurance because I don't qualify for MediCAL, they said that isn't their problem.

I watch other artists with 170,000 followers on Twitter bashing me and saying I don't deserve my fanbase for reasons they're just making up, and when I try to defend myself they just bash me harder and block me while I'm over on Twitter with like 300 followers and not getting noticed by anyone.

I reach out to my friends to get retweets, reblogs, etc. and I get nothing. No help, no love, after literal years of me promoting them and doing multistreams with them and collabs with them to help them get noticed.

I've even been blocked by multiple friends of mine when I asked if they wanted to partner up for projects. Really! Blocked! Outright blocked because people want so badly to get away from me!

I am literally starving. I'm currently eating stale sourdough bread that my mom made 2 weeks ago because it's all we have in the house.

I'm sitting here suffering constantly and when I ask people if they wanna like do a collab or do an art trade they always tell me they don't have time, and then the next day I see them post 6-7 art trades they did with another artist.

I make fan-art or fan-music for my artist friends and they just completely ignore it.

I am planning to rework my Patreon into a game dev Patreon to help support my solo development on Melodi, and I guarantee with certainty it won't breach $300 a month.

I have spent my entire life from age 11 to age 35 just working hard to make a living off of my art and all I have earned is a reputation as "a shithead" who never gets given the opportunity to question or debate or be interviewed by the people who call me a shithead.

I'm on the verge of fizzling out.

I'm barely surviving.

And when my game comes out, some day, it may very well be the last thing you ever see from me. I may just leave the internet. I may give up and go find another life to live.

Because even though this is my dream, even though this is all I've ever wanted to do with my life, even though I'm talented and my few fans I still have love everything I make and constantly tell me that my creations are gorgeous, I just plain can't keep doing this forever. I cannot, and will not, continue to suffer alone and obscure.

Case in point: This post is gonna get 2-6 comments from the same people who comment on all my emotional posts saying "I wish I could help but I can't so here's a virtual hug," 16-25 likes and 2 reblogs. And then I'll delete the post.

[celuere]

Hallo Al!

I've been a fan of your works for...a while and am down on my knees for Arlecchino

But I have a slight problem. I've also started falling for Mavuika and the fact that they both are in 5.3 banners is extremely frustrating. So now I have to choose between Arky or Mavuika. I was thinking about going with Arlecchino as Mavuika will probably have a rerun. What do you think I should do?-

Also just saying again I just absolutely love your works

ooooh idk if I‘m the right person for that question because I‘m a meta NERD. i also might be biased since I have Arle on C6 (NO I AM NOT A WHALE), but I‘ll try sharing my opinion on the current situation you are in.

starting with Arle, it is her second banner and I don‘t think she will have second rerun before 6.0. she’s even at low investment a very good damage dealer and by low investment i mean LOW investment. literally give her white tassel and 4p gladiator and throw her in a team with xingqiu, bennett and sucrose and that‘s it. but she also scores in high versatility and doesn’t have to rely on vaporize, melt etc at all. you can put her in hundreds of combinations and she‘d still deal massive damage event at c0. she is just that girl. i am just waiting for a bond of life support at this point.

now about mavuika, it is always a bit difficult for me to rate a characters gameplay without having actual in game comparisons, so I‘ll base matters off of her kit. mavuika is a damage dealer than can be used as either an off-field or on-field unit. her elemental skill manifests a ring that follows the active character around and deals nightsoul-aligned pyro damage at a set interval of two seconds. a fairly good pyro application if you are asking me, while xiangling does an equal good job but the focus of her kit is actually her ultimate so let us move over to that.

mavuika‘s burst is the first burst in the entire game that doesnt use energy like every other to charge up, it uses „fighting spirit“. fighting spirit has a limit of 200 and mavuika can trigger it once it reaches 100 fighting spirit. but to get out the highest damage from her, you want to use her burst with full fighting spirits (her damage seems to be diabolically high btw). now the main problem for me arises here: to gather fighting spirit faster, you will need natlan characters. you can also gather them via using normal attacks with party members but the gain is so LOW, without xilonen it‘s not a viable option imo. but again, there is still the option of using her as a sub dps in a large variety of teams and she will probably get more team options in the future so not all hope is lost.

Now this was just my meta view on the situation! mavuika will get a rerun on before august either way so if you skip her for arle and regret it later on- don‘t be sad! at the end of the day they are both wonderfully written characters and you should pull for whatever characters speaks to you more, maybe you are lucky and can manage to even pull them both! i hope i could help anon and tysm for enjoying my works❤️

[simulation-machine]

SIMS RELATED PROJECTS/UPDATES

My spring break is coming up in a week and holy crap do I have plans on plans on plans, especially since my summer is gonna be full of school + internship + HOPEFULLY friggin' graduating with a BA in Psychology so that I can start applying to grad schools.

Read more iffin' you'd like! It's long! Here's a picture of my golden retriever napping on her brother's food bowl to entice/entertain you:

god she is so precious i would literally kill for her

GOAL 1: MASTER GSHADE/ReSHADE

I know that some people are sticklers for this but my thing is that I had no gee-dee clue what I was doing with ReShade, whereas Gshade just kinda clicked and worked for me? That said I have a bunch of resources for learning ReShade so I might end up moving back to it at some point.

My main issue is figuring out the order of all the different effects. It obviously matters, I'm sure people smarter than me have tried to use presets only to be like "why tf does this look absolutely nothing like the baller screenshots this one cool Simblr has?" Annnd it turns out it's order + remembering to turn off certain graphic settings. Also photoshop, but that's gonna take a lot longer for me to figure out lol.

Like I'd been struggling to figure out why @gunthermunch's gorgeous Lithium preset wasn't looking as sexy as it did before annnnd it's because I forgot to turn Edge Smoothing off when switching to it. Jesus wept at how dippy I am sometimes.

Eventually, what I would like to do is maybe make my own preset at some point? I would be kind enough to show the effect order too if I did so. But this requires so, so much more shader knowledge than I currently have.

FUN FACT: My first ever degree was in art, I even went to a very fancy and private art school (School of the Art Institute of Chicago if you're curious)- I dropped out after one semester because uhhh that shit is expensive. Ended up finishing my degree at a much cheaper location in MN. That said, my art was 100% analog and 2D, and it turns out it did not translate super well into trying my hand at graphic art.

It's funny because I've been gifted really neat stuff for graphic art (like a really nice Wacom tablet and Adobe subscriptions), like people just expected my mixed-media ass would know what to do with it. NOPE! But yeah, Sims is sort of my excuse to try my hand at this stuff again, especially since I have a bit more energy now that my soul is not regularly being drained out of my body by customer service and tech support jobs.

GOAL 2: GET CRACKIN' ON ANOTHER DOOR

This one is hard because I am only on Gen 2 of the Orsons and it's sort of hard to justify starting up another story while that one is less than 1/5 of the way done.

THAT SAID, I don't plan on posting Another Door until I have a decent chunk of it done. Since it's not a casual gameplay story nor a legacy challenge, I plan on editing the bajeez out of the screenshots for it, really honing in on the aesthetic. I want it to look and feel very different from my random legacy challenge.

Fortunately, this story has been fucking up my sleep schedule for *months* now and I have a lot of the writing for it done. The hard part is translating that into the Sims, making sure I get the right poses and stuff, maybe even learning how to make some super easy CC (like, posters and stuff), and stuff related to GOAL 1 above.

What I'm saying is that it's going to take a bit. But I'm super serious about sharing it because it's my obsession and honestly the first time a story of my own design has possessed me in literal years.

Also, I want to make sure I have a significant backlog of the Orsons before I start seriously simming for it, because I don't want to screw over my favorite little pixel babies. This legacy challenge is going to be the one, I have done so much to keep my save files to keep it safe from harm (ask me how many backups I have of the save files. JK don't, the number is frankly silly).

GOAL 3: START YET ANOTHER MASSIVE CC PURGE

Y'all, my CC folder for this game is honestly an embarrassment. I go so hard on CC shopping because this community is stupid-talented and I like giving my pixel babies nice things and cool looks. When I'm bored and not quite in the mood for gameplay, I just like making neat-looking sims that I do absolutely nothing with because I love fucking around in CAS.

I have built my own PCs since I was 17 years old, and when I first built COMPUTERMACHINE (current rig) back in the autumn of 2018, it was with the goal that it would run Sims 4 flawlessly no matter what I did to it. It's got ridiculous amounts of RAM, I religiously update parts for it. And to be fair, even with the current 6,907,907,890 TB of CC I have atm it runs better than Sims 3 ever had with a measly 50 GB of CC.

But for me, it comes down to finding all the stuff I wanna use. Making myself get rid of the stuff I don't wanna use. Straight up yeeting the CC that I thought was going to look incredible that uh, didn't deliver.

I do CAS CC purges about once a year but have literally never done it for Build & Buy stuff, because OMG some of this shit I've had since 2014. Like when Sims 4 first came out. YIKES. My CAS CC obsession is notable but it's honestly nothing compared to my Build & Buy. Even before For Rent made building lots slow af, my PC was starting to take a solid minute to switch to different buy categories.

It would take a long af time so I want to make sure I have a bunch of content in the queue before I do it. It's gonna be a whole ass thing and be so, so boring to do. So I'm putting it off for when I have a ton of time to do it. Like, oh, my entire Spring Break?

GOAL 4: MAKE A FRIGGIN' RESOURCES LIST ALREADY

This would obviously need to wait until after GOAL 3 is completed, but I wanna make sure the awesome creators whose stuff I use get credit, and that people know where they can grab neat stuff. It would include not only CC but mods, Gshade/ReShade presets, and maybe even lots and sims I've downloaded from the gallery?

(Since I am super anti-paywall and very unapologetic and rude about it, I will also share where one could perhaps get some of these CCs without paying some dip a Trenta Starbucks Unicorn Frappucino amount of $$$)

It's ambitious as hell because *gestures vaguely at GOAL 3* but it would make things like doing WCIF asks and lookbooks so much easier.

Somewhat relatedly, I wanna make a navigation post, especially once Another Door starts getting posted. That story is gonna be a bit huge with multiple arcs that take place over the course of like, 14 years. Plus once the Orsons get to the 4th+ generation, it would be easier to track things down.

IN CONCLUSION...

I have been having so much fun sharing my silly little Sim adventures on Tumblr, so much more than I ever thought I would! You all have been so great to me, and all of this stuff is sort of a way for me to repay that. Ever since I stopped being able to be artistically creative ever since a really nasty depressive spell in 2017, Sims has been my #1 artistic outlet. And having people who are even somewhat entertained by my pixels is incredibly motivating.

Basically, if you read all of this, DAMN would you have been a rad livejournal follower of mine circa 2007. On the seriousness, however, thank you all so much for being rad and encouraging and sweet. I promise to do you all, if not proud, then at the very least not disappointed.

Time to hit the bong and take some pictures of Lou and Tatertot before taking my IRL doggos on a walk~

[lutiaslayton]

Hello! You seem to be knowledgeable about Japan-exclusive Layton stuff so I wanted to ask if you knew how many chapters were there in Mansion Of The Deathly Mirror? I tried to look it up myself but I couldn't find an actual answer

Thank you for all your translations btw I really appreciate them!

Hi, and thanks! <3 There are six chapters in total. For more info, I will simply give you (and anyone else who reads this) a Reddit post:

This post explains everything we know about Mansion of the Deathly Mirror and how to deal with the fact that this game is lost media.

That link aside, I have a transcript planned for Mansion of the Deathly Mirror just like I did with Chelmey's Casebook and London Holiday, but I don't even have the full first chapter completed yet, so I'll have to catch up whenever I have the time and materials to do so. I haven't had the time to work on it in many months, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it and I WILL make a better, FULL version of the translation, as soon as I can get to it (but right now I'm kinda supposed to be preparing for my PhD defence hahahahaha).

Now for some ramblings related to the above-linked Reddit post. Long story short: we have chances of securing the game. But for that to happen, we need to be patient, and we need to be silent. If you ever find footage of the game on youtube or elsewhere, no matter what you do, leave the player alone.

Let them upload at their pace and gather the crumbs as they fall off the table, because asking for them to let you eat the whole cake has never worked in the past. By that I mean: asking someone who owns the game "hey can I see your cool shiny thing asap plz plz plz" will result in that person blocking you, no longer posting any footage or content related to that cool shiny thing, and possibly disappearing off the face of the entire internet forever. I am neither joking, nor exaggerating.

I'm not talking that much about MotDM because we don't want to get too much attention drawn to it for the time being. But don't worry, if this game ever is found (and we have a whole team searching for it, we're just secretive on purpose -- for the reasons I mentioned here and for those that are explained in more detail in the Reddit post), we WILL make sure that the fandom knows about it. It's mostly just that right now, the only person we know who has the game and is somewhat willing to make a playthrough does not want any unwanted attention, and this person is not a friend of ours. They will stop uploading if people ask for them to upload faster, and they already threatened once to delete all their videos when someone asked them if they could "share the ROM." (No. No they won't. And even if they were willing to, we can't even make anything out of a ROM yet because of the hardware being stupidly complicated anyway.)

---

So there you have it -- your answer is "6," and I could have left it at that because I have no strict obligation to say anything more since you didn't ask for any other info haha.

Unless you want to dive into this endless rabbit hole, I highly suggest you just keep that answer, leave it at that for now, and go about your day minding literally anything else. We will get back to you and the rest of the fandom once we have real news about it! It's just that for now we're all stuck in limbo hahaha, there's some stuff done in the shadows but nothing worth hyping about until we're done with it. I mean -- we can't do anything until the one (1) person who owns the game decides to upload more footage of it. Given how desperately lost this game is, we should actually be happy we get to have anything at all, even if even NWoS might come out before it.

[EDIT] Needless to say, the player who is sharing some gameplay footage does NOT know that I have a website with the beginning of a fan-translation, and if they learn even so little that it exists, they are going to have a heart attack and will likely delete their entire playthrough. And nobody wants that.

I personally won't celebrate and heave a real breath of relief before footage of the full game from start to finish with as much content as possible is secured, which is why I don't talk about it a lot. I'm just paranoid that something might go wrong like it already has multiple times in the past hahaha

---

DO NOT show my website link around at random until I say it's ok to do so. And if you share it with friends, ALWAYS mention that I am the one running it. That way if you or your friends have questions, you know who to ask for explanations.

[sapphire-weapon]

Going back and watching the walk-through of re4 OG, I noticed that when they came to the castle right after the village scene, Luis comes by and says he dropped the medicine to stop the process from going further, but he's going back to get it in which Ashley offers to go with him like??? And didn't Leon just said that you were cool not too long ago in the cabin, Ashley??? Leon in the background looking offended.

I'm wondering if Luis on re4r had come instead of being on the cam, would Ashley still had offered to go? But since everyone was basically put on cam instead of being with the group, made me think how'd the relationship between Leon and Ashley would have turned out, would it had been relatively been like the og? Or different? But if that was the case, it seems like Leon and Ashley did get (a-LOT) of time together (unless your speed running the game) and lot of romantic times (platonic my @ss).

The only times you'd rarely see the other cast is whenever Leon is in a bind or wandering, but it's never a lot either. It's like the developer's are saying "Ok, now SWITCH".

Bonus ask: I bet Leon had some ptsd from seeing a overgrown Salamander like in Raccoon City to having seen an alligator. "Oh great not another one" good thing Ashley didn't have to experience that.

THAT ENTIRE SCENE IN OG RE4 IS RE4'S "I know I'm not capable of caring about anyone, but..." MOMENT FOR ME

IT MAKES NO GODDAMN SENSE

IT MAKES NO FUCKING GODDAMN SENSE AT ALL AND I CAN'T MAKE IT MAKE SENSE NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY LMAO

I don't think Remake Ashley would've offered to go with Luis, though, because the turning point for her character is the pep talk scene; prior to that, she mostly thinks of herself as dead weight. Like, she's continuously surprised or uncertain when Leon asks her to help him with anything or to do anything on her own, and that doesn't change until after the talk. So, I don't think she'd have the thought in her head that she would've/could've been useful to Luis if that scene took place where that initial comm happens, since that's right after they get inside the castle to begin with.

And even if it happened during the comm that's right after the pep talk, I still don't think Ashley would've felt empowered enough to go without Leon. She still needs moments like throwing the lanterns for him and her entire playable section.

OG Ashley was hotheaded as fuck and didn't take shit from the start LMAO I actually have no idea how Krauser managed to pull off kidnapping her in the first place, because OG Ashley would've maced his ass and kicked him in the balls. I am CONVINCED that the only reason why OG Ashley ever got grabbed by ganados during gameplay is because of how focused she was on not accidentally getting shot by Leon and literally no other reason.

OG Ashley can kill up to three ganados during her gameplay section. Remake Ashley cannot. OG Ashley will fuck you up.

Remake Ashley and Remake Leon needed to be isolated from the rest of the cast because development between them needed to actually happen, because they both started off as very low-key, somber, solitary people who needed to be forced to grow together.

OG Ashley and OG Leon were at 11 all the time and needed to be split up for their own good.

Shipping OG Ashley and OG Leon specifically is actually tons of fun, because those two are the most obnoxious people on the fucking planet who absolutely 100% would prioritize fun in their relationship over everything else.

Like, all of the emotions that run through Leon and Ashley's shared arc in Remake are still present in OG, but the reason why (almost) no one picked up on them back in OG is because both characters were so determined to shitpost through it back and forth because facing their real feelings was too scary.

So, like. While Remake Leon and Ashley are spending an intimate night in together and watching movies and making out on the couch, OG Ashley has climbed through the sunroof on OG Leon's car and is sitting on the actual roof, and Leon's attempts to talk her into coming down have resulted in his hand going right up her skirt, and now she's giving him road head while he desperately tries to think of somewhere he can park the car and not get seen and subsequently arrested.

Like, they're those people. They're that couple.

Fandom back in the day really missed out on a fun fucking dynamic between those two.

I feel like this post really got off track at some point. What were we talking about again?

[cloudninetonine]

*sprints on in like I have a lynel on my heels* I CAME AS SOON AS I HEARD AND AS SOON AS IRL STUFF RELEASED ME AND THE SLEEP DEPRIVATION SETTLED HOLY MOTHER OF FARORE-!

First of all, everybody say thank you very much Monarch Cloud, for you have fed us incredibly well and I am FERAL over this recent meal in Player's Aid showstopping, amazing, unparalled, incredible I feel so well fed you have no idea. You're an incredible writer, who allowed you to be this good? Whoever they are I'm going to shake their hand so hard, you're an absolute trooper for writing this well and posting even while tired and I hope you know we're all glad, really grateful and wish you a lot of good stuff in life (or at least me and my dog who had the pleasure of stealing my food when I was trying not to scream at the update like the little land piranha she is), so really thank you, was an excellent surprise and pick me up ^^.

Now to hopefully stop overstepping too much and actually yelling about what I liked so much about this chapter XD.

First of all, the reactions of the Chain and specially Wild's and Hyrule's, it's gut wrenching, it's heart stabbing and it's overall incredible and very in character, why? Because all of the Link's have deep trauma of losing people they care for or failing them in some way (I can make up a whole list from the first Zelda game to BOTW and now TOTK, by the way how we feeling about that gameplay reveal?), But specially Wild and Hyrule and even more so now that they remember Player, so losing them like that to what is basically an obvious trap is like tearing open a scar with a rusty serrated knife and then pouring salt and boiling water on the wound, Wild thinking over the worst case scenarios immediately due to his failure and almost spiralling over it if not for Twilight being the first to reach him to snap him out of it, showcasing both their bond and in a way how Wild's adventure is the most recent as far as he knows it (cause I think the only other Link's to not have more than two adventures under their belt are Twilight and Warriors, albeit for very different reasons), so having the trauma slapped back in his face is obviously not going to do him good since he already failed and lost them once just like how he likely feels he failed the kingdom, Zelda and the Champions. How Hyrule who has more experience under his belt is equally livid and terrified and fully willing to paint the walls of the castle black and red if it means getting the one person who truly, really, was literally always by his side at his best and worse in a ruined world because he doesn't want to lose one of his first friends twice plus the natural Fae instinct of being kind of maybe sorta very murderous when people touch what they consider theirs (which I fully believe to Hyrule would be the Chain nowadays and Player), how Time remains level headed and does his best to keep everyone together, how Sky recognizes their rage as a mirror of his own for what Demise did way back when, pure, mortal fury that could down even the divine for having the daring and AUDACITY to harm someone whom they consider theirs or under their protection in some way (cause I kind of feel like The Chain is a bit like a wolf pack, once you're considered by one, you're basically the person of them all even if it will take time for them to warm up or trust you, because trust hurt all of the Links before but once they trust you or at least know one of them trusts you, they're very ride or die in a very mythologicallg inspired way, fitting for the Hero's Spirit), how even if they're in a high stakes situation any idea goes no matter how stupid or dangerous it is as long as it brings victory (because it's such a Link thing they all share and it makes me blinking hysterical in the best way, because honestly doing instinctual stuff or going off on a gut feeling and STILL succeeding by either pure luck or their instincts being right is very in character for them all), it's all great, chef's kiss, 10/10.

Second of all, Dark Link. DARK LINK. I adore his portrayal here and it's great and amazing, he really comes off as this wrong, unnatural, eldritch glitch in the matrix straight out of some analog horror series, the way his voice warps? How it's pitch is never fully determined? His inhuman aspects like the talons, the look in his eyes being like a feral predatory animal who is likely cornered and willing to drag anyone down with him? How his appearance changes from Link to Link when Player looks at him? How he delights in their fright and revels in the mere though of the heroes dying and suffering? How he basically IS the embodiment of the primal fear of the unknown all humans have and how he clearly should NOT be in the narrative anymore that it seems like the world itself rebels against his presence, but his unrivaled, unmeasurable rage and fury through timelines keep him going and refusing it? Magnificent, unmatched, outstanding, really digging the horror elements on him and he definitely stole the show the entire chapter and makes for a great antagonist, plus I just love Eldritch Dark Link in general which is something we really need to touch upon more because as a shape shifter he has a lot of potential for some really great horrifying moments straight out of nightmares, it's in the details of uncanny valley, in a way it reminds me of this one character related to the Stranger in the Magnus Archives (a great horror podcast), that has a laugh which is multiple of people's voices layered together, and another one who literally is a shape shifter but I won't say much more due to spoilers, and this gives me that same vibe and I love it to unhinged bits.

Third of all, Player's reactions, they really capture what someone in a life or death situation react like, specially an ordinary person like Player who's from our world aka modern times in general, they aren't used to life or death situations, to their life really being in danger or the possibility of needing to take a life to survive like the Chain likely is after so long of living a in a world like theirs. They can't flee and fawning sure as heck won't work with Dink, so they practically freeze, then genuinely confused (and honestly I'd be too in their situation, given they don't remember being the Guide and Dink seems to be pulling a Vaati here aka going after myths without actual much research or reading the fine print {I have, way too many thoughts about Player's Aid and theories, but the word count will probably nerf me so I'll probably save a full on breakdown of it and theories for either another time or AO3}, they're both unreliable narrators because they don't have all of the puzzle pieces and that is something I really like), and then to fight (honestly I couldn't help but laugh at their cursing, and was literally mentally chanting "go for the eyes" because I know for a fact that works specially if Player has long-ish nails, don't ask, my highschool years were kind of wild after this one other kid almost set the classroom of fire, but then they did me one better, plus at least they know he bleeds now? If it bleeds it can die! That's usually how it works anyway), How adrenaline basically kept them going with the will to survive and fight tooth and nail for their life and then only once they're out of danger (aka with Wild, whom they recognize as a safe space), do they fully break down and descend into freeze as their situation well and truly daws on them and how close they were to death and it's honestly very touching, heart wrenching and realistic, plus their inner commentary is simultaneously hilarious and serious and realistic as always and just a blinking mood, I adore them as an MC your honor.

And third of all, the stasis scene, need I say more? The way that Player may or may not be realizing that hey maybe they are a protagonist for real in this situation after all ala Kim Dokja in ORV but is too panicked to really dwell on it because they can't waste the chance, how they punch Dink to buy even more time which is really smart? (Thank goodness they're a clever protag, not overly so but just enough they don't do the obvious of just running away when they remember what stasis does and how they can buy themselves more time and distance) How the dings match their heartbeat and build up tension because it's quite literally the clock ticking down for the guillotine to come down on their neck, honestly all of the imagery in this chapter is just really nice and I really like the descriptions, also that cliffhanger was evil but I can't even be too hung up on it cause I love it so much.

Once again, thank you for all your hard work! You did a wonderful job ^^

Also, glad the Fia thing (official doc file title being "Player's Increasingly Bad Day") was somewhat well received? It's just a snippet and I'm not that good of a writer, but I'll send in another snippet later on (featuring Una this time, spoilers, she messes with Fia a lot over Player, and uses an axe) and tag you on my secondary blog once the full thing (and the Lora one) is out if you want? English is not my first language, so I'm not fully satisfied with it, but I did what I could XD.

Now I go tend to my dog, she's trying to steal my coffee again, thank you so much once more!

-Just a Very Awkward Summertime Musician.

Monarch Cloud? You're gonna give me a big head, Sum! But also thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! As for the hand you're shaking that's just another of mine that I totally didn't steal because writing was certainly my passion! Also you're not over-stepping at all! Tbh I'm an over-sharer anyway IUFHOIEUFHFEIU

I'm really glad you enjoyed my depiction of Dink, this was one of the things I was most nervous about because I didn't want him to come across as the normal video game character but an actual visage of horror that he could be in real life! Some people have already mentioned how disturbing he's been described as and I'm so glad for it!

[reikane-enthusiast]

erm, a compiled list of all the notes I have on paper and all the notes in my brain for an upcoming..project.

(( TECHNICALLY THIS ENTIRE POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE DRA DEATHS..BUT. I don’t specify anything ))

gameplay notes..but I can’t code :

from hours 8 AM to 11 PM no anomalies will or can occur. ( unless glitched )

12:00 PM exact is lunchtime and is the only time when other students can appear in the library. Lunchtime can also have a triggered cut scene of either of the two ( image under writing but not here for sillies ) sitting with *.

Once the distraction meter ( during daytime only ) gets to middle point * will have the ability to ‘shoo’ or just get the distraction away. ( this will trigger the dialogue of “ get out, I’m studying. “ )

a distraction is a student outside of the library either trying to form a conversation with * , talking at her, or being ‘loud’. Certain students will not do normal actions, but have special dialogue instead.

if the distraction meter fills all the way up, * will get up and yell at the distraction / student. This will cause a game over.

during 12 AM to 8 AM anomalies will occur.

what are anomalies? :

Short : corpses

Long : Manifestations of *’s PTSD, possibly ghosts?..but that’s unlikely. They’re also kind of like hallucinations however *SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER*

anomalies :

( no data found for #1. )

#2, (( she really only hangs from the ceiling and is..almost non lethal. She cries out for help a lot, for someone to save her, for her brother…I’ll have to tell him sometime, not now though. Maybe it’s her ghostly wails or whatever that kills me..

#3,(( I..don’t remember what happened to her but I don’t really want to, she’s only ever in the hallways..running. I can hear her. Is it the sound? Maybe.. Maybe it’s the ringing in my ears.

#4 (( you were a bitch. However..I..don’t think you deserved that. She sits next to me a lot. I can smell the blood and the metal. She wouldn’t be dangerous if she didn’t kill with her touch, however, unfortunately she does.

#5 (( He’s on the walls, literally. and of course the wood is rotting. His blood always finds its way to me somehow, it works like acid once it hits me.

#6 (( This one is barely threatening, I think he’s just upset. He doesn’t try to hurt me , I know that, but whenever he gets close to me it hurts. It’s like I’m being repeatedly stabbed in the neck.

#7 (( I can hear her screams, constantly. I can hear the electric shocks. She reaches out her hand and then it’s just.. pain. The shocks..she’s sharing them. like the other one..she’s not trying to hurt me actively. none of them are, really.

#8 (( Idiot.. that doesn’t feel right to say though. You were stupid, but in that trial..you were just so— … She doesn’t seem sad unlike the others, she sits next to me too..trying to make me laugh. But when I look at her..when I finally see her face again..it’s over.

#9 (( You were also stupid. I knew what you were hiding, but outing you wouldn’t make me feel better. You were..kind of gross, but trying to fit in wasn’t easy..was it? I’m sorry you went out that way. Sometimes him and * are together, I can’t look at them either..despite how happy it appears they are together. Even if it was just a facade he needed to keep up during that time, I think they’re better off because they’re actual friends now.

#10 (( The blood from her mouth and her eyes gets on me even though shes far away, it seeps into my skin, her words seep into my brain..my own blood..everything. I’m sorry *. Sometimes she stands over me. Watching my every move..then the blood really hurts.

#11 (( I didn’t know you then, I didn’t remember you then, but now I do. You were a good brother from what I heard. I remember how * talked about you, how she was always wondering about your inventions.. I know you pushed her away when you guys were kids too. I can hear you making fun of her somehow, teasing her, bullying her around.. and it burns my ears sometimes. I don’t know how I hear it..but..it’s something to hold on to. He never shows up visually, but I feel his presence. I’ve never..seen you.

#0 (( She’s the closest to me always, she only shows up in the end. She grabs me by the face and forces me to look at her, shes crying..she’s grinning too though. ..But she doesn’t look injured, dead, none of that. I don’t think we ever confirmed she was dead, we just assumed she had drowned or bled out because that made the most sense. But now that I think of it, maybe you aren’t.

#0.1 (( *’s not really an anomaly..since..he can’t hurt me and he’s not dead. He’s more like protection. He keeps the actual anomalies away , I don’t really know how.. I guess **** made it up so that I could finally study.

extras! ,, based on the unused executions. :

#12 (( I remember watching you die. I thought it was kind of funny how you went out, getting arrested and all. Then you blew up.. that was..less funny. He smells like sulfur and ash..sometimes cement, sometimes he smells like burnt plastic. when he touches me it burns my flesh, I guess he wants me to feel the pain too.

#13 (( He’s connected by veins , almost like a fleshy spider. His blood unlike *’s isn’t acidic, but is definitely venomous. I hate looking at him, but it’s the only way to keep him away. I’ve only ever had one question.. Why? , Why’d you do it *? You were an idiot..but I didn’t think you were that afraid..and that fucking stupid. Then again, we we’re kids..so..I can’t entirely blame you for letting your fear take over.

[lilflowerpot]

hello again~

I'm here to ask a question about LoZ. so, I have a friend who plays and recommended it to me because she knows I love open world games and breath of the wild is (apparently) one of the best open world games ever and I've been hesitating ever since. she might be a little biased tho lol

and like. there's a sale going on right now for botw, so the recommendation just kind made itself known in my memory again

anyway so, basically I'm here to ask if it'll be worth it? I mean, the general consensus wherever I go seems to be 'amazing, go get it u won't regret it'

(and, this is totally optional, but if you could answer asap that would be great because idk when the sale ends, thank you)

p.s I love little blade. you're amazing

I think it's obvious by now that I am a //massive// Zelda fan so tbh I'm likely no less bias than your friend lmfao, but that being said I'm going to try and give as balanced a response as possible!

Pros

BotW is beautiful, and I mean b e a u t i f u l . The graphics have this lovely watercolour quality to them as an ode to the artstyle used in Skyward Sword, but more crisp & refined. Unlike a lot of the big open world games (looking at you skyrim) BotW doesn't sacrifice colour or try to be "gritty", but rather leans into that soft-apocalypse, studio ghibli vibe.

The narrative is equally lovely and fulfilling, and depending upon what order you collect Link's memories in you will likely have a different gameplay experience. You'll also meet a lovable cast of characters to whom you'll end up unreasonably attached, which will ultimately break your heart in the end,,, I apologise in advance, but I promise you it's worth the pain.

On that note, do it for my bitch-ass bird son. You'll know him when you meet him.

Link can jump. This will mean very little to you if you've not played a LoZ game before, but my boy can fucking JUMP.

You can also climb pretty much everything (bar like one specific material) which means if you want to get to that Cool Thing Over There, then with a mix of mix of ungodly arrogance, sheer willpower, and a lot of stamina potions, you can. If you suffer from the magpie brain (ie. you see a new shiny thing and become immediately sidetracked from your original objective) this will mean that you take about 10x as long as you should to do literally anything, but my god is it fun.

The soundtrack gives me feelings that I cannot put into words, and the voice acting is //phenomenal//. Importantly, Link himself does not have a voice actor which is the only correct choice considering he's been heavily implied throughout the entire LoZ franchise to be an elective mute, and I would have //hated// hearing him speak.

Link is also just a very sweet & funny golden retriever boy who occasionally sasses back like nobody's business. 10/10 protagonist.

If you like women, you will like them even more by the end. If you don't like women, there's a 90% chance you'll seriously reconsider it upon meeting [REDACTED].

The game has something for everyone: you like exploring? Well you're going to do a lot of that. You like collectables? There are so many outfits (that you can dye to your liking!) and a wholeass compendium to fill out. You like puzzles? You'll certainly find your fair share. You like combat? The basic mechanics are what you'd expect with there are enough different enemy types to keep it interesting, but dO NOT FIGHT A LYNEL WITHOUT MAKING SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH WEAPONS BC THEY WILL BREAK AND LEAVE YOU WITH A VERY ANGRY VERY MEAN MAN TRYING TO KILL YOU.

It is genuinely very good value for money, and even more so if you can get it on sale! Not only do you have the mainline game & all its side-quests, but there's also the expansion pass, and, of course, an entire sequel just ready and waiting!

Cons

Sometimes the open world can feel a little too open. Considering the game's context, it makes sense, but comparatively games like Skyrim feel more densely packed with Things To Do, whereas BotW has several areas of overgrown nothingness that are lovely to look at, but not especially interesting (though this is better rectified in TotK).

You can't swim underwater. This was not rectified in TotK, though I dearly wish it had been.

A lot of fans used to complain about the temple format of p much every Zelda game up until this point, so the developers essentially removed temples altogether and instead replaced them with only four (technically optional) Divine Beasts, plus Hyrule Castle itself. I... did not like this. I'm a big puzzle girlie, and though BotW has shrines scattered across the landscape—most of which are puzzle-based—I personally felt that this substitute was lacking in comparison to the original. TotK does improve on this by reintroducing temples, but I still could have gone for a few more (Skyward Sword was the opposite of this, with very linear gameplay which a lot of people hated, but I personally will stand by SS's Ancient Cistern until my dying breath, and Twilight Princess had some really innovative temples that I have replayed several times over).

On a semi-adjacent note, the final boss just... wasn't my favourite. That's not to say it was bad, only as boss fights go I've had better (I did, however, like the final segment of that fight).

You will develop an immediate fear response to the Guardian music.

Ultimately though, I absolutely do think you should buy it, and am jealous that you'll get to have that bright-eyed bushy-tailed first-time experience, because believe me, if I could erase my memories and play BotW all over again, I would.

[iced-cofi]

Hello, ladies, gentlemen, neither, both, in-between, and etcetera. Earlier today, I was thinking about how some of my favorite indie titles don't really get the reach they deserve, and then it occured to me that maybe that's because people don't talk about them very much. So I figured the best way to share them is to talk about them! So today, I would like to share a list of some of my favorite underrated indie games that I firmly believe deserve more love!

So welcome all, to...

Indie Games that I like that don't get enough attention (:

Now, these will all be shorter reviews with one or two images each, simply to give a taste, and to try to get y'all to check them out! Also, just so y'all know, most of these aren't totally unknown, but are still underdiscussed and appreciated in my opinion. Without further ado, enjoy!!

Number 1: ROLLER DROME

If you know me at all, you know that I fuckin love Tony's Hawk Pro Skate Fun Time. Along side that, you should also know that I really like quick paced movement shooter combat. And the idea of marrying the two makes me salavate like a feral beast eating for the first time in a week.

It is lightning fast, always changing, and requires you know how to do sick tricks while gunning down hoards of bat wielding madmen and laser firing teleporty... death... folks (I dunno I couldn't think of a good description for them lol). The gunplay is satisfying, challenging, and yet so consistently rewarding in and of itself that I actually wanted to go for a high score in most of the levels, a thing I do it literally nothing else except fuckin Tetris and Sonic. I would recommend it back to front, again and again. Absolutely phenomenal, with a pretty rad NG+ as well.

And all this goes without mentioning the brilliant comic book visual style, breathtaking views and locales, and brain pumping soundtrack. And while the story is simple, it is told in an incredibly fun yet quiet, eclectic yet unique, and engaging yet entirely optional way.

I would recommend this game to anyone looking for something energetic, challenging, and accessible in all the right ways. Good shit, I promise.

Number 2: PACIFIC DRIVE

As a 22 year old who grew up in Colorado with family living out of state who we would visit at least once a year, I am not exaggerating when I say that Road tripping is like my favorite fucking thing ever. Driving though forests, listening to indie rock and podcasts while playing word games and chatting with loved ones, it is a one of a kind experience that fills me with a... Quiet yet appreciative meloncholy.

Pacific Drive distills the beauty and calm of a road trip, and combines that with a strange, anomalous world to create one of the most unique survival games I have ever had the pleasure of playing. The moment to moment gameplay can range from solemn drives though scenic Pacific northeast forests, listening to a wonderful collection of indie music on the in game radio, all the way to hauling ass through forests as reality collapses around you, trying to get your fuckin wreck of a car through a beam of angelic light to teleport to safety in an instant of white hot light.

And this is all while managing every single minute detail of both your car and your environment. Bumper taking a beating? Repair and upgrade it to take more hits. Door torn off in a hell storm? Find one off of one of the many wrecks and throw it on there, it'll work for now. Too dark to see through the rain and wind? While you gotta turn those headlights and windshield wipers on. It's complex yet understandable. It's customizable yet consistent. It's so fuckin good dude.

Oh also the story fuckin rules but I won't say anything else cause you really should experience it yourself.

I would recommend this to anyone nostalgic for late night drives and cross country road trips, but I assure you this shit ain't stress free lol. Worth every moment tho. Amazing shit.

Number 3: KILLER FREQUENCY

I have always been iffy on the slasher genre. While some of them are absolutely delightful with just the right amount of cheese and... While, slashing, some of them divulge too much into gore and guts, with such intense tonal whiplash it breaks my fuckin neck. But sometimes, something gets it just right. And this game absolutely does.

Killer Frequency is the answer to a question no body asked. "What if you were a radio host who had a bunch of people call in desperately begging you to help save their lives?" But why did no body ask it? It fuckin rules! The game consistently provides puzzles that poke at the brain while constantly under the stress of needing to solve it or someone will actually just fucking die. With perfectly campy performances and writing, it constantly entertains without feeling like it relished violence, mainly because most of the actual murdering happens over the phone. It's awesome and eerie, and provides a really fun mini radio station sandbox to play records, ads, and sound effects on. It fucking rules.

Ironically, of the games thus far, this one is actually pretty low stress and casual, and doesn't really push the boundaries of horror in a way that will turn people away. I really would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun one or two session slasher flick to play with friends.

Number 4: POST VOID

I'm gonna keep this one super short and sweet, cause this game likes to do the same.

POST VOID is a psychedelic, hyped violent, messy first person shooter rouge lite about movie fast and kickin ass. It is constantly breakneck, borderline mindnumbing, and almost disquieting in its art style, like every thing is a scribble in the mind of a broken man. The game can be beaten in an hour if you're good, and yet can be replayed again and again and again. It's the perfect game to pop open, run a few times, and then close.

Play this game. It's like 6 bucks I don't care if you don't think it's for you, it's so good. I promise.

Number 5: PENNY'S BIG BREAKAWAY

This is the last one for the night, and I'm probably gonna do a part 2 but I need to go to bed. But regardless, holy shit. My favorite genre in all of gaming is 3D platformers, and the fact that this game underperformed is a downright fucking crime, cause this is one of the most unique, fun, wacky platformers of all time in all the best ways. It's weird and confident and full of shit to do, and also it's developed by the Sonic Mania team, and all of that care and love and passion and talent fully carries over.

The controls are incredibly unique, and take a minute to get used to, but once you do, you will find yourself entering a platformer flow state like none other. Jumping and flipping and twirling and rolling and diving, it all flows together seamlessly in one of the most unique control schemes I've ever played with ever.

And of course, the visuals are wonderful and silly and so fuckin good it makes me want to cry. And the music oh my fucking God the music, it is one of a kind. It's bouncy and fun and both so distinctly 90s and yet so modern in quality and mixing, it makes for a audio feast for the ears.

Every challenge completed, every level beaten, every boss stomped, every single moment spent playing this game is a moment that you improve, and get better, and move faster, and flow better. And in tandem with the brilliant art direction, amazing music, and Saturday morning cartoon ass story, it makes for a one of a kind, silly, charming, absolute blast of a game I would recommend to anyone of any age, period and of quote.

If you have the means and ability to do so while caring for yourself, please play these games. Each is entirely unique and weird and fun and each one is absolutely worth every penny (haha get it) they cost.

Thank you for indulging me, and I kinda wanna make a video with this concept soon. This was very very fun!! Have a good night thanks for listening to my bullshit also last thing last little bonus here are songs from each of the games. They are all in the same order as the games if you are wondering which game each is from ok that's all have fun ok night night!!

[anonthefold]

So the grind to get progression level 50 on Ana has been going smoothly (Outside of having just the most difficult diamond-gm lobbies). I got to 45 which is great! The home stretch! I'll just have to nade the enemy 25000 times, heal 1,000,000 hp, and play for 12 more hours.

Someone once told me you develop bad habits just mindlessly playing the game and to a degree they are right. I review myself, and sometimes ask others to review me in exchange for reviewing them. My bad habit is from overall improvement which is going to sound extremely egotistical at first but here me out:

I have gotten very mechanically comfortable with Ana. she is starting to really feel like a comfort pick. Naturally as I started winning more consecutive games with her the game evolved from gold to plat to diamond. Anyone who has also do that climb will know gold players and diamond players are VASTLY different experiences. In gold you can get away with heal botting, nading the team occasionally, seeping an ult, etc etc. Plat is like gold but with more mechanical ability. Diamond is just a beast of difference. If you are heal botting and not pressuring on Ana you are literally throwing. That's like support 101, right? keep people out of critical and damage. Well yeah but the caveat to that statement is timing. In higher ELO it is more about the psychological affect of what you're doing and exploiting the human condition under duress. Predicting the future plays like where people are going to look, how long, what they are going to do and how to capitalize on it. ability tracking is critical.

Case in point: I noticed one of my recent games that the enemy kiriko loves to cleanse nade. It is a good time to do it. We had Deadeye coming up so I naded to bait out the suzu. Deadeye went off and the cass got a 3k. By the time the next team fight happens nade will be back up, or close to it, and then I can look for an opportunity post suzu to nade. Thinking like that helps a lot when approaching team fights as Ana. I'm simplifying it because there is a lot more decision making that goes into the entire process than that but that is the foundation.

Anyway back on the rails: Growth. I need to improve my ability to rotate on KotH maps as Ana. It is really challenging for me still because you have to think of using cover to move, maintaining some LoS and then think about where you are going to go next meanwhile most people play brawl or dive on those maps so you might feel a lot of backline pressure. Ana can be played mid range. She excels at having distance advantage but sometimes you have to make an assessment on wether it is even reasonable to play that far back because of map structure. Think Oasis University for example. Juggling all those game actions can be overwhelming while trying to hit your shots, tracking ability usage, and tracking player positions. But I have noticed I am getting better at that on the whole. I need to work on quick scoping as well. Those are my immediate goals. If i set too many then i feel like I will never complete any of them.

I would also like to add that I occasionally review some of my Ana games from 6+ months ago and boy oh boy. Absolutely marked improvement. I like to also think about when I first started taking Ana seriously how intimidated I was with "what if i don't hit my shots and someone dies because I can't heal them?" to where I am at now which is " that genji has blade lets sleep him the second he pops it" and I am so much more confident in that. Yeah, i miss some but the ones I hit are just absolutely stimulating.

That is where I am at with the Ana progression... and it wouldn't be a review if I didn't share a little gameplay and maybe a highlight from today's games. (It is a reference point to the closest time as of posting this and not cherry picked)

This was a KotH map match that i played this evening. I feel like my positioning was good 80%^ of the time. I could have done a lot more damage but right now I am working on survivability on these modes then when im comfortable I will start peppering in more damage.

This was the highlight from my most recent game in QP which was defending shambali monastery. This game... was more aggressive of a playstyle. I died 4 times which happened because I missed 2 critical sleeps on genji. The others were intentional deaths to reset. Our tank was incredibly aggro and went on many a spirit quest to where I would not follow. Their aggression was purely based on the enemy dps feeding charge into her and I can tell she had the murderlust with 100 charge. I've been there myself and sometimes you forget things like cover, the cart, your teammates just to get a team kill with a death ray canon disintegrating everything that glances it. But I digress, it worked... sort of. They gave up a comical amount of space that was countered by the fact that the entire enemy team would be so worn down that the rest of our team could just pick them off.

The stats are below and you can see I had the least amount of healing... but we also had a sombra who didnt need as much babysitting. It allowed me to, once again, follow up on elims with the team more efficiently.

[fridayenights]

The chaotic series of events in my Sims game (I had to share it!)

Look, I know I post primarily BG3 content, but I needed to share this. This series of events was just... a lot. Anyway, allow me to provide some vital context.

The story will be underneath the line to ensure this post isn't monstrously long. There are no spoilers or anything—just a whole lot of chaos. Enjoy!

First, let me introduce you to my Sim and her girlfriend.

On the left is Penny Pizzazz; many of you will know who she is. For those who don't and don't feel like reading the wiki, she's a base game Sim who's supposed to be a famous internet star. On the right is my Sim, Sunni Soto. Before you judge me for using my name as hers, Sunni isn't technically my name. I just really like it, so I made my name and now my Sims, Sunni.

Anyway, Sunni is in the social media industry, and Penny was her workplace rival for some time before I had them mend things. I thought it would be cute for them to go from rivals to lovers. They got along really well, and thus, an adorable but short-lived relationship started. Sunni and Penny moved in together shortly after going official (Penny asked, and I thought, "Eh, why not? It's the Sims.")

Now to introduce you to the other couple in this story. Arun and Jesminder Bheeda. They live across the hallway from Sunni and Penny. Unfortunately, Jesminder hates Penny and Sunni's guts—for a good reason, they're loud, and she has a baby (his name is Pat). She'll often come over and angrily bang on the door, asking Sunni and Penny to keep it down when they're loud. I usually ignore her, and she'll be on her merry way. However, due to my ignoring her, she has grown to despise both my Sims.

Well, after a while of Penny and Sunni living their lives, a nefarious plan hatched in my fucked up brain. I was getting kind of bored of the drama-free gameplay, and I am known as an "evil Simmer," so I, uh... had Penny cheat on Sunni with Arun... Jesminder's husband... she may have also gotten pregnant, too...

I have MCCC risky woohoo turned on, and, yeah...

Anyway, Sunni and Jesminder are still unaware of the affair when this story hits the fan in a rather explosive way (you'll get that pun in a moment). Around 3 a.m., Jesminder came over to complain about the noise—Penny thought it was a great time to work out on the treadmill—and I decided to be an a-hole to Jesminder.

I had Penny say a few... unsavoury words to the poor woman. They actually got into a physical altercation (they initiated it, not me), and after the fight, I had Penny insult her once more before returning to the apartment. Well, Jesminder got so unbelievably pissed, she... uh... died from a cardiac explosion... here's a pic I sent to my bestie of her mid-death.

Yeah... Penny slept with her husband, got knocked up, then proceeded to taunt her to death, literally. However, I didn't want her to die. Hell, I wanted her and Sunni to make amends and maybe even become friends after they had found out. So, I did what any moderately sane person would do... scolded the grim reaper...

And you know what? It actually worked! I was able to convince Grim to revive her. I thought, "Fuck, yeah! They'll become fast friends in no time!"

I thought this would be a good stepping stone in fixing their friendship (they were friends when Sunni first moved in). But, and I shit you not, the minute her feet touched the ground. She fucking had another cardiac explosion.

So, I berated the grim reaper again, hoping Sunni could convince him to spare her. But, uh, I guess he got sick of her treating him like a child because he told her no. :(

Jesminder Bheeda was officially dead, and to make matters even worse, when I went to write her a nice epitaph, the fucking game couldn't let me forget about my failure. This was what the game generated for the epitaph.

So, yeah, that was the insanity of my Sims game. R.I.P Jesminder. I will avenge you, I swear! Penny and Arun will pay (even though it was technically me controlling Penny in the first place!).

[night-city-valentines]

Starfield Review (finally)

So, my desire to build a spaceship and fly around shooting shit finally outweighed my annoyance at Todd Howard, and I've finished the main story of Starfield.

For some context, I played Starfield Day One. I had a character who I grew pretty attached to, and was planning on seeing everything the game had to offer. Then the game decided my save was busted.

I was so pissed, it took from about a week from Starfield's launch to a couple of days ago for me to even consider starting anew. But that's what I did.

And now, I can safely say that Starfield is a solid 7/10. Maybe a 6 if I'm feeling harsh.

The gameplay itself is, like, whatever. If you've played Fallout 4, it's kinda like that but without VATS. Sometimes (rarely) you'll be in low-gravity areas. Spaceship combat is, honestly, where I have to give the game credit. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, and it isn't some simulator. To quote Roddney Toddney Howard, it just works. It's fun to do spaceship dogfights!

What ISN'T fun is a billion loading screens.

Unlike, say, No Man's Sky, space travel is not seamless. There's a cutscene to take off, a cutscene to fly between planets, a cutscene to LAND on a planet. The spaceship feels needless half of the time, and the game really does not put you in enough ship combat segments for my liking. I do like building ships, but even that is hampered by you needing to hop between ports to browse all the parts - which, I remind you, involves about 3 or 4 loading screens.

Onto the characters and stories, yknow the meat and potatoes of an RPG (which Starfield claims to be). When they were revealed as the main group of the game, I saw Constellation and went "Oh god, they're gonna make you be a goody-two shoes". I was half-right. You CAN be a murderous space vandal, but then you have to deal with literally EVERY character in Constellation hating your guts. Fine, I like characters that have a moral code. The problem is that A, how the hell do literally ALL of them hate space pirates, and B, the game contradicts itself! When you first meet her, Sarah Morgan basically says "do what you want, as long as you don't get us into trouble, hell some of us are ex-cons", and then ALSO has a line later on in the story where she implies she has sympathy for Spacers and pirates. Barrett, the only tolerable Constellation member, is not only an ex-smuggler, but briefly befriends a pirate captain holding him hostage, as the two realise they aren't so different. BOTH of these characters IMMEDIATELY get angry with you (not a description of emotion, that is a state within the game) the moment you do piracy near them, or choose to side with the Crimson Fleet (we'll get to that).

The game front-loads itself with interesting ideas, mechanics, and concepts, but then either doesn't expand them, or forgets they existed.

"But V, why would a pirate-aligned person work with a group of explorers?" Uh, money?? Because in the United Sta- I mean Colonies, criminal =/= bad person? Have a character be like "yea I rob people, and I'm like mostly hunting artifacts to maybe make some money, but also I keep my pirate buddies off of our backs and would share the take with Constellation". Boom, I thought of that in 30 seconds, but you're telling me an army of professional writers didn't consider it?

I joked a second ago, but the UC really is just 'what if America but space'. The Freestar Collective is also 'what if america but space', but closer to 'what if wild west but space' with the way things are run. There's also House Varu'un who're religious zealots but, like anything interesting, they have very little screentime outside of a story mission and a faction mission. The whole morality of the game feels very...Suburban Liberal. Again, context here, I am a leftist, so this isn't a wOkE bAd thing.

The game is also...strange when it comes to WHO you get to know. In the MSQ, you have missions with all members of Constellation except one - Noel. Arguably, Matteo, Andreja, and Vlad only get half a mission. Reminder, these are meant to be your MAIN companions. Sure you speak to them during quests, but outside of that its up to you whether you interact with them. Not that you'd want to, they're all fairly...nothing. Except Barrett.

Then, you look at the Crimson Fleet. During their faction quests, you don't often do much mission-ing with them, but you DO get to know them much better than Constellation. The big choice you make in that quest line is whether you help them get a fuckton of cash, or betray them to UC (who you got forced Into working for). Everything about the setup, missions, and just how well you get to know the Fleet, leaves me thinking that you're MEANT to side with the Fleet, but as I said earlier, all of your Constellation-mates will be LIVID.

The main story itself is just...whatever. They set up the quest to find the Artifacts as some kind of 'who made these' thing, but then the question shifts to 'what are these things', and then you find that out and also meet the Starborn and just go 'Well:) glad we solved the mystery!', with the question of their origin only coming up in the ENDING, and EVEN THEN you still don't get an answer, just a hand-wavy "who knoooows" kinda response.

Also the powers are dumb. STOP MAKING EVERY PROTAGONIST A SPECIAL SAUSAGE, BETHESDA, IT IS OKAY FOR THE PLAYER CHARACTER TO JUST BE A REGULAR PERSON!!!!!!!

All in all, Starfield is a game that takes concepts and gameplay from other, better games, half-asses them, and only gets nominated for one category at the Game Awards (that it is definitely going to lose, because its up against Baldur's Gate 3). Fuck you, Todd.