#but i think this is the first time i've really really jived with the lore for any splat campaign so ! im excited to see more haha

[crescentfool]

to the anon who sent me a message about side order post credits roll, i'll be responding to you here under the cut! (thank you for the ask!)

HI ANON!! i want you to know that i appreciate your enthusiasm for side order a lot! i get the vibes that the developer logs and other things that happen when you reach the top again have changed your brain chemistry and that makes me very happy for you ^.^

you are absolutely correct that i still have more story to see... i kind of had that impression since i only had four of the developer diaries, and i would assume that the final boss at the top would have a modification of some kind (given splatoon's history with rematches, for example the callie fight from splatoon 2 had altered dialogue...).

i'm really excited to see the rest of the logs! the fourth one detailing the sanitization process makes me (mentally) bounce up and down like a kid on a mattress. i don't really have a strong idea of what else the story would have to offer (other than new dialogue after clearing another palette), but i wanted you to know that i trust your judgment and i'm excited to see whatever it is!

i definitely agree with you that the credits roll does give a false sense of finality, haha! thankfully there are things in-game that DOES give the player a sense of "hey wait, there's still more" (like the rest of the lockers), and also just... well, if you return to the order sector, they do make it clear there's still more.

it's a little unfortunate to me that people who aren't as keen on the rougelike genre/structure may end up missing out on the additional information because of that, but. well. i know at the very least that i personally like the genre to keep on playing 🥺 (salmon run and having played every weapon for it has become a cornerstone of my brain.)

thank you again for reaching out! i'm really excited to see more things about the memverse, grayscaling, and sanitization. i'm not sure when i'll do future runs but i am definitely interested in getting all of the palettes completed! 🎨✨

[randomthefox]

I think archie and idw are equally bad but I feel like archie had more justifications for its existence?

Like archie had plots and lore. The quality of said plot and lore is another thing but there was a decent enough reason to pay attention to what the comic was doing. (I think. I haven't read the comic in a while. I mostly remember thinking that it's stupid.)

I sincerely can't figure out what the point of idw sonic is other than pissing off people who like the games. Idw sonic doesn't even have outlandish nonsense lore like every other sonic comic or show.

I personally am loath to fall into that kind of thinking. That "well at LEAST Archie did THIS" kind of mentality. I used to jive with it, but the more I've learned about Archie Sonic the less sympathetic I am to looking at Archie with any amount of favorability whatsoever. The more ignorant I was about Archie, the more forgiving I was about it lol. I know too much now. I've learned too much about what an absolutely irredeemable shit show Archie really was.

It's like, in Lowarts first video about Archie Sonic he talked about the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and SatAM western cartoons. And he went into this false dichotomy of "when making the Archie comics they had two options, they could have gone in the direction of AoStH or they could have gone in the direction of SatAM"

And I was just sitting there listening to that thinking "OR they could have gone in the direction of THE FUCKING VIDEO GAMES?"???

Like, why are we PRETENDING that it's reasonable AT ALL that the Archie comics basically completely disregarded the video games wholesale and did this AoStH SatAM blend? That is asinine. The video games existed. There was no excuse for it. They could have just made comics that were adaptations of the video games as they existed at the time. But they didn't.

And to that extent, they are no fucking different from IDW whatsoever as far as I'm concerned.

[esseastri]

here i made it an ask:

HECK YES, ok, I'll do all the questions that Kogi didn't ask me.

What was the first Dragon Age game you played?

I started at the beginning because I think Kogi and Feather would have manifested in showers of sparkles to berate me into oblivion if I hadn't, so DAO.

2. Which Dragon Age game is your favorite so far?

DA2. Listen, I love all of those bisexual disasters (except Fenris) so damn much, and while the whole thing is a little repetitive, I always find it to be more comfortable than annoying. I'm a sucker for a good framing device with an unreliable narrator. And while I love the Warden and the Inquisitor because they are blank slates that I can create anyone off of, it's nice that Hawke has a solid, actual character for me to love.

3. Do you usually play as a warrior, mage, or rogue? Which class are you planning to try first this time around? Which subclass?

I've got one of each in my canon worldstate, but Rogue is historically my favorite, even though I find mage easiest to play. I will almost certainly make a shitty little double-daggers rogue as my first Rook because all we know of Rook so far leads me to believe that she'd be besties with my Hawke, which means Rogue Supremacy.

5. Do you typically use a preset character and name or spend hours in the character creator coming up with a custom one?

Bahahaha, I think the first time I played DAI, I was in the CC for a solid two point five hours. I will be dicking around for nine years with hair color alone.

6. Do you have your Rook(s) planned out to any degree? If so, would you share some details or ideas you have?

I will need to know the canon surnames for all the races before I can really dive into planning a Rook. I can't do anything without a name, and my name has got to jive with the surname, so that's what I'll need to start with. I can say that she will almost certainly have red hair, since all of my previous First Characters have been redheads. Gotta stick with tradition.

9. Which romance, if any, do you plan to pursue first?

I have been trying to KISS Scout LACE HARDING for TEN YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (But Davrin is making a strong case for himself by simply existing. He'll probably be second.)

10. Which location are you most excited/hoping to explore in-game?

Weisshaupt. I want to know everything about how the official organization of the Wardens works, so I know how shitty the little Fereldan outpost has been all these years.

13. What’s one thing you’ve seen confirmed so far that you’re a fan of?

Mmmm everything about the character creator--the pronouns and body shapes and lighting and just... everything about it.

14. What’s one thing you’ve seen confirmed so far that you’re NOT a fan of?

mmmmmmrrrrrggggggg Ghilan'nain.

15. Do you have any unpopular opinions about DAV so far?

The character trailer was a blast and made me infinitely more excited for the game than anything else we've seen, I didn't think it was ""too MCU"" or ""quippy"" or whatever, I thought it was perfect Varric content and I loved it.

16. What’s one crack theory you subscribe to (yours or someone else’s)?

Sandal will show up at some point, possibly in the Black City, because he's actually massively important and possibly the Maker in disguise.

17. Are you interested in all the lore and speculation or do you focus more on the games and stories themselves?

Yes? To me, a lot of the lore is in the stories and the stories are about the lore, so they go together. I'm not the most speculative--I just want to know, I don't want to guess!--so I'm bouncing off the walls waiting for the actual game to drop so I can just go nuts. And I'm always really here for the characters, so that's what I'm most interested in.

18. Which aspect of fandom are you most looking forward to? (e.g. reading/writing fic, the bounty of gorgeous art, getting to know new people, etc.)

NEW ART SO MUCH NEW ART god bless every fanartist in this fandom, I cannoooottt waaaaiiiittt!! There is already so much amazing stuff in the tags, I can't wait until there's even more!!! I want to see everyone's Rooks, all of them, I cannot wait. Also I have not written fanfic in years, but if anything is going to get me to write some, it will be Dragon Age, so it will be great to get back into that, hopefully.

19. Are you planning to replay any of the previous games, watch Dragon Age: Absolution, or read any of the books/comics/short stories, or are there other games you want to play in the meantime?

Uh, Kogi and I watched the gameplay trailer and about ten minutes after we finished, I'd plugged DAI into the PS4 and booted everything up. So. Yes. I'm also finally reading Tevinter Nights after sitting on it for two years. AND I'm making my best friend play all three games from the beginning so she can join us in DA hell, we are deeply enjoying Origins rn. It's great. I am fully in the soup and there I shall remain until DAV appears.

[annakie]

Baldur's Gate 3 Stuff Below (mild romance spoilers for stuff you see before the end of Act 1)

I am absolutely sure I want to romance Gale and have been turning everyone else down left and right but oh boy I just did the dance scene with Wyll and THAT was the first time I doubted my choice.

My character is a Noble Lore Bard and so the Lore Bard jives very much with Gale, and so does his general politeness and eloquence, but dancing with Wyll in a courtly dance like that really, REALLY tugged on the heartstrings. Turning my face away at the end was a hard decision and I may need to load the save just to see what happens if you DON'T. >.> (and then keep going with a save where I did. Sigh.)

This is the first actual hard choice I've had for who to romance in a game in a very long time. Come on you guys, let's just Throuple this, yes? You get along great with each other!

Also Haslin seems great, I really like him and he hasn't officially joined the party yet, but I have been very careful to try and not pick any flirty dialog with him and he's still... shall we say, very complimentary to me. Is that just what he's like? I haven't even had a chance to do any "Hey, thanks but no thanks" dialog back at him. But he's made it clear his sleeping bag could use company and I'm still saying no.

Seen a lot of other people saying they've seen similar issues with Gale and Wyll when not romancing them, a lot of people think the romance flags are still very bugged. So, idk.

I am trying to be kind to Astarion, my boi you are all manner of fucked up and I get it. How can I help you without encouraging your darker side? I think he's the only member of the party who may end up leaving me. I also don't bring him out much since I can handle all the rogue stuff myself. Very interested in him and his story, but no romance this time around.

The ladies are also all so amazing. Shadowheart also has that "I'm evil and I don't want you to fix me!" thing going on, but I hope I can still fix (un-evil) her. This playthrough at least. Let's be best friends, Shadowheart, but I'm not turning to the darkside for you.

Absolutely loving Lae'zel having to come to grips with the flaws of her own people and goddess. Also her adoration of Karlach is :3. I bring her out with me so much.

and KARLACH. Oh my goodness I didn't expect to love her so much but I do. I ADORE her. How can you not? I want her and my bard to be cuddlemates forever.

Anyway, the party with the tieflings was terribly awkward when I had to tell basically everyone in my party no thank you, except Astarion who told me no thank you, and Gale who said I really want to but I am legit worried my heart might explode. Fair.

Since then, we've had a serious flirt discussing reading about stimulation in books, and that's precisely the kind of flirting my bard is into.

I hope we do have a serious conversation at some point where it can be made clear that I don't play second fiddle to anyone, even the goddess of magic, so I hope that's all behind him.

I turned down a handsome nobleman who knows how to dance, Gale. Don't disappoint!

-----

I could go on about a thousand other things I am loving about this game (basically everything) but now I need to get back to playing it so maybe I can finish act 2 in less than 100 hours.

[ac-liveblogs]

What are your thoughts on Dottore after 3.2 main quest? Especially his conversation with Nahida at the end? Personally, I thought it was another prime example of "HYV can't write smart characters for shit but they will surely make it look like they can, as superficially as possible". Nahida's bluff was so obvious I just can't 🤡

The more I think about the way the story and its plot are handled in this game, the more it seems to me that they exist only for the sake of exposing lore.

HYV loves their lore dumps fr fr

Dottore. Is. Aha.

Okay, so I've never actually expected Genshin to write him well. Or okay. You know? He jives with me in theory because alt-selves and identity-in-fiction etcetcetc really, really vibe with me as concepts. You can learn a lot about a character by seeing them interact with the concept of their own identity, literally or no. I think it's a fun way to crack open a character's head - and I'll never say no to the existential horror that can come along with it.

Alt-selves? Timeline shenanigans? The splitting of heart and soul? Traumatic rejection of who you used to be, direct confrontation of with parts of yourself you couldn't accept, learning what you could have been, or have the potential to become? Fun stuff!

The dark shadows of Dirk Strider & Sora KingdomHearts' Heart Hotel hover behind me, eternally.

The reason Nahida doesn't fit into this niche for me is that her connection to Rukkha isn't actually used to explore her character. Rukkha mostly serves as one half info-dump and the other gentle affirmation that Nahida is on the right track - Nahida wasn't confronted with any part of herself, we didn't learn anything new about her.

I find Ei's relationship with the Shogun potentially more interesting in that it reveals a lot about Ei's mindset when the Shogun was made, but I never liked the way Genshin used those two.

So... Dottore swanning in, revealing he'd segmented himself into multiple pieces representative of himself at certain ages and making it clear that they did not like each other would. Obviously. Immediately catch my attention. So you can imagine how pleased I was when Nahida bluffed him into killing them all, off-screen, before any of them are ever used or they even get to interact with each other.

Dottore: In a surprising turn of events, I have alt-selves! Nahida: Will you kill them all for a shiny nickel Gnosis? Dottore: Sure!

[dialogue barely altered]

Like. Dear fucking lord, what are you doing? Why? What is the point of even writing this in if this is what you are going to do with it? I've been baffled by a lot of Genshin's writing choices lately but this one takes the fucking cake. But I'm forced to conclude that Genshin never had any interest in using those alt-selves to explore Dottore's character, which is... what I would expect you to use that sort of plot device for, but rather I guess just wanted to show what a DEVIANT he is, ooh, blasphemy, we watched the first season of One Punch Man and thought the scientist was cool and had no further plans beyond that.

I mean, they couldn't even be bothered addressing what he did to Collei, so I'm pretty sure they just want to impress on us what a crazy dangerous wildcard he is and have no intention on dealing with the fallout. So what made Dottore interesting to me seems to be gone now, and .... well, yeah. Thanks, Genshin. Record time!

ANYWAY yeah, the Gnosis Deals this time were a goddamn joke. Any credibility either Nahida OR Dottore had as Smart People were completely nuked in those proceedings.