#fun times in da dungeon

[tortademaracuya]

no sabia q con el pergamino guardaba y no podia cancelar...

[tritoch]

i've seen a lot of people complain about the dawntrail final dungeon for being a thing that we have basically already done and i understand and in many ways agree with that complaint but i do think it varies from the usual in ways that are actually pretty compelling.

spoilers for dawntrail follow, natch.

like okay in amaurot and the dead ends and the lunar subterrane (okay this is definitely a well CBU3 has gone to too many times), the premise is the fights you're engaging in are all kind of historical. behold, the dooms of amaurot. tremble before ra-la, a real sphinx that actually existed once somewhere. face durante, just as golbez faced him in real life.

and accordingly, because all the fighting is supposed to match the energy of the dungeons, these are moments of panic and peril. the world is ending. the worlds are ending. the kingdom is on fire. there's a solemn villain voiceover to really drive the point home (we just wanted to play...on da amaurotine playground...). amaurot is falling and look how sad it is. every world died and look how painful it was. my best buddy golbez died and it was really sad. everything is Fucked Up.

what's really fun about alexandria by contrast, particularly in the first part, is that things are fine, actually! sphene's here (well, "heah"), and we love her, and she smiles because we smile and we smile for her :). oh no alexandria is falling and it's so sad and noble because of everyone's chivalric sacrifices :( oh yay we're rebuilding from the ashes :)

it's a beautiful, tragic, noble story. and the whole time no one's talking to you, not like normal. sphene's kind of reciting the lyrics to memory from cats listlessly but everyone in her memories is talking to each other, not to you. none of them are interacting with you. you're not fighting alongside her against her enemies or taking down conjured horrors from the past.

no, the whole time you're being reminded of one very specific fact.

You're foreign. You're not from here. This is not for you. This is not yours. This peace was not yours and never will be. This grief, this hope. You chose otherwise. You were offered the chance to be Alexandrian. You rejected it. Stay over there. Stay out. You are not wanted here.

in what i personally choose to interpret as a bit of dark comedy, when things start breaking down, it's literally one of the only words you still understand.

ultimately what distinguishes alexandria from amaurot or the dead ends (intentional "this is why i'm sad" slideshows made specifically for the warrior of light to experience) or the lunar subterrane (accidental memory recreation) is that you are choosing to invade sphene's memories. you are doing a cool little backdoor heist at the luxor casino by causing chaos all over the strip before you crawl through the vents to get to the mainframe or whatever.

but in the context of dawntrail, alexandria is the invading power, the rapacious techno-dystopia that intends to carry out forever wars so it can use the literal souls of its enemies to power its treat machines and which not so coincidentally spawned in north america. and alexandria has literally invaded both tuliyollal and yyasulani at this point. so the conceit of the memory guardians helps make clear the hegemonic logic at play. you are a foreign entity. you are not a subject of the state. your life has no value. you must be removed.

or, if removal proves impossible, exterminated.

[luimagines]

STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!STREAMER AU!

Those in the know- this is for you. For those who don't know, it's the au where Link is aware of a 'voice' who just so happens to be a streamer and he can also hear whatever the chat says in his head.

Enjoy.

Masterlist

Content under the cut!

Link felt like screaming. Much like the voice that seemed ready to comment on every little thing he was doing.

"Come on!!! Make the jump! God! I'm pressing the button!"

Link felt his eye twitch again as responses started coming in.

'hi_im_gitter: You're jumping too soon.

Box_Bee16: Ha! Get wrecked, Link.

localjaybird: You're about to die. Again.'

Link wasn't sure what they meant by that. He hasn't died yet but he was hurting everywhere. And these stupid voices weren't helping him.

He sighed and readied himself to make the jump again. He almost slipped in the process but managed to jump over the edge and make it to the other side.

"WOOOOOO!!!! Let's go!!"

Link sighed and shook his head, adjusting his joints. He was tired but he wasn't about to let these strange people ruin his mood for today. The monsters were doing a swell job of that on their own.

Speaking of-

Link takes out his sword and swings it with wild abandon, banishing the monsters ahead of him before they could land a hit on him. He's so tired.

Wait- doesn't he have a potion he can drink?

He looks in his pack and pulls out the bottle. Link is quick to drink every last drop. It doesn't bring him back to full speed, but lessens much of the hurt.

'localjaybird: you've had a potion the entire time?

Box_Bee16: how long has that been there?

pinkittwice54: and that was your last one. what if you get hurt again?'

Link growls and puts the bottle back in his pack. If he gets hurt again, then he'll deal with it again. It not any of their da-

Well. He shouldn't say that.

It's been nice to have company that seems to actually care about him. Sure they like to poke fun at him in the least opportune times, but they're funny and cheer him on when he has little victories.

Even the ones his friends would have ignored otherwise.

They're strange.

But it's a nice distraction from the end of the world if he had to be honest with himself.

"We'll take care of that eventually. Right now we need to get out of this dungeon so we can move on to the next step."

That's another thing, Link files away to the back of his as he starts walking forward again.

They always say 'we' or 'I'. As if they're right here next to him, fighting with him. Even though they don't seem to respond when he tries talk back to them, they still react to everything he does. It's not like he can see them though. So maybe this is some ironic deitic fair trade.

They can see him but not hear and he can hear but not see. The goddesses must be having a field day with this one.

'hi_im_glitter: You can do this! We believe in you!

helpidon'tknowhowtodothis: go kick their butts!

pinkittwice54: We're rooting for you! You got this!'

Link smiles to himself and picks up the pace.

Yeah, they're really not that bad at the end of the day.

"Let's go save Zelda!"

He nods and starts running.

[number-cheetos]

i haven't much planned but here it is what we decided ( @lordofthesillystraws thx for da help ):

Those six people suddenly started having weird dreams and visions of others similar to them, nothing was clear or comprehensible, very blurry and confusing, but there was a feeling calling them all to be together. (bahh)

about Kara: Coming from the Eastern, he develops a burning passion for the western culture and becomes a knight adventurer. Due the visions he have been seeing, he decides to unite everybody, he believes their destiny is to enter the dungeons and have the best companionship together. In a way to make the group feel more like a family, he spends all the money on matching clothing (that's why they all have the matsu symbol). He is the one who cooks most of the time.

about Oakso: Not much about him atm. He's the laziest one, but when he gets the determination/motivation or gets pissed he will do his job well (maybe he will slip a lot). The funny one, kinda oblivious.

about Chorolee: The one that most denies their "destiny to be together" with the group, he believes that it isn't possible to be serious. Many times, he is the one who takes the party to the right direction and make them do the right choices, except when he doesn't. He's slowly starting to believe the dreams and have more kindness to the rest.

about Ichiwin: Can heal but also go to combat aswell. Normally, has more empathy to non-humans and demi-humans. Before joining the party he wouldn't be the one to explore dungeons, he would study it from far.

about Jushi: Around his teenhood He escaped from a demihuman trade ship in a gnome town. in that night he end up invading Ichiwin's home, and that´s how those two met. First one to detect danger and attack (dw he is very strong) but can get false alarms and cause confusion. Deep inside we all know he is the most mature out of them all.

about Thodos: Takes vision very seriously, but once he got to know the group he knew he was doomed. Can use healing magic, ancient magic and destructive magic (all for convinience, the easier to end the problems the better) he focus more on healing though. Flees combat constantly. Can help with the cooking and prepare his own meals sometimes.

FUN FACTS: this is DUNMESHI, obv we have to mention the food,,, so uhm, basically they didn't bring much food to the dungeon so Kara has the brilliant idea of eating the monsters in the dungeon lol. Oakso kinds weird but accepts, Chorolee is completly disgusted and complains every time but eats anyway, Ichiwin avoids eating the monsters and prefers eating anything else in the dungeon but if he needs to he wouldn't complaint much. Jushi doesn't really care it just needs to be good, Thodos is as disgusted as chorolee but he really tries to swallow it all.

All their parents look like Dayon.

is possible that chorolee adopts a baby harpy (he doesn't know it is a Harpy

[comfortless]

hello beloved 🥰 🫶 every time you mention ‘The Dungeon’ whatever da hell that is my brain just goes dungeon crawler! könig! dungeon crawler! könig! so might i request a dungeon crawling könig?

what the hell. do not send König down here… get him away from me…. *immediately forgets everything else i was doing to begrudgingly write this*

sigh… dungeoneer! König x fem! reader

content / warnings: violence, sexism, suggestive.

Retrieving the golden eye of a wyrm to be made into a lovely pendant for the Queen would pay well, keep him afloat and drifting from land to land for long enough to decide upon where to settle. The posting tacked to the wall of the inn, detailing a handsome reward, was surely the sign from a benevolent god that a glorious fate had been handed to him on a silver platter. He stuffs the parchment into the pocket of his trousers as he downs the last of his ale, tosses his coins to the barmaid on his way toward the door and sets off for the deepest dungeon in the kingdom.

There are no bright-eyed knights lobbying around the entrance, a good sign that the wyrm’s bounty was all his to claim. It makes him elated, really, and the idea of finally having his own place, bedding down with a pretty maiden each night is even more of an adrenaline rush than the actual fighting that comes the moment he steps foot into the darkened underworld. The dungeon is filled with the reanimated skeletons he’s grown so accustomed to— a quick jab with his claymore to the center of the spine leaves them a crumpled heap of bone and dust. They’ll rise again when the moon hangs lofty in the sky, but he’s done this enough times to know the best way of navigating such a place. The other beasts haunting the cavernous ruins are a bit trickier to deal with, and he’s fortunate that most shy away from the light of his torch.

Only, she does not.

The woman standing before him in full plate armor is poised for battle, blade making a steady ascent above her head in preparation to strike as her lantern is cast aside. She charges at him before he can even breathe out a word of protest, swinging the heavy sword at him so quickly that at most, he can only thrust his torch before him to prevent her plunging the tip between his ribs. She’s quick to draw back when the wood splinters and the fire sparks up on dry bone and the tattered remains of clothing from all that came before layered upon the dirt and grime coated floor. The blaze of the fire seems pale in comparison to the flames in her eyes as she pivots towards him again, and once more— he merely blocks.

“A maiden shouldn’t be here,” he says through gritted teeth as he easily pushes her back against the wall, caging her between the flat of his blade and the bulk of his body.

He hadn’t realized the ache in his groin until the woman tilts her head up to spit in his face. König doesn’t bother to wipe it away, to even pretend to be disgusted by her actions. From this small breadth between them all he sees is divine beauty— even as her eyes narrow like that of a viper preparing to strike.

“A knight to be,” she corrects him as he gives her blade a shove, the sounds of steel hissing against steel and crackling fire echoing throughout the cavern.

“Not likely.”

Their fight drags on for what feels like hours before his flask his split at his hip and she finally does back down. Even this lady knows well enough that being lost in a dark dungeon with no source of light and no water is a death sentence, and she finds him both incredibly frustrating and fun enough to keep him a live just a little longer. He’s adept enough to block even her quickest strikes, parry her with a gentle jab to her side with his index rather than his blade. He’s shown her her own weak points during their little battle, and she’s garnered a bit of respect for him for that.

As she sheaths her blade and locks eyes with him, his erection is practically trying to tear through the seams of his pants. She’s so pretty, so strong, so unlike the barmaids and damsels in distress he’s come across so often and it’s all gnawing at the recesses of his mind. The bounty almost entirely forgotten, he wants not to penetrate the wyrm with his blade but rather spear her with his cock.

He reaches for her, almost tentatively hoping to somehow melt through her armor and feel the warmth of her flesh. She’s doesn’t pull away when his hands rest against her waist, just gives him a little flutter of her eyelashes before rearing a hand back to almost playfully strike his face just before she turns on the heel of her boot and gathers her lantern.

König follows along behind her, not just out of necessity, but because she asks him to. Beckons him along with the curl of her gloved finger, coos at him when he falls behind trying to picture her body beneath the layers of chainmail and fitted steel.

“I’m taking the bounty,” she tells him when they stop to take a sip from her flask, feast on the preserved fruit and dried meat from his own satchel.

It reminds him of why he’s come all this way, what he’s supposed to be doing here. He’s a little tense— on one hand he wants to give this lady the entire kingdom, make her his wife and rid away those silly thoughts about becoming a knight, but she’s so determined!! He’s at a loss on how to tell her that there are no women knights in the land, that no matter what she brings back for the King she’ll probably only be mocked and sent on her way.

“Let me help you,” he says instead.

“You would lend me your blade?”

He just blinks at her… this silly woman has spent far too long dreaming and watching the knights in the castle yard, he just knows it. Down to the way she speaks! She’s incredible and infuriating, just as he is to her. It makes him want to push her just a bit, see what she’s capable of entirely before they part ways (she is never getting rid of him).

“What do I get in turn?”

The little knight mulls that over for a moment, as she leads him down a long corridor; everything all gilded and decorated, lit aglow by the dim orange of lantern light. The golden coins, rolls of fine silk now muddied and trampled littering the floor are enough of a sign to show they’ve nearly made their way to the heart. The wyrm would no doubt be lying in wait at the end, resting protectively over its hoard of cattle bones and shiny objects, golden eyes piercing through the darkness as it prepares for the fight to come.

It’s when the wyrm’s first hissing growl rings out through the darkness that she does turn back to face him, a mischievous little grin tugging at her lips.

“Only to live another day.”

“Nein… something else.”

He can’t stop himself from pawing at her again, curling a hand around her neck to tilt her chin up to face him. Her breath fanning over his face, her scent like peony and lantern oil make him feel drunk enough. The hand that slides between his legs to grasp at his cock is far from anything he ever anticipated from her. She was bold, too bold and too pretty for her own good.

Fate had blessed him more than he could even begin to fathom, after all.

[yellowocaballero]

What are your thoughts on dan da dan?

Catching up on asks in the airport after a holiday yet again. I have so many to answer but I'll get to them, promise!

I love Dandadan!!! It's so much fun. I'm not completely caught up (I spent the holiday watching the Netflix One Piece (Love it, it's so cute???) and Kolchak the Night Stalker (Chicago themed media that takes place in the already Chicago themed Chicago)). But I enjoy about two anime a year, and Dandadan was one of them! This was actually a rich year of enjoying three anime - Dungeon Meshi, Frieren, and Dandadan.

I'm just very weak for 'plucky teens form a monster of the week ghost hunting club' anime. Haruhi-induced brain damage from an early age. But what I usually end up really liking is when the spirits/ghosts/yokai are used to convey something about the characters and about being human. Teen action media is best when it's about externalizing the horrors of being a teen into a physical conflict, and ghosts can be a very pathos-filled way of showing physical danger as a result of emotional pain. I think good Ghost/Yokai/Spirit hunting media also gets creative with the resolution of the conflict - if the conflict is the result of some sort of externalized suffering, then the monster cannot be fought purely by physical means and usually requires some level of resolution of a character's personal arc. It's pretty common plot-wise for characters to need to grow in order to solve the problem (that's how stories work.), but in shonen that emotional growth is very commonly directly linked with physical strength and the resolution is purely in Winning The Fight. In good Hip Teen Ghost Hunting Media, that growth is about reaching a level of empathy and kindness required to heal others and resolve the pain of an enemy. Good Hip Teen Ghost Hunting Media is kind, and is about showing kindness.

Dandadan is good Hip Teen Ghost Hunting Media. It gets this. It's more action focused than some others, but it stays very solidly in touch with an emotional heart. Because the story is REALLY about Momo and Otakun, and making a friend when you've been very lonely, and being kind of a dick when you really don't mean to be. Intimacy as achieved through ghost hunting and losing all of your clothes all the time. The show's momentum so far is entirely on the relationship between Momo and Otakun, to the extent where it's actually remarkably focused, but that relationship is strong enough to carry the show. Just entirely on the basis that the two kids want to be together when they're apart, and they want to share themselves with each other, and they're afraid that they love the other person more than the other person loves them. Good ghost hunting shows are about empathy and learning to care about others, and Momo and Otakun pour all of that into each other. It's also a very insane mix of being very sexual without being erotic, which is a big part of its general vibes of 'the messiness and stupidity and awkwardness of teenage first love'. Overall, Dandadan comes off as a very sincere show because it is so honest in showing first love as a teenager.

Fight scenes also extremely good, partly because I love seeing Momo and Otakun (whose battle forme is so banger) be such a seamless team. And partly because fight scenes are very good. Love the music and animation. All round very good 8/10, lots of affection for it, will be reading the manga after the anime S1 wraps up.

[ganondoodle]

i know i said i wouldnt be ranting about totk anymore, but i realized i didnt really count the sage dungeons as story (dont ask me why) so i thought im gonna write a better summarized version of my opinion about totk (i have around 60% of the game, all lightroots, not yet all shrines (missing like .. 20 or so, know the reward), not all krogs (dont know the reward), not all mayoi (half know the reward?) )

(in no particular order)

good stuff (in my opinion)

the. MUSIC! god the music is good, it was good in botw too but now with much more different bosses it really is probably one of my fav soundtracks of all time (most fav are all three phases of the end fight, the pre-fight to that, the build up one before all of those, Frosgeira (wind tempel boss) the glorious mASTER KOGA and more tbh)

the build up and end boss fight(s) are fantastic, i dont think im ever not gonna have my heart racing when approaching it (despite now skipping almost the entire way bc i set a teleport thing right before it) just bc the build up is so well made and the music(again) is such a banger and the fight(s) itself is so fun too, tbh i keep wanting to play it just bc its so fun

i LOVE how many themes play into the music (endfight alone had so many layers, fav probably is ganondorfs classic theme and calamity ganons both in the same piece among much more, and daruks theme in the fire temple)

(edit) YOU. CAN. TOUCH. DA. DRAGONS!!!!

ganondorf

ganondorfs design (x3)

ganondorfs weapon designs

ganondorfs voice (japanese)

everyone elses voice (japanese)

all voices (german)

thE YIGA!!! i love everythign about them and am so happy they got to be more than just some mini mission

(edit) also the fact that they get zonau tech to work without any special ghost powers is so ????

(edit) koga can summon and use zonau tech unlimited?? hes so cool

NO stealth mission!! (as far as im aware)

bosses are very different from each other

main dungeons are not too short and not too long and mostly fun (mostly bc i personally didnt like the gerudo one), i love that you can still somewhat cheese them and do them your way

sages felt like they got a bit more involved

(edit) you gotta do more stuff before getting to the actual dungeons and i really like that, feels less like a fetch quest but that you are actually helping

(edit) each sage is actually there in the dungeon and is required for it, which is great!

each settlement saw a much bigger danger/change (tho that has more impact if you have played botw) and its problems felt much more real

shrines are well varied tho i think overall a little easy (only got stuck on two so far and later solved them easily bc when i first started them i was tired and exhausted, no brain left lol)

NPCs felt less flat + more bigger sidequests that felt like they had more impact

cool new monsters + designs

the underground was pretty appropiately creepy

the sages abilities are neat

you can refight bosses!!

stable points system is a neat way to encourage you using them

weapon fusing is neat

(edit) the forest of the krogs being corrupted like that is both creepy and a neat nod to oot

(edit) the vai gerudo outfit being gone!! (one) evil has been defeated

(edit) the health bar going so far off the middle in ganondorfs second phase is honestly just funny hnjdfdjk unfortunate that you only need the master sword and with a few perfect dodges his health melts like butter in the summer

(edit) the music when dragondorf transforms sounds so sad .. its probably meant as a oh no world is actually ending sad but i like to think of it as a oh god what did he do to himself sad

the scene where rauru seals ganondorf kinda fruity

(graphic, animations and the overall world is still fantastic)

bad stuff (in my opinion)

everything zonau they feel forced into every bit of the world and its history (i know them being somewhat alien is intentional but not like that) it feels crammed into places they werent before and shouldnt be and it makes it all feel very artificial

the glyphs/dragon tears/memories really ruined alot for me, while it gave you insight as to what happened, it felt like it showed you too much and too little at the same time and i think it would have worked better if it was all in text for once if even at all, so the past stil stayed a mystery and youd be left wondering

timetravel .. really wasnt necessary and felt more like an excuse to get rid of zelda + make her the poor little sacrificial girl again + and to make her turning into a dragon as tragic as possible, like nothing but a stepping stone to the big reveal tm

shiekah tech being not just fully irrelevant but practically erased, wiped off the world (i know about the literally last guardian parts in hateno, it feels more like an oversight tbh, purah technically using it ... tho i dont think she ever calls it that, the purah pad is jsut the sheikah stone but worse), there being no good explanation, no remains, nothing as to why it would suddendly stop working and why even the titans and ESPEICALLY the shrine of life would be destroyed, if anything why wouldnt you enshrine it as a memento to history it was such a focus in botw and so well integrated into the world that it being fully gone, not even old overgrown, or visibly reused to build homes etc., or remains of how they built the og shrines in the underground feels like a HUGE missed opportunity (seriously it would have been so easy to make the ancient shiekah base their tech on old zonau tech, without stealign the gocus but buildign a connection)

all of the continuity problems, totk feels like botw didnt happen and the excuse of 'they didnt want to confuse new players' doesnt make a lick of sense in my eyes bc; its supposed to be a sequel, if you want it to be a standalone game then dont call it a sequel- if you start to play a game with the sequel instead of the first part its your own damn fault if you get confused; if anything, it would have been a good opportuntiy to make people interested in botw so theyd buy and play that one too

ganondorfs character is very flat, you basically get to know nothing about him (yuno even calls that out midgame but its never elaborated upon nhgfrdfhkk)

the zonau and their kingdom of hyrule is presented as this so perfectly good thing to such a degree it turns creepy, the end cutscene with mineru going poof was kinda uncomfy to watch tbh

the reward for all shrines being essentially a reveal as to who the hero in the tapestry was and it being, of course, some weird half zonau is the lamest answer to a mystery i didnt want an anwser too, it doesnt feel like it came naturally either (again my point of the zonau being forced into everything)

the shrines (zonau) feel so much more unnatural than the shiekah shrines, alien in a bad way and not in a good way + really are like a bad reskin of them, their sudden appearance and use is so much less logical

back in botw i was doubtful of if the shiekah tech wasnt going to far too modern tech and cause it all to feel like a bad mix of modern tech and medival fantasy, but they balanced it perfectly (tho the eponator zero was very much the limit imo) but the zonau tech .... oversteps that line i think, it really does feel, more than anything else, that it was just bc they wanted the stuff to be in there bc it might be fun to play around with, im not against that kind of stuff mind you im all for fun, but it feels a little like they thought of a box with endless stuff to play with first and a zelda game second (if you get what i mean)

quite a few quests or things in the game seem like they are more and then end in a dead end (the worst of all is impa saying she wants to go research what could help zelda turn back, and i was excited and convinced that shed give me a quest to find some mcguffin that would do that after i beat ganon but there wasnt anything you could actually do; less bad one but disappointing nonetheless the dongos were mentioned and treated like this big awesome thing from alot of NPCs all around the map and then when you find them they are bascially just gem vending maschines)

the way zelda turns back and link gets his arm back is incredibly unsatisfying, none of them even have something like a scar, or mark from it all, zelda spent thousands of years as a dragon (a transformation that was said to cost your soul but i guess that wasnt true) and link had his arm bascially eaten by miasma and he gets it back like it was never lost, zelda returns all intact as if nothing happened, getting blasted by some magic tm by two ghosts that were supposed to be long gone is the solution to all problems!!

(edit) link losing an arm wouldnt just be super intersting but also lend itself well to lead up into the next game where his prothesis is the focus and source of abilities

(edit) zelda got done so dirty, instead of her actual interests and character to shine she just gets shoved into yet another crisis surrounded by strangers in a world that looks like hers but isnt, and all she does is beg the ancient sages to swear to help link and sacrifice herself again (can you call that fridging? bc she sure feels like she got fridged) i like zelda and i dont like how much i didnt care about her and tbh im angry at the game for that

(edit) both link and zelda not even slightly changing in the years btween botw and totk kinda boring, like a haircut can only do so much

(edit) sonia really is the wife that dies to make husband sad thing isnt she? i get that gan had to get his hands on an enigma stone but i feel like there had been better ways to do that, the fact that she dies that easily is almost funny honestly, why does ganondorf even have weapons when he can just one punch people to death (tho i find it funny to imagine he can literally just kill people in one punch but hes too prideful to do it most of the time so he always uses weapons to look more cool)

(edit) so many new characters that you barely get to see or interact with, i really ... couldnt get myself to care much

(edit) zonau tech being so irrelevant to the games story while its also the focus is .. weird, its really just play doh for the players and nothing else honestly

(edit) monsters mining sonanium feels strange bc ... they dont do anything with it? the best thing i can think of is that they were told to do that so link cant .. upgrade his battery thignies? but then again you could just destroy the mines and remaining constructs to stop it .... also you really dont need anything zonau tech related to beat gan?

(edit) ganondorf beign so utterly uninterested in their tech is weird considering how he dealt with shiekah tech (and we KNOW it can get corrupted) he should be a tech nerd tbh

my twitch VoD of the first time beating the game getting muted at the credits despite me talking over it

nitpicks (in my opninion)

(edit) ganondorf should have a bit more of a boar inspired design, as treat, i think

(edit) the enigma stone wandering back to ganondorfs forehead even after transforming is? weird? i guess an excuse for da epic last stabby but still? (how cool would it have been to have to plunge into his mouth and break it there or something)

(edit) the underground gets a lil old after a while, the fact that its pretty much the same everywhere aside from some .. very strange flowing magma is a lil boring

(edit) ganondorf could have gone way more crazy with abilities and all that, imagine hed spwan multiple miasma arms on himself when you get him to a certain level of health

(edit) i miss unique weapons, there arent even normal axes around anymore, everything is about fusing really, i miss the cool shiekah tech weapons

(edit) the forest of the krogs being largely irrelevant is kinda weird

(edit) mineru being the sage of spirit still is kinda meh, the robot is neat but i thought tauro or purah would be the surprise sage tbh

(edit) the bosses were a little easy (i did boldo gohma rather early and did it without even getting hit)

you cant talk to koga normally :(

you cant find koga again after the last fight :(

you cant refight him (to my knowledge) :(

i find it very strange that yuno seemingly lost daruk shield, despite him having inhereted it in botw

the sage powers are not .. very great integrated, while its fun to haven them run around and help you fight, to actually use their powers you have to chase after them, something that in the heat of a battle is very annoying to do, constantly activating the wrong on or them losing their charge up when they get knocked over is like trying to herd a wild pack of geese while a three headed dragon is shotting laserbeams at you

some widlife just disappearing all of the sudden is very strange (like the rhino in hebra)

some new houses or settlements would have been cool, that the material things at the sides of roads are really only for you to play around with and not to build anything that lasts

you cant fight ganondorf (non dragon, even the dragon is locked to that evening sky) in the sunlight, night or rain, i would have loved to fight him at various times of day

their refusal to show any kind of blood is honestly turnign serious scenes into very awkward ones, sonia just getting punched and she dies with not even like, losing some spit from the force or something, or the fact when you defeat ganondorfs second phase he acts mortally wounded but doesnt even look scratched is just :/

amiibo stuff while neat being included its really mostly just bloating your inventory, if i wanted 5 vaguely different link outfits then i would have gotten the amiibo for it

why hide the -now-totally-not-phantom-ganon-armor- behind such a long questline and then .. have that NOT be upgradable

they put in a house building thingy and then not let you have a roof or a tree or something :(

at some point stable points jsut get you more and more of those free staying over night tickets that i maybe used .. once at the very start and now its just accumulating in my inventory

only one new horse coat pattern :(

satori now only being a thingy that shows you caves is kinda boring, i loved the mystery around it in botw (additionally, that it shows you caves you have completed already kinda sucks)

the end of the shrines isnt that cool anymore, speaking to a mummified monk that gives you essentially his last remains of life energy is so much cooler than a statue of the oh so awesome god king and his wife

the many references and reuse of old names is neat but together with timetravel etc. it easily leads to confusing and fighting among fans for who is more 'right' and its just .. tiring

(edit) considering how much of the advertising was about the sky islands i wished there were more and bigger ones, the underground (that was a little one sided after a while, it all looking the same rly) could have been alot smaller if the sky was bigger instead

(edit) i wished there was more of a sense of .. lost life in the ruins you find, from all races, the ancient ruins are jsut some bridged and ceremonial stuff and i wished there were more like .. houses, like people actually lived there and it not being all around beign a platform for you

(edit) the fact that the half zonau hero exists mean either rauru and sonia had kids but those were clearly not important enough to ever show nor mention, or there were other mixing of them before they all mysteriously died out the fact that the ancient hero was half zonau means their genes survided till then but somehow it never came up? the tapestry still exists and impa and purah say like its a well known fact that the hero looked like that (not at all close to any modern species) when you talk to them while wearing it (the fact that the hero armor thingy is very reminiscemt of ganondorf is like some backtreading bc we were theorizing about the hero having been ganondorf once and they wanted to stop that .. but the more funny thing is the HC of its a descdendet of rauru and ganondorf nhjdfknhdgkfnhkfd) (edit to add to the HC; the game being a big battle about child support is funnier than it should be idk if nintendo knew what they were doing adding details like that)

all in all it just feels like missed opportunities, lost potential, and more a game build around some game mechanics they really wanted to get into than telling a neat story, espeically so bc they called it a sequel, most of my complaints wouldnt be there if it was some alternate thing instead

i probably forgot stuff but if i think of more i will add them later with a little note that it was added in an edit (sidenote, i find it funny how much more nuance that whole conflict would get if rauru and ganondorf were bitter exes bfdrjfbdfndk)

[disasterdrvid]

tagged by @localfruit and @full---ofstarlight <333

Rules: Make a poll with five of your all time favorite character and see which is everyone's favorite

picking a da character was like picking a favorite child lol but this was very fun!!

tagging @shift-shaping @wardenrainwall @perfectblve @magic-space-games @ollifree @star--nymph @notebooks-and-laptops @wolfsmist and anyone else i might've forgot <3

[jariten]

May-July 2023 roundup

Okay little by little preparing for regular posting on this blog to resume and thought I'd start with catching up on the roundups!

Midori no Uta by Taiwanese Yan Gao, who first garnered attention for illustrating the original Japanese edition of Haruki Murakami's Abandoning a Cat: Memories of my Father, tells the story of college student Lü after she moves to Taipei for university. There she spends less time on academic pursuits and more on music live shows. She then meets Nanjun, an amateur musician who shares his love of music with her. This leads her on a trip to Japan to look for the band Happy End's album Kazemachi Roman, which leads her to an instant love for Harumi Hosono and his music, and her first infatuation as she grows closer to Nanjun. This is maybe the first Taiwanese comic I've ever read and I loved every second of it. The Japanese translation was really great. Beautiful naturalistic cityscapes and I really adored how Lü's emotions were depicted. Everything Yan Gao was referencing was very interesting too. I love a college coming of age too. I really really hope someone takes the initiative to license it and that she gets another tankobon out soon.

Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand by Yoko Komori was also a lovely little coming of age, although at an elementary school level. I really want even more understated but impactful stories like this on the english market and I'm really happy this one got licensed despite its age (it first came out in 2013). And speaking of more understated stories, Frieren by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe is soooooo good. Def a worthy comparison to a series like Delicious in Dungeon with how it is an earnest fantasy that decides to approach the staples of the genre from a novel perspective, altho I love how the atmosphere and tempo is completely different, really recommend for anyone who likes more low energy or relaxing stories. And PLEASE anime fans please watch the adaption when it premieres this fall!!!

I also in this period really enjoyed reading Ai ga Areba Ii no da by Ikuemi Ryou. This year I've read so much text heavy manga so reading one with a lot of silent panels and textless sequences was so refreshing, and really moved Ikuemi up on my priority list, I'm really looking forward to reading more.

Tora to Yoko by Fuyuko Kurosaki was another fun surprise in the sense that honestly when I pick up 4-koma on a whim I don't expect too much (Making Azumanga Daioh my first kinda set the expectations too high), and its no Azumanga but I still found myself wanting to recommend it. Imagine if you will a world where cats are plushie shaped and have the general intelligence of a child meaning they can understand and make themselves understood to humans without speaking, they go to school, and have friends they like to hang out with. This is the world of Yoko and Tora and all of their friends. Much like Chiikawa its the little world building details that elevate it from just another cutesy comedy. But don't get me wrong it is a cutesy comedy.

On a whole other track, Keimusho no Naka by Kazuichi Hanawa (licensed as Doing Time back in 2004), was a really fascinating depiction of life in prison as told by a man who had to do time over illegal weapon possession charges. The vivid details of the interior of the prison and the oppressive routines they had to endure from the people who run it was very enlightening. Not to mention Hanawa's artistic talent is like, crazy to me.

I'm still not making promises but posting on here is something that I want to do, so I'd like to ask if there's a preference to consistent posting (queue running consistently over the span of weeks) or if occasional sporadic bursts (queue runs inconsistently or just for a couple of days at a time) is fine too

[lunarscaled]

Lord Dullanathri the Season Keeper requests the pleasure of your presence at the turning of the season in the city of Baldur’s Gate for a party of great splendor in celebration of the arriving fall season and Autumn Equinox. Guests are expected to arrive Saturday, the 9th or fashionably late.

Formal partywear will be provided. Further details are enclosed.

>Check the envelope contents?

A Dungeons & Dragons / Baldur's Gate RPC Event ( crafted w/ assistance from @charmsperson and @heincus ! )

Essentials:

THE SETUP

Hi Hello Hallo Bonjour Ciao! This section will contain a rudimentary breakdown of this event in plainspeak for muns, as I understand the google doc might seem intimidating at first glance.

Essentially: this is a big excuse for dnd + bg3 muses to be dressed in fancy formalwear and interact! I saw a lot of people on dash saying they wish there was a DA: I Winter Palace equivalent event in BG3, and several people seemed interested in having a form of open-fandom event taking place that gave them a reason to do that. That is the main goal of this event---to let muses have fun in fancy clothes.

Lord Dullanathri the Season Keeper is an Archfey who has brought his Domain of Delight to Baldur's Gate for his annual festivities celebrating the ushering in of Fall, which it is his duty to oversee. All of Baldur's Gate, including the Outer City areas and Duskhawk Hill, are encompassed by his domain at this time and subject to its rules and aesthetics to some degree. Namely: fall leaves and colors, Feywild plants, lots of fall harvests ( plants such as corn, kale, pumpkin, turnips, beets, etc. ), music, large feasts, and a good dose of fey whimsy. Dullanathri's presence, for those who are aware of him, is considered to be a blessing as his domain's arrival will ensure the successful harvest of all crops and forgeables in the surrounding area, leaving plenty to preserve for the upcoming Winter. Baldur's Gate also loves a good party, and though there is typical Fey mischief afoot, Dullanathri is a neutral party and will not intentionally harm others personally. While the party is going on, all individuals inside the domain will be automatically dressed in formal gala attire; feel free to choose any outfit you would like that you feel is suitable for your character and share it with others! Draw it! Make an image collage of references! Dress your character up in appropriately fancy clothes from the game! Write a drabble about it, Cinderella style! Approach this however you like, before or during the event.

🍂FAQ🍁

What is an RPC / Dash Event ?: Consider this the dashboard equivalent of an in-game event, such as the Lantern Rite Festival in Genshin Impact or special 7⭐ Tera Raids in Pokemon Scarlet+Violet, where many people can come together to participate.

Who is Playing the NPCs?: You are! Or your writing partner is. Feel free to fill in the gaps of the personalities of other party attendants and citizens of Baldur's Gate in a way that is interesting to you and use the skill checks as a guide for your interactions (if you wish). This includes any battle segments, such as Flower Wars---you are free to play this as true-to-form of a real campaign battle as you want, or to plot out things with your partner in advance. Do what suits you.

Is this Mutuals Exclusive?: No! Anyone is free to take the event information / set-up and post opens or write while also respecting the rules of individuals

( ie. you do not have to be mutuals with me to participate in this event, but you must still respect the rules of other writers ( such as being mutuals-exclusive ) unless they state otherwise. )

Do Characters Have to do Side Quests?: No! The Side Quests are merely additional scenario prompts to help flesh out the party, and to give various types and personalities of characters a reason to attend and interact. Not every muse is an extrovert but some are heroic, or power motivated, or curious. These quests exist to give writers material to interact with the party in a way beyond just attending, and to write with others. If you aren't interested, you don't need to focus on them.

TLDR;

If you have questions, feel free to send me an ask, and I'll do my best to answer them!

I hope this can be an event people have fun with, so I've left a large timeframe open to give people more of a chance to participate, as I know people have busy lives and different timezones.

When?: Saturday, September 9th, 2023 - Sunday, September 24th, 2023

Where (in game)?: Baldur’s Gate ( all city districts ); Dusthawk Hill

Who?: Dungeons & Dragons / Baldur’s Gate muses + OCs. ( mutual status is not required to participate. Anyone interested or with an affiliated verse may use this content to interact, write threads, create art, etc. )

Tags?: #EquinoxEvent_2023

please use this tag to track opens, prompt lists, interact with others, and so that non-fandom blogs make blacklist it if necessary (for those who are multi-fandom)

[gothsuguru]

kairo’s fun facts! 𓂃𓈒⟡

i’m a toji apologist first, human being second.

get to know me: hi! my name is kairo! i’m in my twenties, i’m a woc, i go by she/her pronouns, i’m an aries, & i’m an enfp-a! <3 i love jjk! (the jjk stands for jujutsu kaisen and jeon jungkook!)

fun fact: toji is my favorite character of all time, but suguru gives me the most brainrot — so you’ll see suguru here the most! also… i’m a FERVENT lover of hot mean DILFs. <3

favorite anime/mangas: jujutsu kaisen, the apothecary diaries, demon slayer, haikyuu!!, mob psycho 100, skip & loafer, gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun, gakuen babysitters, a sign of affection, my new boss is goofy, the yuzuki family’s four sons, life lessons with uramichi oniisan, heaven’s official blessings (tgcf), grandmaster of demonic cultivation (mdzs), gokurakugai, mononoke (2007), dungeon meshi, chainsaw man, the elusive samurai, sakamoto days, kamisama kiss, ouran high school host club, dan da dan, the yakuza’s guide to babysitting, fruits basket, etc…

favorite book: the song of achilles by madeline miller.

favorite artists: BTS (i’m jungkook biased! yoongi & jimin are my bias wreckers!), hozier, florence & the machine, beyoncé, megan thee stallion, dpr ian, doechii, ethel cain, kendrick lamar & agust d.

✮ this is my favorite fanart! by @owwllly

✮ these are my two favorite fanarts! by @to00fu

✮ i follow back from my main; this is a side-blog!

✮ thanks for reading, i hope you have a wonderful day! <3

[goshdangronpa]

Dungeon Meshi x Danganronpa

Makoto: Half-foot/ tall-man hybrid (My boy is forever shortie cause he got inherited mostlyhalf-foot traits)

Byakuya: Tall-man ( Comes from a noble line and is quite haughty would refuse to eat anything found in the dungeon but will relent after some time)

Kyoko: Tall-man (very observant and investigative focused mainly on stealth and can easily identify various traps to keep her party safe tries to be distant but learns to care about her group)

Aoi: Dwarf (Don’t let her stocky appearance fool you she’s quite nimble and is an excellent swimmer. Loves a good donut is often seen with Sakura)

Sakura: Ogre (Too obvious and fitting, people are often intimidated by her appearance at first but learns that she’s quite lovely and respectful)

Komaru: Half-foot/tall-man (Inherited more from her tall-man genes and is taller than her older brother leading to some to think she’s the older. Had no interest at first to explore the dungeon but circumstances have changed. Is in a party with Toko)

Toko: Elf (studious and accomplished fail girl of an elf. The mage of the party. Claims to be exploring for new inspiration on a book. Got kicked out of most groups until Komaru found her. Maybe secretly studying dark magic a bit.)

Hey, I love Dungeon Meshi! Anime of the year (yes, over Dan Da Dan (which I also love)). These takes are pretty fun. Aoi and Sakura singlehandedly and enthusiastically improving dwarf-ogre relations is so cute. So is Komaru taking in Toko when no one else would. Ah, we love it when girls love girls.

For Makoto, might I suggest making him full-blooded Tall Man? It'd make it even more notable that he's only as tall as a half-foot. Short people don't need fantasy explanations, we exist!! Byakuya can be the half-foot. That'll take him down a peg.

[sxrrandomfanfics]

100 Different Media To Write For in 2025

There may be more series that are more fun, but these are things that I know

January 2nd - Psychonauts "One-Shot" January 2nd - Death's Door "I am a Reaper" January 5th - Psychonauts "Baby Talking to Animals is Completely Normal No Matter the Circumstances" January 11th - Helluva Boss "A New Argument" January 11th - Mouthwashing "Fish in a Birdcage" January 13th - Psychonauts "Precognition"

Things I could Write For

Sky

Digimon

Pokemon

Sonic

Dark Cloud

Shining Force

Jentry Chau Vs. The Underworld

Dan da Dan

Undertale

Steven Universe

Gravity Falls

Amphibia

The Owl House

Inside Job

Kill la Kill

Shin Megami Tensei

The Wizard of Oz

Ace Attorney

My Little Pony

Ok K.O. Let's Be Heroes!

Secret Saturdays

Generator Rex

The Pretender

Dungeons and Dragons

Cult of the Lamb

Powerpuff Girls

Dexter's Laboratory

Star Vs. The Forces of Evil

My Hero Academia

My Ghost Friend

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Villainous Flags- All Paths Lead to Doom!

Scissor Seven

DragonTales

Clifford

Pucca

Crash Bandicoot

Spyro the Dragon

That One Book About Lilith

American Dragon Jake Long

Danny Phantom

Kim Possible

Courage, The Cowardly Dog

iCarly

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Ernest and Celestine

Spirit - Stallion of the Cimmaron

Watership Down

Second Hand Lions

Jumanji

Zuthura

The Little Mermaid

Aladdin

Hercules

Shrek

Madigascar

How to Train Your Dragon

Rise of the Guardians

Grimm

Xiaolin Showdown

Lili & Stitch

Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Treasure Planet

Dinosaur King

The Great Mouse Detective

The Rescuers

Up Up and Away

Sky High

The Princess Protection Program

The Wizards of Waverly Place

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody

Anastasia

Land Before Time

Adventure Time

Regular Show

Teen Titans

Static Shock

Batman

Flash

Superman

Law and Order

Grimm Adventures

Jimmy Neutron

Fairly Odd Parents

Spongebob

50 First Dates

The Princess Bride

Johnny Test

Dragon Ball

Code: Lyoko

Miraculous Ladybug

Avatar the Last Airbender

Totally Spies

Big Bang Theory

The Simpsons

Futurama

Terraforming Mars

Centaurworld

Maya and the Three

The Book of Life

Coco

The Bible

Genesis's Discography

Mitski's Discography

6Teen

Total Drama

Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart

Big Hero 6

Baby Mouse

Calvin and Hobbes

Cavetown's Discography

Captain Planet

Ben 10

The Incredibles

Moomin

Spot the Dog

Between the Lions

Pinocchio

Snow White

Sleeping Beauty

Cinderella

Foreigner's Discography

Nightmare Before Christmas

The Santa Clause

Rankin & Bass

Warrior Cats

Wings of Fire

Fire Emblem

Yes's Discography

Chowder

Tom and Jerry

Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack

Spirited Away

Kiki's Delivery Service

My Neighbor Totoro

Howl's Moving Castle

Castle in the Sky

Sailor Moon

Ducktales

Chopped

Kirby

Blue's Clues

7 Deadly Sins

Little Witch Academia

Delcious in Dungeon

Spy x Family

Kingdom Hearts

Tangled

Frozen

Ancient Magus Bride

Inside Out

Star Wars

The Lord of the Rings (Rankin and Bass movie)

Aggretsuko

Klaus

Chess

Checkers

Star Trek

The Amazing World of Gumball

Cells at Work

Ouran High School Host Club

Hilda

Dead Endia

Bomberman

Theory Channels (YouTube)

Mario

Umbrella Academy

Phineas and Ferb

Full Metal Alchemist

Muppets

Song of the Sea

Wolfwalkers

Breadwinner

No Straight Roads

Meet the Robinsons

Beauty and the Beast

Fairytail

Splatoon

Project Moon

The Gregory Horror Show

Ever After High

Monster High

School for Good and Evil

Cursed Princess Club

He-Man & She-Ra

Legends of Chima

Smiling Friends

The Lion King

Mrs. Dalloway

Chikn Nuggit

Encanto

Detective Grimoire

Rain World

Infinity Train

Hero: 108

Golden Sun

Over the Garden Wall

Codename: Kids Next Door

Slay the Princess

The Frog Princess

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

5 Nights at Freddy's

Among the Sleep

Voltron

Bendy And the Ink Machine

Power Ranger

Super Monkey Ball

101 Dalmations

Hello Kitty

Hatsune Miku

Creepypastas

Camp Camp

Odin Sphere

Shakespeare

Dragon Quest

League of Legends

Hero Wars

Battlecats

Marry My Husband

The Thief and the Cobbler

Arthur

Fighting Fudons

Hotel Transylvania

Beware the Villainess

Overlord

That One Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime

Soul Eater

Hajime de no Aku

Supernatural

Naruto

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

The World God Only Knows

Devilman Crybaby

Blue Exorcist

HunterXHunter

Bob's Burgers

Geek Girl

Jane the Virgin

Emily in Paris

Jurassic Park

Jaws

Tremors

Friend's Fanfiction

My Own Fanfictions

[mynameisalanwake]

my thoughts after finishing my Dragon Age series playthrough, pt. 1: Origins

after finishing my initial Veilguard playthrough, and to help me ignore the real world for a time, i decided to play through the entire Dragon Age series as a human warrior character (since i'm most comfortable in a 2-hand warrior build no matter what the combat mechanics are). i have SO many thoughts and no one to tell them to, so i'm saving everything here. my little Thedas canon thus far!

keeping everything below the cut for spoiler purposes :) i'll list my major decisions (the ones listed in the Keep) at the beginning

Dragon Age: Origins major decisions made: - human noble male (Aedan Cousland) - romanced Morrigan - brokered peace between the elves and werewolves - picked Bhelen as king. defeated Branka and the anvil - completed Rite of Annulment, supported Templars - did not defile the Urn of Sacred Ashes - helped Redcliffe & freed Connor, Isolde sacrificed - Alistair is king, Loghain is dead - Old God Baby <3 - all of my companions survived & stuck with me til the end - Awakening: killed the Architect, Keep & Amaranthine safe - Warden's Keep: allowed Avernus ethical research - Witch Hunt: walked right through the Eluvian, no second thoughts

i usually have a lot of trouble going back to XBox 360 games, but this one was SO much fun! i do think a lot of DA fans have nostalgia goggles about the writing in this game, though. the examples of iffy Origins writing i hear most often are "swooping is bad" and the Orzammar crier saying "epic fail," but i think some of the more lore-heavy, expository sections (like your intro to the Circle) get gummed up by the fact you're immediately thrown into the action and have to solve the dungeon puzzles.

(sidebar - i just generally had an issue with the Circle and ended up doing the Rite of Annulment by accident! i'm horrible at navigating and got confused by all the side quests that popped up at the same time, so i never went back, oops. they were also the last faction i dealt with recruiting, so i was a little burnt out by that point.)

the companions in this game were so much fun, and i loved the camp & gifting mechanics. the banter while out & about was great but not always as bitchy/antagonistic as people like to remember, and i ALWAYS had Alistair & Morrigan in my party! my third usually rotated between Leliana and Zevran (no offense to Wynne/Sten/Dog/Shale, some offense to Oghren). Alistair is a great tank, and since i played a 2-hand warrior focused on DPS, i didn't need any of the other warriors in my party ever. HOWEVER - everyone was horny for the Hero of Ferelden! famously stand-offish Morrigan was arguing with Alistair about "spending more time" with me before i even realized she was ready to ~romance~! her romance was so fulfilling, though - 100% recommend for anyone else looking to build their own canon in a full playthrough. while i'm someone who loves to recruit & keep every companion, i appreciate that it was an option here, and obviously i didn't recruit EVERY companion (iykyk)... but i don't feel like i missed anything there. i think i recruited Wynne too late in the game to do her personal quest, but that was the only one i missed. i will never understand how players can harden Alistair - he is truly a sweet cinnamon roll of a man and it is impossible to bring myself to break his heart (and will be my romance for my fem!HoF mage playthrough).

even though i felt it was rushed in DAO, i would argue that romances are one thing BioWare did really well in this series (i'll address VG's problems, don't worry) - again, i don't typically play as a male character, but by gender (and sometimes race!) locking romances, it forces players to ACTUALLY roleplay instead of a self-insert. since i knew what outcome i wanted, i chose to play as a different gender than usual, and i felt even more immersed because of it. the Human Noble origin is 100% the way to go for even MORE immersion into the story, IMO.

combat is... rough, which i think is just a product of the time. i'm not great at party management, either, but this game is a great way to learn and practice that skill. my elite controller was the real MVP for the whole series and its changing mechanics. inventory management is broken as hell - by the end of the base game, i had made 200+ lesser health poultices because 1. your inventory slots just stack, 2. you can buy endless flasks and elfroot, and 3. it was easier than making sure my support mage had plenty of lyrium potions on top of that (i preferred using Morrigan as AOE damage instead of support anyway). also - "would you like a ladder, so you can get off my back?"

to address the "dark" problem: Thedas seems to have two main marginalized groups, elves and mages. they're both treated like shit and basically imprisoned, and the player character is treated like shit for showing sympathy for either group (even worse if they're a member of the group themself). i'm a Skyrim fan who plays as an orc most times, so i'm a little burnt out on being called slurs in video games and can take it or leave it when it comes to discrimination in fantasy worlds. visuals are brought up a lot, too, but i think it's only been a big deal because of the aforementioned nostalgia goggles. the other DA games do just as well, if not better, with environmental storytelling, you just notice more in DA:O because the maps are so convoluted, you'll spend an hour in the same section of the Deep Roads before finding your way out and it's shoved in your face. i do prefer the old designs of demons & abominations, though! there were also some horrific scenes, like the Alienage orphanage in Denerim and the Broodmother as a whole. i just don't think these singular moments should be used to prop the game up as a paragon (LOL) of dark fantasy.

i definitely appreciated the impact of the choices i made throughout the game coming back at the end - i'm a sucker for a final battle where all of my friends come to help me out! completing the ritual with a romanced Morrigan was also incredibly emotional, especially since she makes it incredibly clear she doesn't want to be involved with you after the Blight is dealt with. even though the HoF wasn't voiced, i could feel the desperation in the dialogue options i selected to beg her to stay or bring me with her. the angst TOTALLY made the payoff in witch hunt worth it. BUT FIRST...

the Awakening DLC was SUCH a slog!!!! it felt like a whole separate game! after doing so many chores to help Ferelden get its shit together, the last thing i wanted to do was go on a bunch of fetch quests to make sure both Amaranthine AND the Keep were built up. i DO love the companions, especially Sigrun and Anders, but this whole DLC was a pain in the ass, even more so since i was trying to push through to Witch Hunt. i chose to defend Amaranthine, and i don't think i played through all of the companion quests (which is WILD in a DLC), so i'm not 100% sure how it SHOULD end. Aedan Cousland was just sick and tired of everyone's bullshit by that point. Warden's Keep barely even felt like anything and i almost forgot i played it. i spent almost 20 hours playing Awakening, which is about a third of the time it took me to finish the base game. i did Return to Ostagar (which i'm really glad i did after playing VG) and Shale's DLC while finishing the base game - Shale was cute but i totally gave up on saving the little girl from the cat demon, i was SO sick of puzzles after 60+ hours.

Witch Hunt on top FOREVER AND EVER - if i could walk through the Eluvian with Morrigan myself, i would. i cried for like an hour. it felt like such a beautiful ending for my HoF, who just busted his ass saving the world and just wanted some peace & quiet with his wife and OGB son. this would have been the only moment i wanted a voiced protagonist, tbh.

all in all, i loved Dragon Age: Origins. i had so much fun (almost) every second, and it was a great first installment to the series. the writing sometimes suffers a bit from the writing that was popular during the time (2009): witty quips and one-liners shoved into both lore-heavy and emotional-heavy dialogue where it doesn't quite fit, and a LOT of telling instead of showing. sometimes, the iffy writing is a result of giving the player a little too many choices, and sometimes, it just feels like the writers thought a joke was too good to cut out, which is how i felt about a LOT of Orzammar. it was the age of cable sitcoms on NBC, so of course that influenced their writing - i could practically feel some moments where my HoF was Jim'ing the camera. i did appreciate that the impact of your choices was often unclear until the ending slideshow - one example in particular is helping the dwarf start a chantry in Orzammar, which seems like a positive change, but he is ultimately killed after the events of the game. definitely not what i was expecting, which i liked!

solid 7.5/10 and i think it aged incredibly well. if you're able to play it and the DLCs, i 100% recommend. i would give anything for EA/BioWare to make a bundle 20th anniversary edition, but i HIGHLY doubt that will ever happen.

next up... Dragon Age 2! i will be writing all of these even if no one reads anything at all :)

[ohmeadows]

Umm hello, miss(?) I've been a big fan of ur works. I rlly like ur writing style and the way you delve deep into each and every character you write. The way you understand their personalities, behavior and how they act or react to something shows how deeply you studies them before you write about them. I really like the way you interpret their behavior and made them work together and as someone who can't do the same, I admire you for it. I've been following you since Da Capo and have been reading all of ur works since. I'm extremely curious about the continuation of it but as someone who have gone through art blocks for almost half a year now, I understand how hard it is for you to muster the strength to write when it's not something up to your pallette at the moment. I just want to ask though, do you have any recommendations of books, stories or fics that are similar to Da Capo? It doesn't have to be a similar storyline, though I'd be happy if you have something like that. But I'd love to read something with the similar characters interaction as himeko and kafka in Da Capo. Well if you don't have one, it's fine🙂 I'm asking you bcz you have a deeper understanding of them as the one who writes the fic...and bcz I don't have anyone else to ask...👉👈

hi anon, and thank you!

da capo isn't exactly on hiatus or anything but it's more of a "i update when i feel like it" and i just haven't felt like it for a while, due to various irl circumstances (health, unemployment hustle, revising another more pressing writing project). i hope it doesn't sound flippant or like i don't care about it, i do, i just also don't want to force it. i know it looks odd when the ruanliu fic popped out of seemingly nowhere but it was written between september and december. so i haven't produced much new fic at all since december, really, just editing old pieces.

as for something similar, i think gideon the ninth and its sequels by tamsyn muir might be suitable? it's a bit more dense textually than what da capo is, but i love it. this is how we lose the time war was an inspiration too. dungeon meshi i feel has the energy i try to strive for (but done better) as does the webtoons what does the fox say and moonlight garden. be sure to look up trigger warnings for all of them in advance and have fun reading ❤️

[videogame-ocs]

My DA Canon Worldstate family trees #1- The Cousland /Theirin family tree

I thought I’d share my (slightly headcanoned) family tree for my canon Worldstate, The Shattered Crown.

I plan on doing this again for my canon Hawke and inky at a later date because it was so fun making this. Anyway here’s the family tree and some explanations for some of the information:

Explanations:

In my head Bryce Cousland was younger than Eleanor by a year.

Oren can’t be more that 5 years old at the start of the game hence my headcanoned birth year of 9:25.

I headcanon Fergus to be 10 years older than my Cousland.

Maric dying in 9:38 Dragon is from the Silent Grove comic series set in biowares own canon, I treat these extended universe stuff as canon to my Worldstate but with some differences (similar to how BioWare treat canon in the games). But obviously he goes missing in 9:25 and is assumed dead, it’s actually Alistair who finds him along with Isabella and Varric (it’s a great comic series).

I couldn’t fit Eamon, Isolde, Connor and Tegan on there, but given they’re not Alistair’s biological family it doesn’t matter so much on the tree as I’m mostly looking at the direct line.

Ardal Cousland isn’t stated to be Bryce’s grandfather but going from his death defending King Vanedrin Theirin in the Battle of Lothering, we can presume he’s William Cousland’s father and therefore Bryce’s grandfather.

I forgot to add the Mac Eanraig family on there, I do have a head canon that Eleanor has at least one niece from her fathers side I mean she’s got three siblings but the Cousland children only met that side of the family once or twice and never met them on the Storm Coast due to how dangerous it can be.

Why Anora doesn’t have a updated image from DA:I unlike Alistair and Morrigan- she didn’t appear in DA:I unless you make her queen. Hence the origin image. She’s not queen in my canon because my Cousland Amelia basically was like ‘look no hard feelings and it’s not your fault but you can’t be trusted on the throne after all that’s happened with your father and you willingly trapping me in a dungeon to be killed even if you apologised for it’ and put Alistair and herself on there instead. I do have a headcanon on what happened to Anora in my Worldstate that I’ll get into at a later date (it’s not bad, because I do like Anora because she a) didn’t know the whole truth for most of the game and b) she was just doing what she needed to survive as a strong minded woman and new widow in court but I find her a bit frustrating).

Updated image note: I found out how old Anora is so I updated the image. According to Eamon’s letter to Cailan found in the royal chest in the Return to Ostagar DLC, Anora is approaching her 30th year, making her 29 when this letter was sent presumably not long before Ostagar, so she has to be at least 29 at the start of the game and 30 by the time the Landsmeet happens. Anyway this age gap actually helps explain why Anora never met my Cousland, despite attending some of Eleanor’s parties, and despite her father presumably knowing Bryce as the only other Teyrn in Ferelden, as she is 11 years older than her so Amelia wasn’t old enough to attend when Anora was attending her mothers events and Loghain canonically kept Anora at home most of the time when she was growing up anyway.