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mairitess · 5 months

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the biggest baller in ninjago // fluff!jaya

summary: When the Ninja don’t want to train but Wu’s making them keep up their stamina and strength (“I cannot have you all get so lazy again! The fate of the world rests on your shoulders — thus for you to get off the couch!”), they turn to various sports. But Nya’s game of choice? Basketball. She’s easily the best out of all of them, but there was one time — one time — Jay beat her at HORSE (though in this world, DRAGON).

a/n: should i wrote sports one shots lmfao they make me smile + also on ao3!

words: 2.3k

tags: fluff, basketball, minor dragons rising s2 spoilers, inspired by a scene in dragons rising s2, no beta wtv, minor angst, competitive!nya, loving!jay, technically jaya but not heavy-handed

preview:

Kai huffed, his cheeks puffing out. “Is my sister… Cool?” Nya yelled back from inside, in chorus with Zane and Jay. “Yes, she is!”

“Everyone gets their ‘one thing,’ Kai.” Nya said, smirking as she dribbled the ball in front of him. “Jay’s the best at video games—” “Hey!” Cole objected. “Zane’s the best at Chess—” “Affirmative. But I process all potential plays at a rate that may make gameplay unfair against humans.”

“And I’m,” she said, spinning around him, “the best at basketball.”

Nya faked a pass to Zane as she ducked under Kai’s attempted block, running up to the hoop to dunk with a successful clunk. The ball’s final bounces echoed throughout the courtyard as Jay and Zane cheered, rushing around Nya as she dropped down, satisfied with her play.

“Well guys, we tried.” Lloyd put his arms around Cole and Kai as they all shook their heads in disappointment. “That makes it 21 to 5.”

“How is it that they put the worst people at basketball with Nya and they still won?” Cole asked.

“How is it Jay didn’t solo-tank the entire game?” Kai retorted, arms crossed.

Overhearing, Jay marched over, still beaming. “Let me remind you that I was a critical assist in one of Nya’s baskets.”

“Yes, but according to my calculations, Nya would have made the shot without you,” Zane corrected him.

“Sure I would’ve made the shot without you, but your pass definitely didn’t hurt.” Nya joined the boys’ circle, spinning the basketball on the tips of her fingers. She let it fall, then kicked it back up with her heel over her head just to catch it again, as they watched her in (poorly) reserved awe.

“Nya, I would pass you any ball any time,” Jay said dreamily, to everyone’s mocking laughter. Jay shook himself out of his affections. “Uh, I mean, let’s give it up for Nya, everyone! Woo!” He applauded awkwardly, and Nya rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t hold back her small smile.

Nya was in the library at a desk the next day when she heard a gentle knock behind her against the wall. “Hi, Nya. What are you doing?”

She turned, and Jay was standing there, a basketball under his left arm. His shorts were an awkward length, and his tank top hung loose over his shoulders. Jay walked over to peek over her shoulder, close enough Nya could feel the warmth of his breath next to her. “Master Wu recommended I read more about Nyad and have some more history knowledge,” she sighed. “But at some point everything blurs together, and I feel like I’m just rereading the same thing from 20 different people. What are you doing?”

Jay had a sheepish hand up as he lightly scratched the nape of his neck. “I was going to practice some more. I thought I might pull you away for some coaching? If you want to? But you seem busy…” he smirked.

Nya rolled the scroll up hastily. “Anything to get me away from this. Just give me a minute to change.”

“Change?” Jay stuttered, his eyes growing wide and smirk dropping. “I was thinking you’d be on the sidelines and tell me to fix my form, jump higher, something like that.”

Nya raised a questioning eyebrow. “How do you expect to get better if you’re not actually playing?”

Jay gulped, nervous, and Nya took the opportunity to swiftly pull the ball from his arm. “You’d think the Elemental Master of Lightning would have the lightning reflexes to match.” Jay yelped in protest to her slyness. “We’ll work on that,” Nya grinned, tossing the basketball back to him.

Before Nya was the Water Ninja, before she was Samurai X, even, she was often left alone at the monastery — well, not entirely alone, if you were to count Wu, who she didn’t really think counted. At some point, trying to prove she could work the obstacle course faster and better than any of the boys got a little dull, once she’d proven herself over and over again. So she went into town and bought a basketball, and built a hoop just off the monastery roof (“Has that always been there?” Jay asked four weeks after she’d put it up.). She’d watched the other kids around play when she was younger, but she’d never quite gotten the chance to play herself. Being kept from the “official boys’ club” once again was her final straw, and she was decidedly going to do things herself if they wouldn’t let her join.

Whenever they left for a mission, she’d practice everything: Her free throws, jump shots, three-pointers, layups, and her favorite, for the finesse, floaters. Once Nya felt she’d nailed the foundations, she started playing in town, and increasingly built a minor reputation for her skills. But all that was kept secret from the ninjas, except for Wu, who once he’d found out, went to her tournament games to cheer her on. She’d already been playing for two years before the boys found the basketballs in a storage closet and started to play in the courtyard.

“Whoa! Guys, there’s, like, 20 basketballs in here!” Cole called out one day, all of Nya’s training balls rolling out. “Whose do you think these are?”

Kai ran over and picked one up, starting to dribble it. “Who cares? Get ready to eat my fire!” He yelled, lobbing a ball towards the hoop. But his shot was too wide, and it ricocheted off one of the pillars, hitting Jay on the side of his head. “Ow! Watch it!”

“We should play a game,” Lloyd suggested, picking up one of the basketballs. “We could do a quick 3x3?” The boys quickly nodded, and started forming their teams: Lloyd, Kai, and Cole; vs. Jay and Zane. “Who shall be our third?” Zane asked. “Master Wu?”

Nya stepped around the corner with her hand raised, doing her best to look hesitant. “I can play. I mean, if you really need one.” Kai grinned, determined. “Boys, looks like we’ve got an easy win ahead of us.”

Normally, Nya wouldn’t let a comment like that slide, but she was too excited to show them up to let it bother her. “First to 21 wins.”

The game started off with Lloyd’s team in possession, and at first, Nya “accidentally” tripped Kai, causing him to turn the ball over to Zane. “Oops! I’m so clumsy. Sorry!” Kai sneered and ran after Zane, who made an easy layup. Zane making the first point of the game was enough to get Lloyd, Kai, and Cole into high gear, and the three of them scored 15 points in the next six minutes, leaving Nya, Jay, and Zane trailing behind by 5.

“Time out!” Jay called, pulling Nya and Zane into a huddle. “Guys! What are we gonna do?” He whined, breathing hard. “I didn’t think basketball would be this hard.”

Nya shook her head. “Don’t worry, boys. I’ve got a little trick up my sleeve.”

Jay gulped and looked at Zane, who shrugged. “It seems the best option is to follow Nya’s lead. We have few other options aside from blatantly cheating,” Zane said. “You’re not going to cheat, are you?” Jay asked Nya.

“How could you even ask that?” Nya yelled, lightly smacking him on the arm. “Ow! Okay, okay, I’m sorry! Do what you gotta do!”

And with that, Nya unleashed everything she’d been holding back. Her first points back on the court was a three-pointer, and then Jay intercepted Lloyd’s rebound and threw it back to her, allowing her to make a bank shot. At almost nine minutes in the game, Nya had almost single-handedly not just closed the deficit, but gotten her team to 20 points. And with one final jump shot, Nya sank the ball through the hoop, blowing everyone else away.

“Yes!” Jay and Zane celebrated, picking up Nya and throwing her up into the air. Lloyd, Cole, and Kai stood dumbfounded, wholly unexpecting a brutally embarrassing loss.

“What was that you said, Kai?” Nya asked. “An easy win? It sure was.” She winked at her brother, then tossed his team the basketball, walking inside with Jay and Zane as they commended her.

“What… Just happened?” Cole asked, staring at the ball in Kai’s hands.

“I think we’ve severely underestimated Nya,” Lloyd replied.

Kai huffed, his cheeks puffing out. “Is my sister… Cool?”

Nya yelled back from inside, in chorus with Zane and Jay. “Yes, she is!”

“Why do you want to practice?” Nya asked, passing the ball to Jay. “It’s not like basketball’s your job or anything,” she said, casually trying to steal the ball from him. He dribbled it around his back to his other hand and kept dribbling.

“Honestly? It just looks so impressive when you play. And whenever I’m playing, I feel like I’m holding everyone back,” Jay responded. “I know everyone’s joking, and it’s just a game, but I wanna get better.”

Nya smiled. “Then better you will get. Let’s run some drills.”

She went back to the storage closet and pulled out the basketballs on a cart. “Your dribbling is honestly pretty good. But your shooting could definitely use some work. So let’s start with that. I’ll pass you a ball, and you try making a layup,” she said, Jay nodding. “I’m ready.”

After three months, Jay had already improved a lot — definitely nowhere near she was, but maybe, at this point, better than most of the other ninjas. While Nya knew Jay hadn’t told anyone else he’d been practicing with her, what she didn’t know was that he was also practicing on his own with the kids in town. Once his skills had grown enough for him to be able to play against Nya, though he lost every time, he wanted to push it further and give her a genuine competitor. Part of him wanted to impress her, and the other part of him saw how happy she was getting pushed to play harder and still winning. He’d snuck down to watch one of her tournaments and saw how happy she was to get to really compete. All Jay wanted at this point was to make her happy, and if that was one of the ways he could do it, then so be it. He’d recently been winning games of DRAGON in the nearby villages, so he figured that would be the game he’d suggest to Nya.

“What are you doing tonight?” Jay asked Nya, pulling her aside after dinner.

“Nothing notable, I don’t think,” Nya said. “Why?”

Jay pulled a basketball out from behind his back. “Game of DRAGON?”

She grinned. “Let’s do it.”

Being ninjas, elemental masters, and decent basketball players all at once had their perks when it came to a trick shot game like DRAGON. One of them would work some spinjitzu into their shot, another would use their powers to generate some extra power in their shots. Despite the differences in their powers, they remained pretty evenly matched. After 30 minutes of play, both Jay and Nya were at DRAGO-, having missed five shots each: including a spinjitzu into a jump shot (nailed by Nya) and a cyclon-do into a powered drop shot (shot 50 feet directly over the net, nailed by Jay).

This was the first time Nya had played Jay and felt like she was truly competing the whole time — and she’d never had more fun. She tied her hair up into a loose ponytail, and had her game face on, which Jay hadn’t seen before used against him. He took a deep breath, then smirked. There was one particular trick he’d been working on in his DRAGON games, made more difficult because it used no elemental powers.

“This might be the game-winning shot, Nya,” he warned. “In your dreams, Jay,” Nya bit back, a glint in her eye. “Then never wake me up.”

With that, Jay threw the ball up into the air to the far side of the courtyard, and ran up the wall. He backflipped twice, and on his second spin, kicked his foot upwards against the ball, and to Nya’s shock, made a perfectly clean shot, the ball plummeting through the net without touching anything. Jay landed with a quick roll out, then stood defiantly in front of Nya. “Your turn.”

Nya stood there, mouth agape. “What — How did you — When did you learn to do that?” She shrieked, shoving his shoulder. Jay laughed loudly as Nya picked up the ball. She dribbled as she walked over to where Jay had last stood for his shot. “I’ll try it, but you have to teach me how to do that,” she said, tossing the ball up high.

Nya managed to do all the moves, but just barely missed getting the ball into the hoop. “And that’s D, R, A, G, O, N,” she sighed, grabbing the rebound. “That was… Amazing, Jay. When did you get so good?”

Jay smiled. “Only at these trick shots, and only recently. I took a page out of your book and started playing in town. Those kids do not play.”

“Next time we play against the others,” Nya started, “you and I are going on opposite teams. I’d like to see you try and beat me in a different game.”

“You’re on,” he agreed.

Nya shook Jay’s hand and kissed him on the cheek affectionately. “Good game, Jay.” She pulled him in by his collar. “Don’t think I’ll let it happen again,” she threatened, a wide grin across her face.

There were lots of reasons Nya had fallen in love with Jay. But one of the biggest ones? She’d always had the most fun with Jay out of anyone else.

xx Years later, and Nya woke up alone in the monastery, wiping tears from her cheeks. She would give anything to go back to those days, lighthearted and fun. Now she was running around the world, searching for any clue as to how to get Kai back, and any clue as to where Jay could be.

#ninjago #lego ninjago #nya ninjago #jay ninjago #jaya #jay walker #ninjago fanfiction #jaya fluff #lego #basketball #basketball fanfiction #lmfaoooooo #it's a fic

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kaija-rayne-author · 4 months

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Reaction to Dragon Age Veilguard Gameplay Preview. Editorial Critique.

Heads up... this isn't the most positive of reviews. And I'm a die hard (bleeding into the dirt) solavellan so if that's not your cup of tea you can stop reading here. Images and videos are all copyright of Bioware/EA. (Updated after the Q&A on June 14th)

Spoilers for all previous games, books, comics etc.

Content warnings for extremely colourful language.

I've worked really high powered corporate jobs, so I can play the part of cool, calm, perfect professional. But this is my gaming blog. I don't censor myself here. I grew up around truckers and it shows 😂.

I'm also neurodivergent so please know my emotions about this are confusion, sadness, a bit of horror, and depression. I've been told the way I use words can be read as confrontational. It's unintentional. (And again, it's my blog, I don't particularly feel it's right or necessary that I mask my AuDHD traits here, too.) I'm honestly not angry, or pissed off, or anything like that. Shrugs. I'm just sad. I don't bother to critique things I don't love. (Unless I'm being paid for it.) Much less to this extent. How much I've written here is in direct relation to how much I love Dragon Age.

Well.

youtube

I've watched it. Twice. Once on slow mode so I could get a better glimpse at the details.

I re-watched the trailer that I hated twice more. Again once on slowmo.

youtube

What. The. Actual. Fuck. Is. That?

It sure isn't Dragon Age. If it didn't have Bioware copyrighted material, I really wouldn't have been able to tell that it was supposed to be Dragon Age. If Rook had whipped out a light-sabre, it wouldn't have seemed out of setting. I want to play Dragon Age, not some weird Star Wars knock-off.

And yes, I know most of the fandom is going gaga at this point, but I don't understand why people can't see the issues amidst the excitement. Being the odd enby out in this situation is depressing as hell. I want to love it as much as everyone else seems to. But my editor brain won't shut up.

I'm used to having unpopular opinions. Just don't bloody crucify me for these. Editing media is my actual job. It's what I do. It's a highly developed, niche skill set I've been practising for over a decade.

Some people are extremely good with cars, I'm extremely good with editing. I only started doing it professionally because my writing critique partners told me my suggestions and the things I noticed were worth their weight in gold.

TBH, it wouldn't surprise me if I have some savantism when it comes to editing and writing. When I look at a piece of fiction in an editorial perspective, it's a lot like looking at a 4d puzzle for me. I can instinctively see what works, what doesn't, and how things that don't work can be tweaked so they do. I don't meet many others in my profession who do that.

And I have multiple NYT bestselling clients. I'm truly not talking out of my ass here. I'm not perfect, no human being is, but like many middle aged AuDHD/neurodivergent people, I know where my strengths and weaknesses lie. It comes off as arrogance for some reason to many people.

So, back to the preview.

It's got the right voice actors. It's got the copyrighted characters. It's got an absolutely terrible art style that is far too reminiscent of the comics for my taste. Because those comics were a travesty of both writing and art style.

And again, why the fuck does Varric have black hair? He's a strawberry blond! He looks like Varric and Blackwall DAI had a kid together. Or like they shrunk Blackwall DAI down. I don't want Varric to look like Blackwall. I didn't like him that much.

What? Did Varric have some sort of end of life crisis and dye his head, beard, and even his chest hair black? (Much reduced chest hair, fuck Bioware, why did you reduce his chest hair!) Did it all caterpillar its way up to his face? There were story significant reasons Varric was a dwarf without a beard. Did you forget that?

(Update from live stream Q&A. One of the devs said it's because Varric has been adventuring for a time and is mostly grey. That he's shown in dark light so it looks black.) Uhuh.

Reality bites sometimes, cause my dad is a strawberry blond gone grey and he never looks like he has black hair. Not even in the dark. But whatever. They've got an excuse for it. I don't buy it because it doesn't track with y'know, how hair usually works.

I could maybe get used to the steampunk vibe? Big maybe. That's still within the realm of Dark Fantasy.

Also... I've seen some reaction videos and y'all... Dark Fantasy is a genre. It has absolutely nothing to do with the colour palette! It means it's fantasy with dark/horror elements FFS!

I swear the reading comprehension of people has suffered since I was a kid.

But, but, but... if you've been reading me for a while you had to know that was coming.

What. The. Fuck. Is. This?

Walmart Sans? Bad Halloween decor they couldn't sell until it was 99% off at a home goods store?

Is that... is that supposed to be a Darkspawn? SERIOUSLY!?! Given a Warden was fighting it, I have to assume someone at Bioware has ergot poisoning.

It looks like a modern cartoon version of Skeletor. Which is definitely insulting to Skeletor. This dude looks like he's got on his tights, speedo, boots, a bitchin' mohawk, and orange lights on his garb for the Halloween party at the club. He might win best costume, but he fails at being a Darkspawn.

They didn't just swing and miss with going to the club dude, they couldn't even find the bat and glove.

And yes, I've heard the 'lore' excuse that it's the red lyrium warping them that way. I could buy that if they were A) red lights, not orange. B) Kinda spiky, crystal-like in structure. Y'know, like the red lyrium infected creatures in DAI? (That's called continuity.)

The lines are too smooth, bone doesn't warp like that, and he (the ogre version too) seriously just look like really bad Halloween decorations.

Also, whoever drew that needs to study human anatomy a bit more. That skull shape is so wrong. In so many ways. Former forensic anthropologist and artist. I've held more human skulls than people can probably guess. I've literally pieced them back together. I'm not awful at drawing either. That image is just bad.

I'm not a player who lusts to have DAO back as the only kind of Dragon Age. I've loved them all for different reasons. Games change over the years as new ideas, new creators, and new technology comes out. That's honestly a good thing. Innovation is awesome. Most of the time.

Sometimes it's a complete miss. Like with going to the club dude up there. I love a lot about the art in these games. It's a large part of why I play them. And that thing up there? That's not a Darkspawn.

THIS is a Darkspawn.

This is a Darkspawn.

This is a Darkspawn

They're supposed to be kinda gut wrenchingly horrific. The graphics are older yeah, but maybe you get my point? If you know the Lore of Dragon Age... I've marinated myself in it... the Darkspawn are blight corrupted humans, dwarves, qunari, and elves.

It's supposed to be the whole concept of 'what used to be, but no longer is' that's often used in horror. You know... the thing that looks like it was at one time a deer but is walking on its hind legs with a broken neck and glowy eyes that sends atavistic shivers down your spine?

They aren't... modern cartoon Skeletors or the Halloween deco you hide in the back of the garage 'cause you're embarrassed you ever bought it.

WTAF were they thinking? I honestly can't get past my utterly confused shock on this whole thing.

I've been saying for quite a while now that Bioware needs better developmental and diversity editors. (Or maybe even any? Do they have any? 'Cause that preview really makes me doubt it.) And uh... well. Yeah. That. (I'm an editor, yes. I do both kinds, yes. I'm very good at it, yes. No, this is not me hoping for a job at Bioware/EA.)

Snorts. Would I accept a job if a Bioware fairy dropped into my life and offered me a good living to look critically at that game for problems that could maybe be fixed?

I suppose me writing all this down is mostly just to get it out of my head. And to maybe let other disappointed Dragon Age fans know they aren't alone. Given some of the things I've seen on the 'net. I'm far and away from being alone in these opinions. You're not wrong. They've absolutely changed it so much it doesn't even remotely feel like Dragon Age.

And no, before you take that and run with it in an anti-diversity direction, I utterly love that they depicted Rook as Black. I love that Davrin is a Black elf. I love that Neve has a prosthetic leg. It's not the diversity changes I have an issue with. I adore those.

Probably. They'd likely pay better than my current job. And I really do love Dragon Age so much that if I could contribute to it in a way that made us middle-aged gamers happy too? It would be pleasing.

The likelyhood of that is probably akin to winning the lotto though, so no, it's not the point of my post.

But I'm going to slide this monstrosity of a post toward the devs. Maybe they'll listen to the free editorial critique and make this game make a wee bit more sense? Or at least feel like Dragon Age, sheesh.

Because who the actual fuck wrote most of that dialogue?

I want to point my finger at the ground and scold them like a puppy who peed on the carpet.

Then give them a really basic 101 lesson on dialogue.

It was either boring for the player characters (I absolutely assume it will get better there, it was just the beginning of the game, to be fair). And I definitely trust Patrick Weekes to have done an amazing job as lead writer for most things.

But I really would've figured that Bioware would know by now that fans want to know what the character is going to say exactly before picking an option. Not just a yes, no, mediocre choice. Players have been pretty loud about that. BG3 gave us (mostly) what we wanted and it swept GOTY.

The rest of the dialogue was such freaking factory canned bullshit that I almost rolled my eyes out of my head. Which would've been awkward. Fishing them out from under the dresser and all.

A Venatori shouting 'avenge our fallen brethren' (or whatever, I'm not watching it again to get the exact dialogue) has so much stanky cheese on it I can't even. People don't talk like that. Apparently, a few Bioware writers could stand to take a few writing classes. That's basic.

Patrick Weekes is an amazingly skilled writer. But obviously, not all Bioware writers are. (Snorts, which I know very well and it's why I'm so disappointed they chose Lucanis.)

Although, since Mary Kirby did the writing for him for the game (glares at Bioware) there may be hope for him.

Music? There was music? Hans Zimmer was a bloody mistake. Everything he's made in the past decade has sounded the same. Such a shame, because the soundtrack of DAI was epic.

The demons are fine-ish? I guess? If you utterly ignore how similar they look to Fortnite demons. They look a bit weird, but demons are just emotional emanations from the fade so could conceivably look like anything they wanted. (Lolz, the rather skilled artists I know are kinda pissed off at the lack of artistic skill used for their development. Even the under 30 years old ones. Especially them.)

But also... they had really cool demons already designed from DAI (from what I understand they used the same engine, Frostbite). Why didn't they just give them a glow up and use them?

This dude would've been way better for the pride demon. Plus, there would've been some continuity between DA:I and DA:V. In series work, some continuity is important. Or the thing doesn't feel like the thing. Just like based on those previews this doesn't feel even remotely like Dragon Age.

While I don't have epilepsy, I can guarantee those demons as pictured/audio in the preview are going to give me and probably many other gamers massive headaches. Gods know what they'll do to people who actually do have epilepsy. I mean... there are epileptic gamers. Gaming is supposed to be inclusive.

And I don't really want to fight Fortnite demons. I want to fight Dragon Age demons. I don't like Fortnite. (Or, y'know, I'd spend my money and time playing Fortnite?)

Why are there so many freaking Venatori? I mean... I'm flattered to have been right when I called it that we'd be fighting them again. But in Tevinter Nights they're depicted as being on their last legs as an organization.

Again with the Venatori. A little uninspired to be completely frank.

They're freaking everywhere in the gameplay preview? You fight so many of them! They're like toadstools after a rainstorm. Popping up like daisies! Whatever. Guess the major amount of bad guys in the Tevinter cities is likely to be Venatori. Which is just weird considering their god, Coryphyfish, is dead.

And dear gods he had better stay dead. He was such a lackluster villain in DAI to start with. And bringing back a previous defeated-supposed-to-be-dead villain is an overused fantasy trope that needs to die the miserable death it deserves already.

I bet they have huge spiders in this game somewhere, too. Sigh. Why is it always spiders? Or wolves? Or big cats? It's fantasy! Where is the creativity? (Also, you know that's kinda ableist against people with arachnaphobia, right? Which is a lot of people.)

But I've gone on at length before about Bioware and their ableism issues. (Which is why they need diversity editors.) I personally like spiders, but they could at least stop having them everywhere. Or give arachnophobic gamers the option to turn them off or replace them with a different image.

Moving on from their complete loss of the horror element with the Darkspawn; I wouldn't be scared of that thing even if it surprised me in the dark. I'd laugh at it. (And I'm a jumpy person. A lot of things can scare me if they come at me in the dark.)

And I'll ignore the absolutely uninspired bad guys in Minrathous, and the Fortnite clone demons.

What is that thing Bellara is holding?

I remember grinding for days in FF to get a special bow. Bows are my thing in a lot of games. When I got it made, it looked like someone had glued two surfboards together and tried to call it a bow. Bows have to be, y'know, functional? All weapons do? That's rather the point?

It sure as fuck isn't a bow. Someone has been playing Final Fantasy a little too much. Don't get me wrong, I've got a lot of hours in FF. I like it a lot. But one of my major complaints about it? Is the completely, utterly, ridiculous weapons. Someone is compensating. Not sure what exactly they're compensating for but it's for something. Sheesh.

I've always loved the somewhat realistic-ish weapons in the Dragon Age universe. I mean, yeah. Still heavy on fantasy... but they at least looked like they'd work. I loved Neve's reduced staff, that was awesome! Whatever Bellara is holding does not look like it would work.

So... I'm not an archer and if you are, do feel free to weigh in, but would that thing even work?

A bow is a precision instrument. Our species has had bows for a long damned time and their form hasn't really changed all that much. Because they, y'know, work the way they are, and don't if you change them too much?

You've got the curved wood/horn/other material with a string kind (I'm being deliberately simple in terminology, I do actually know what a bunch of bow types are called) and you have the cross bow type.

What we do not have is front heavy monstrosities like that thing. Okay, okay, she's a veil jumper. Maybe she got it from some ancient Arlathan temple or something. But the ancient Elvhenan were supposed to be technologically advanced. Not Final Fantasy obsessed gamers.

Oh, but what about Bianca, gods rest her beautifully crafted soul. They excused that as a one of a kind thing never to be replicated. It's handwavium, but fine, rule of cool works for her. It doesn't work for whatever Bellara is holding unless they come up with a damned good story reason for it. (And it had better be damned good 'cause that thing might be pretty, but it's just severely uneducated about weaponry, at best.)

Also, why couldn't it have been the less useful Bianca Solas blew to bits? (Can't stand the dwarf version in the slightest.)

Moving on.

The settings look interesting. The teams doing the backgrounds and settings have always blown it out of the park, so I imagine they'll be suitably gorgeous when we actually do see the game.

Though I had sorta expected Arlathan to look a little more... jungley forest like, rather than paved shopping mall. But whatever, I'm hopeful there'll be better parts of it later in the game.

Rook looks like they'll be fun to play. And I really hope we're not class locked as a rogue. Rogues are my usual choice but I'd still like to have the choice. (Edit. Reports say we have complete flexibility in our character creation. I just want to know if I can make a fat adventurer.)

The steampunky science-fantasy vibe. Enh. It's not my favourite. I feel it was a mistake to try to horseshoe the depicted kinds of science into the fantasy of Dragon Age that way. Because it really feels shoved in whether it fit or not.

And I write science-fantasy, so it's not like I don't love it. I adore it. It's just something that sort of has to be designed that way from the start. Which Dragon Age most certainly was not. Don't they ever get sick of retconning stuff? I sure get sick of seeing the retconned stuff.

I could see how Minrathous might use magic in a way that we use neon lighting. Or for any number of cool fantasy type magical uses. I just don't get why it had to look like a Star-Wars knock off. If I wanted to play Star Wars, I'd, y'know, play Star Wars?

I think they did capture the grunge and dirtiness and personality of an ancient city pretty well. Like it almost has a consciousness of its own. But as I've said many places, the settings artists are freaking amazing at what they do.

Although, if they have floaty spaceship like things why exactly are the Qunari even a worry? I don't have strong feelings one way or the other on the Qunari, but I know a lot of gamers were hoping to see a Tevinter/Qunari war. If Tevinter has space shippy things, what threat could the Qunari possibly be? Or even the teased Minrathous monsters?

Last I checked (which was a couple of days ago, re-reading those awful comics) the Qunari were still using bows, swords, spears, and knife type war implements. Some bombs, too, because gatlock. And enslaved, lyrium addicted mages.

Big floaty space-shippy thing means small floaty space-shippy things because that's how invention works. Where are the small ones? That thing is just a plot hole the size of Canada. (And a skilled developmental editor could've told them that before they put it in the sky. Sheesh.)

The fighting and conversation options look very similar to DA2. I liked the fighting in DA2 so after the usual adjustment to a new game it would probably be fine. Not sure how I feel about only having the ability to have two companions.

That art style though? I just cannot imagine having romantic scenes with characters done in that art style. And the Romances in Dragon Age are a large part of why I play them. Cartoon sexy times aren't my thing.

You do you, I'm not judging. But for me cartoony sexy times are just weird. Not sexy.

And no matter what they said after that disastrous character reveal the other day, the gameplay reveal doesn't look different enough for me to not call it cartoony. Especially for those Halloween decorations.

Now, I need to get to the end where we see some weird looking mage who I think is supposed to be Solas.

Really? That's supposed to be Solas?

This is the Solas my solavellan heart fell for so hard I've been simping over him for the entire time since I started playing these games.

Regardless. THIS is Solas.

Beautiful, nerdy, a little stylized, but with an art style that really worked for me (and probably most other solavellans given how much we love him).

So who in the living fuck is this?

I guess he's Solas shaped. But he doesn't make my heart squeeze in that OMG he's finally back!! way. He doesn't do anything for me. All I feel is numbness for that version of Solas. Which is disappointing as hell.

I didn't really have high hopes for him given his early looks for this game, but dang. Just dang. He's like a plastic ken doll. Very much like a too shiny plastic ken doll. And while I know Gareth David-Lloyd did the voice acting for him, he somehow doesn't even sound like Solas?

I've also been sadly informed by someone who would know that that is the absolute best they could do with him. We're not getting him fixed no matter how much we scream. He doesn't even have freckles! (And your eyes are fooling you if you think you're seeing them. Our brains often do that. Fill in things that should be there when they really aren't. There was some sort of design issue snafu which is why he doesn't have and cannot have freckles. This is confirmed insider information.) Freaking Lace Harding is peppered with them. Why can't my Solas have freckles?

Edit from Q&A (I think? It's second hand). Someone said they wanted to make everything look more 'painterly'.

Listen. I paint. Digitally and traditionally. You really have to work at it to get something that texture free. That's not 'painterly' its like... glossy modern playing cards. I hate it. Especially given the kind of fresco style paintings that Solas did in DAI. There is ALL sorts of texture with those.

Sigh. Maybe he'll grow on me. Like virulent mould. (Edit. He honestly hasn't. Every picture I see of him kills Dragon Age a little more for me. Which is bloody heartbreaking.)

IDEK man. I keep asking myself what Bioware was thinking. This game feels like it was made for a much different type of gamer than those of us who have loved the previous games for so very long.

It feels like they were trying to draw in a younger crowd while almost keeping the appeal that held us older gamers. That 'almost' is important there. (Edit. Confirmed by John Epler during live Q&A. This is exactly what they did. I feel incredibly betrayed.)

We older gamers are the ones who've kept hope for this game alive. Who have kept Dragon Age alive. The company made it, but without us hoping for it, talking about it, making mods for it, repeatedly replaying it? Would it ever have gotten there?

And we get Fortnite demons, Ken doll Solas, Halloween decoration 'darkspawn', and space shippy nonsense that kills about 50% of their foreshadowing.

I know I'm not the only older Dragon Age player feeling a little (lot) betrayed right now.

Based on these two trailers (and I'm absolutely praying I'm wrong) I think they failed project Dragon Age. Miserably.

I am pleased to learn that there are confirmed non-binary options for character creation and decent hair. So that's a plus. (Looks at the drops in the bottom of the almost empty bucket and sighs.)

I'd still like to play the game. I'd honestly LOVE to be wrong in my opinions on this. I'd really, really love to be wrong as much as I love Dragon Age.

But I'm sadly coming to an end of what I'll be able to write about Dragon Age, no matter how much I love it.

I will happily sit down to a meal of crow if I'm wrong. I want to be wrong, because I love Dragon Age.

Though, I'm pretty good at prediction. I have stereotypical autistic pattern matching, which is a lot of what prediction is.

My computer, which is literally duct taped together, isn't going to be able to handle DA4. It can barely run BG3 without overheating. As much as I love my computer, (and I really do, I get attached like a lot of AuDHD people do) it has broken or missing keys, and several of the more important keys just don't work. The screen is also starting to go.

I have lived and breathed the art and lore on these games since I started playing them. They're one of my most prominent AuDHD special interests. It's killing part of my soul to know I won't get to play it.

I'm a disabled, neurodivergent editor/author with a family to support. There's absolutely no extra for me to save up for a new rig. I'm ineligible for disability aid because I'm an immigrant. (Not that you can actually survive on disability here, anyway.) And I live in Canada, which is having a rather obscene cost of living crisis right now.

Even with my issues with the... er... everything, I still want to know what happens. I want to see it for myself.

Being an editor makes reading/tv fraught for me. If a piece of media makes me feel like I'm at work I can't really enjoy it. And 99% of books/shows do. (Don't become an editor if you love to read.)

Games tend to have fewer things to trip up my editorial brain. (Not this particular game, obviously 😂.)

That's all to say that gaming is basically my only form of accessible entertainment. I do it a lot in whatever spare time I have.

Even with my misgivings on the previews. I really would like to both play it and be utterly, completely wrong about it. I'd love to be able to keep writing about Dragon Age. But without being able to play the next one, all I can really do is rehash old stuff.

My work of words is my only income. And most writers really don't make all that much. Editors can, but I'm currently working a job that pays less than minimum wage doing editing. I'm under NDA, so I can't even tell people which huge corporation a lot of people use every day pays their editors so poorly.

But there isn't a whole lot of freelance work available since COVID.

Doing freelance work, I make between $50 and $70 an hour. Because editing is skilled, niche work. Experienced editing even more so.

That's why someone can be an amazing writer and a shit editor. You really do have to dedicate yourself if you're going to be good at editing anything. Most people don't put in the time or effort. I'm a better editor than I am a writer. (I'm not an awful writer, I just know where my strengths lie 😂.)

I suppose if Solas had... I dunno... talked to people and told them why he felt he needed to take down the veil it would've helped. But his arrogance always does get in the way. In the writing trade that's termed his fatal flaw.

My partner has a broken back from his last job so can't work (and they denied his disability because that makes complete sense) so we barely scrape together enough to pay the bills each month (and lately have been failing even on that).

I think Rook and company fucked up badly by interrupting Solas' ritual. Lolz, I rather hope Solas 'greatly disapproves' in Rook's head or something. That would be bleeding hilarious.

I think what Rook did at the end there is probably going to get Varric and a whole lot of other people killed.

Solas killing Bianca was awful, yes (and the merciful option, btw, Bianca can be fixed, Varric can't). But I think it's just the prequel. I don't think our beloved Varric is gonna be around long enough to miss her.

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babe-a-yaga · 25 days

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Mumbling about veilguard spoilers

I was genuinely surprised to see the anger about "massive spoilers" over the gameplay video today. There was exactly one line that I would consider a true story spoiler and that was the "they took Weisshaupt hard" line.

I dont want narrative spoilers. Don't give me the quest story beats, I don't want to know the outcomes.

But a lot of the stuff people seem to be pissed about to me is just....confirmation of the context that was set up in the tie in media? "Ghilly is sculpting darkspawn" didn't read as a spoiler to me, I've read Horrors of Hormak.

"Ghilly and her archdemon" in the last video is a little teetering on the line to me, but a lot of the stuff people are aghast about as being spoilers were things I read from subtext eons ago.

I dont know. Feels very "can't eat your cake and have it too", if you're consuming gameplay preview footage, you will see gameplay, dragon age games are so story heavy, you cant reasonably expect gameplay to NOT contain a scrap of the world. If you want to go in totally fresh, you need to exercise the restraint in viewing.

I want to know what the world state is, that's why I'm reading the books and the comics and watching these previews at premiere. I don't feel like much of what's been said has revealed how the actual story is unfolding. Anyway. I'm truly just mumbling because I found the reactions and the tossing around of the word "spoilers" to be genuinely surprising. But I guess we all perceive what is or isn't a spoiler differently.

#dragon age the veilguard #veilguard spoilers

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sweeteaacakes · 5 months

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I opened my phone and found a game I pre-registered months ago! It's called "Tokyo Debunker"!

Have you guys seen those creepy ads of a video game that looked like pkmn rip-offs called "Evertal*le"? This is one of their game and the ad caught me so I went for it. I was expecting a pixel-game but, uh, well, it's not TT-TT)... They tend to make misleading ads but this? I got caught by this...

It's more like a VN... BUUUUT it didn't disappointment me in and it served surprisingly well too!

THE PREMISE

Supernatural cases in Tokyo alongside devilish ghouls and quirky cats!

At the prestigious Darkwick Academy, your untily classmates have sold their souls to demons in exchange for a wish... and you'll have to find a way to make them work together to solve supernatural cases all over Tokyo. If you get stuck, you can always turn Darkwick's clever cat familiars for their supports!

It's comes with variety of gameplay modes!

Facilities building where your classmates can work and allows you to interact with them or read a conversation of your other classmates;

It have an "investigation" which is an... auto-turn-based battle mode. You just have to brainwork with their skills and equipments;

As bonus, it have a rhythm game! It's pretty easy since it's linear and you have to tap to allow the cat to turn around. You get 3 tries and is available for later!;

It also have co-op kode but I haven't tried yet!

Now let's start with opening!

As you can see on the imagine above, there are seven characters with each different uniform! Each of them are the leader of each "Houses".

Dark Blue: Frostheim || Yellow: Vagastrom

Orange: Jabberwock (and they have an axolotl in their emblem!!! ♡♡♡) || Dark red: Sinostra

Lilac: Hotarubi || Violet: Obscuary || Green: Mortkraken

The game will make you choose "who will you save"? It have a total of 7 houses with minimum 2 to 4 members. With Frostheim the with 4 members and Mortkraken with only 2! Obscuary is a particular one since it only shows one of its member! Once chosen a house, you will choose a character who will appear in the prolouge.

Aaaaand, yeah. The houses will be mentioned few chapters later :3

I won't spoil much but I can say that despite how lighthearted this this game is later... it knows how to jumpscare :)

And we go with Chapter 1

!!!UNDER THE CUT WILL BE A SLIGHT SPOILER TERRITORY!!!

!!!PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!

Aye! The MC here! They're female in illustration but I prefer calling them in GN! term and named them "Lucien"! We are in a train after a music concert. The chatroom with the people we went in left the chat and only us and another person, Mina, remain. Turns out we're both in the same train too so we decide to meet up!

A moment after the train arrived at the stop...but it's not ours...

Kisaragi Station? The creepypasta °0°)!?! (/j)

So, we're now in another stop... and found ourselves in an eerie place... And an unknown number calls us. Whether we pick it up or hang down, Mina will text us...

Mina makes her way in our car. We look at the number... 7... the door slides wide open but nothing's there other than darkness. Until someone whispers in our ears.

Gehehehe. I'm not gonna show you the whole thing in case you want to see it yourself!

I cut the spoiler of this chapter here but I'll give you preview of other shots because they are gorgeous!

Asgqhdhahs THE GALAXY ILLUSTRATION SOLD ME EVEN MORE WHAT FOLLOWED—

WE HAVE A CAT WITH A HAT FOR A CONDUCTOR 😭💕✨️

And this few panels! It's not much but I wanted to show how the writing and illustration doesn't shy away from showing blood and swearing! (Note: that guy used those mirror shards as the ammo for his gun btw... pretty rad.) So far, it's fully-voiced too!

Anyways, supernatural, eldritch beings, monsters? Check! They're very creative on it uwu). Good writing? Yaah! The art? Beautiful! Good humor? Nyah! (^=w=^)b

As said before, I'm not far in the story yet. I hope to see more creepy and cool stuffs but the daylight story isn't bad either! The characters have personality. Even MC had a good impression on me. They are down-to-earth and is quick at picking up to things happening around despite the sudden event in their life.

The only sad thing is... they all have body shapes... like... um... twink shaped in their 2-D.... and only one "dark-skinned" character 🥲... usgjqhsqj the Ad*nis Ot*gari of the game 🫠🫠🫠 I think he's cool and adorable tho! He went to the academy to search for his twin brother.

No romance, just classmates being sillies(/affectionate) going around to solve the supernatural in order to mantain the world's order.

The game is rated 16+ so I'm not sure if I'll post much about this here. I just wanted to show in case someone's interested!

The illustrations really do well at gorgeous scenes and at eerie scenes.

#tokyo debunker #other display 📚#.sweeteaa writes

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dreadfutures · 4 months

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Welcome to Blue's Blog

Artist, fic writer, and admin @thedragonagebigbang | @thedasincolor | @dadrunkwriting | @dragonagefanevents —but science is my day job!

Things I've Made:

Read my AO3 fics: @ youworeblue

Peruse #My Art

Check me out on ArtFight @ dreadfutures

Read fics I've written for #da drunk writing circle

Commission (or tip!) me on KoFi

Send me writing prompts

Things I Didn't Make:

Read Fics I've been gifted

See #Art for Blue - gifts & commissions!

Scroll my writing #prompts hoard

Fics by DA FanFiction Discord members: #daff reading list

Content related to Dragon Age: Veilguard, tagged:

▸ #DA4 (thing) - "DA4" "DA4 gameplay video" "DA4 theory" etc ▸ #DA4 Hype - excitement in the leadup ▸ #DA4 Spoilers - anything related to specific gameplay, plot, or other elements that would count as spoilers ▸ #DA4 Speculation - based on spoilers from news/showcases, but not confirmed

▸ #DA4 Preview Event- spoilers released after Sept 19 ▸ here is a list of other people's tags to block

Currently Promoting

Please check out my murder mystery Dragon Age fanfiction:

it ends, or it doesn't.

Rated T | 7 chapters | 45k. | Complete | Felassan finds himself investigating a murder with a ragtag group of three outcast Dalish, uncovering an ancient ruin hidden in plain sight and the ugly secret trapped at its heart. Illustrated by Adurna-0 with additional commissioned art by sbeep and crunchyncrumbly.

Feel free to make fanart, podfics, and derivative works of mine, as long as a heads-up & credit is given. I always appreciate the creativity of this community. See my full use statement here.

Banner credit.

Characters & AUs

▸ Shadows in the Sun DA4 World State ▸ Bloodied and Broken Fix-It World State ▸ Elvhenan AU ▸ One Wild and Precious Life AU ▸ The Mirrorverse Collaborative AU - OPEN! Halevune Mahariel | [Garrett Hawke]() | Ixchel Lavellan

#Shadows in the Sun - DA4 World State

My official DA4 world state! A Fereldan feral child stumbles across the Hero, Halevune Mahariel, and he helps her find her name: Ixchel. Eventually she flees Fereldan to the Free Marches, where Clan Lavellan takes her in. Fearing that she will never truly fit in, Ixchel volunteers to attend the Conclave as a spy for her clan and prove herself to be useful. Instead, at only 16 years old, she becomes the Herald and then the Inquisitor. She is pulled in many directions by her advisors and companions and generally has a really fucked up world state. By the time Corypheus is defeated, Ixchel comes to think of the Inquisition as her family—a family that no longer needs an Inquisitor. With her clan massacred, Ixchel has no purpose and no place in the world. She travels with Kieran, Morrigan, and Mahariel for a while, but once Mahariel grows too sick to travel, Ixchel leaves, for she thinks that she's intruding on that little family's grief. She doesn't know that they considered her family, too. She attends the Exalted Council in the midst of a deep depression made worse by the Anchor's destabilization and the tension of politics surrounding the Inquisition. Solas's revelation—and his refusal to let her join him—drives her nearly to the edge of her sanity, and she never fully recovers. She spends a few years trying to thwart his plans or come up with an alternative, but she views it as a hopeless cause, and she leads a lonely existence in an empty Skyhold. In my Bloodied and Broken world state, she dies at this point. But in my DA4 world state, Kieran comes to her and pleads for her to help him find his mother, who bears the Well of Sorrows and has gone missing. Ixchel, now 26 or so, sets off with Kieran, now 21, to find the very farthest edge of Thedas—and what lies beyond it. (Assuming the Inquisitor does not make an appearance in DA4.)

Fics in this world state:

Mahariel x Morrigan & Kieran drabbles: #old blood older still

Other drabbles and prompt fills: #shadows in the sun

Bloodied and Broken - Fix-It World State

My longest Dragon Age series. It follows Inquisitor Ixchel Lavellan and her battle to find hope for herself, and hope for Thedas. As the world ends, Ixchel is resurrected under mysterious circumstances and is sent back in time to the Conclave. Ixchel is furious, convinced of her own futility, and yet she cannot give up again. These are the stories of how she gets better. ▸ TOO LONG, DIDN'T READ? (A summary of Dead Pasts and Dread Futures, if you want to get caught up. ▸ COMPLETE Fic Reading Order.

Fics in this world state:

Her story begins in Dead Pasts and Dread Futures—with her suicide.

Her journey to find hope and share it with the world continues in The Brave Guide.

Complete World State Fic Collection including things friends wrote.

Stories about Halevune Mahariel, Morrigan, and Kieran: Rust and Bone.

In-continuity tumblr drabbles found under #bloodied and broken bits.

Ships from this world state:

Solavellan: #broken mirrors

Mahariel x Morrigan & Kieran: #old blood older still

Platonic: #cage of the ribs

#Elvhenan Au

A resurrected Ixchel gets sent back not to the Conclave but to Elvhenan, with a fragmented memory. This is not Solavellan but rather Dirthamen x Lavellan.

Fics in this AU:

Tumblr prompt fills: #Elvhenan AU and #Arlathan AU

The Inexorable Tide - [kittynomsdeplume]. | Oneshot | A beautiful gift. Ixchel appeared in Elvhenan in an explosion that leveled Falon’Din’s temple. Dirthamen takes her in, for she wears his vallaslin, and slowly teaches her the Elvhen language…and they fall in love.

#One Wild and Precious Life

Solas and Inquisitor Ixchel Lavellan defeat Corypheus, heal the Veil, and thwart the Evanuris, but Solas falls into uthenera again. He wishes that now-immortal Ixchel would live a full life, and to her own surprise…she does. She falls in love with the widowed Prince of Starkhaven, and he with her.

Fics in this AU:

Tumblr prompt fills: #one wild and precious life

The Mirrorverse Collaborative AU

The Dragon Age Fanfic Writers Discord Server anniversary (Aug 2021) generated a bunch of crossover-type gift fis and introduced the idea of a multiverse connected by eluvians. Thus, the Mirrorverse was born. ALL ARE WELCOME!! If anyone wants to play in this sandbox or read OCs interacting in each others’/an in-between reality, I have an OPEN collection for fics that have any Dragon Age OCs crossing universes via mysterious eluvians! They’re fun to play with and people are making gifts for their friends or just having their own OCs interact, it’s great! We love seeing this device, please use it and tag us/submit to the collection! This isn’t limited to friends-of-mine/members of any server. We just love this gimmick and would love more multiverse interactions out there. It’s such a fun way to play with OCs.

Mirrorverse fics with my OCs:

The Bar at the End of the Multiverse - [CrackingLamb] | Oneshot | Multiple Inquisitor Lavellans wander through mysterious eluvians and find themselves at a bar for some bonding time.

Walkers of the Lonely Path | Multichapter | Complete | A gift fic I wrote for six Lavellans and one Mahariel. It’s essentially a dungeon crawl, with lots of lore, angst, and elven bonding.

a butchered tongue still singing - [RosellaWrites] | Oneshot | Rhiannon Mahariel travels to Halevune Mahariel's world just as Tamlen dies.

i want to share your mouthful - [RosellaWrites] | Oneshot | Virelan Lavellan post-Trespasser struggles to let go of the weight of her responsibilities as Inquisitor and mother. Ixchel helps with sparring, bathing, and some sex.

turning stones to look for light | Oneshot | A gift fic I wrote for Rosella-Writes, where Ixchel holds Virelan’s Solavellan baby and muses about whether Virelan’s version of Solas has any hope of redemption.

to call for hands of above (to lean on) - [RosellaWrites] | Oneshot | Tulin, Virelan and Solas's son, wants to receive his own vallaslin but is afraid to ask his father. Virelan asks Ixchel to speak to him, since she took the vallaslin for reasons beyond dedication to the gods.

the eternal now of experience | Oneshot | A gift fic I wrote for Rosella-Writes, where Ixchel comes through the eluvian and witnesses and elderly Virelan and Solas sharing a peaceful and loving moment.

The Brave Guide's Friend - [ExaltedDawn] | Oneshot | Talenna Ethera faces the end of her world and knows she must save her children. She brings them through the eluvian to Ixchel's world and says goodbye. Heart-wrenching.

tell me if i drown - [Lalaen] | Oneshot | Gethrael Lavellan, reeling after a horrific experience in Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts, goes to the Bar at the End of the Multiverse and runs into Ixchel.

to all who feel rain - [inquisimer] | Oneshot | Neria and Ixchel share a warm drink and a moment of peace.

Death is an Open Door | Oneshot | A gift fic I wrote for AmmoniteFlesh, where Ghila Mahariel and Halevune Mahariel step through separate eluvians in search for the source of the Blight in the world. They find each other, and more than they'd bargained for.

Unbreakable, Unbowed, Unyielding | Oneshot | A gift fic I wrote for WarpedLegacy, in which her Theresa Trevelyan and Cullen stumble into the dragon that calls the Emerald Graves home. Ixchel appears and fights alongside them.

#dragon age #dragon age fanfic #dragon age fanart #long post #suicide #pinned post #new pinned post my apologies!

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thedinanshiral · 8 days

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Exciting times

As we enter the last leg of this race, please beware of the SPOILERPOCALYPSE.

The reason i'm not here much lately is precisely because of spoilers. I think marketing has done more than they should have, i don't need to see more of the game, i just want to play it. Now just checking my socials puts me at risk of getting major spoilers i'm trying so hard to avoid at all costs.

Yesterday the embargo on the preview event was lifted and all the people who was fortunate to be invited have been sharing their reviews, impresions and recorded gameplay. Unfortunately for those of us who wish to experience the game ourselves instead of having the first Act spoiled, not everyone uses spoiler warnings, hashtags or keywords one can mute or block while this lasts. Personally i'm mostly on twitter and there i muted +130 words for 30 days only to have a spoiler about Rook's origins in one of the factions still slip through.

I've been checking on YouTube carefully like it's a minefield -because it really is- for some of these content creators' videos, for the most part just to listen and what i've gathered so far is they were allowed about 7 hours of play, including the character creator and 5 selected missions from Act I, but there's a couple of late Act I missions they weren't allowed to record or talk much about, and they weren't allowed to show some menus, namely the accesibility menu as it seems there's official marketing coming up centered on that.

The big and main positive i can take from these recent developments is that there's a new consensus: Dragon Age The Veilguard looks good. Long gone are the days of first trailer bad impressions and Fortnite accusations, now that some people finally got to experience the game themselves the reviews are mostly positive, excited, and i've seen some content creators change their minds about the game entirely. Bioware took notes all these years and are ready to deliver an unexpectedly very polished game as a result. People at the event were told the game has 3 Acts and i've heard this from several people, if the rest of the game keeps up the rhythm from what they saw of Act I, then Bioware is back. GOTY contender. IMO BW was never "gone", they were just slowly cooking this upcoming full meal

Sure, combat may not be for everyone, a more linear experience may not be for everyone. But personal preferences aside all seems to indicate The Veilguard will deliver as promised.

Spoilers are unavoidable sometimes so i've actualy looked for some, namely the Character Creator, the different factions origin stories, the different surnames. I had to go out of my way to see these things tho, intentionally spoiling myself these details because I have as of now 12 different Rooks planned and i needed to know if the stories i made for them would conflict or not with what the game will offer. Only one origin has a detail that might restrict things a bit.

There's apparently also a scene from a mission i'm not sure they were allowed to show, i skipped through a video about it without really looking and just now saw something from it on my dashboard but i scrolled down as fast as i could because it's something i really want to see in game first. It's such a big thing, it shouldn't have been showned or leaked at all. All i'll say is it's about Solas, and something many of us wanted to see for a long time.

All this said, while we wait for October 31st to come quick we still have the podcast Vows&Vengeance each Thursday. I might write on it soon. This podcast is safe from spoilers, it's set pre-Veilguard and introduces the companions one per episode, and the original characters are apparently a V&V exclusive and won't show in game. I think this podcast series is currently the only safe marketing material available until release. Meanwhile the IGN coverage continues, full of minor spoilers sprinkled all over so i'm also avoiding all of it.

We're now 41 days away from an event we've been waiting for 10 years! The waiting has never been harder.

#dragon age the veilguard #dav #veilguard #bioware #veilguard spoilers #vows and vengeance #update

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swordbisexual · 25 days

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Gonna make my Veilguard spoilers tag “veilguard spoilers” I guess and the only reason I’m concerned with it right now is I got like two minutes into the IGN gameplay preview video and knew I had to make a meme.

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faroreswinds · 1 year

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With the Tears of the Kingdom previews out, I took a gander at general reactions on Reddit. Why? I don’t know, I must hate myself.

I also actively despise Zelda Youtubers so I don’t want to go there and read Youtube comments.

I have been surprised by the number of negative comments after the previews. I figured this would go over really well, since Freedom TM seems to be popular theses days in your gameplay. With the overwhelming success of BotW, I figured more would be welcomed.

But no, there are quite a few people who don’t like what they see. r/Games, for instance, has this thread where many people express that they aren’t sure if they really like the direction Zelda is heading now. As if it is really going too far. r/NintendoSwitch also has this thread where similar sentiments are shared. Of course, r/truezelda, r/tearsofthekingdom and r/Zelda share similar sentiments from time to time, but as they are Zelda subreddits, these fans are drowned out as haters or trolls.

Now below the cut are some minor spoiler stuff. I will be hiding it for those who are keeping themselves spoiler free entirely.

You have been warned. There are gameplay spoilers below.

Personally myself, I’m am not entirely pleased either. I already do not like this Princess Zelda or Link. I do not really like this Hyrule. I only really like Riju and Sidon. And I can tell you that the story will not be my cup of tea. It’s er... it’s going to be something.

Of course I will play the game and judge it accordingly. But first impressions have not been great. I can fuse a mushroom to my shield? Technically impressive, but not really want I wanted. I can craft vehicles? Looks dumb, I don’t want rockets or shit in my fantasy video game.

Actual bombs being back is great though. Well, bomb flowers, but close enough, those are a classic. I also really think being able to bring Sidon on my adventure will be fun as well. Not... happy about Tulin though. He’s an annoying little kid, and frankly I don’t get the appeal.

The new menu design looks both great and terrible. It’s ugly on the eyes, like really ugly. But there are some clear improvements in function.

Not a fan of all the menu-ing you will have to do. Apparently, you have to go into a menu every time you want to fuse something to your arrow. No bulk fusing that we know of yet. That is a serious design flaw if true. Menu-ing also breaks up the flow of combat, and if I can just open a menu and dick around with the items to put a flamethrower on my shield, then there will be a lot of time spent in menus while in combat.

Speaking of menus, they have not fixed the healing system. It still functions the same. Pause, eat as much as you want, continue battle. Lame. They did make some changes, but not in the way that enhances combat.

First of all, you can cook anywhere with a new item (one time use though). This was never an issue. The real issue was never being able to cook in bulk, but one at a time, making it a tedious wait time of watching the same animations over and over again.

Second, there is now a recipe book. Great, but unless hearty foods are no longer in the game I can promise you I will not be cooking much. I will make the most simple shit that is effective, not try to see what fun recipes I can make. Who cares if I can make cake if it only heals me 5 heart, when a fish with a hearty turnip will heal me thirty? But people asked for a recipe book, so I’m not necessarily mad that it is there.

I also want to touch quickly on durability and ultrahand. Durability, of course, is back. Urg. But they tried to “fix” it by making it so you can fuse items together to make it more durable. Cool. But it’s still breakable.

And apparently, you can just unfuse the item and then refuse it with something else to keep it even longer. This is essentially resetting durability. If this is true, then it is effectively no durability with extra, tedious steps.

In fact, this whole game looks like a lot of tedium.

As for ultrahand, there is apparently a skill that allows you to save past builds. You can then autobuild them instantly if you have the right items. Great idea, except did we really have to waste a skill slot for this? Apparently it is a later game skill. If true, this means that any early builds you make will be unable to be saved. Nintendo wanted to keep this skill a secret for some reason. Honestly, I have no idea why. It’s not like that it is worth keep private. It’s a QoL feature that people should probably know about.

My guess is that they don’t want to discourage people from experimenting early on. If people can save their builds right away, they will just keep their early builds and continue to adjust them till they end the game, rather than continuing trying new things. And if you know there is a save feature you get later, you might be discouraged to try making things early since you cannot keep the schematics around.

This is lame if true, though.

There are effectively “8″ skills Link can use. I use the number “8″ loosely. It’s not really 8 skills, but rather 4 skills, 1 expanded feature on another skill, and 1 amiibo skill.

Ultrahand - Link can pick up and move anything, and put them together in any configuration he would like

Fuse - Take up to two items and fuse them together like glue

Ascend - Go through ceilings and some enemies like water and reach the top

Recall - Turn back time on an object so it returns to its original position.

These are the known, unique skills. Then we have

Autobuild - Quickly build past builds if you have the parts. This is essentially a save feature for Ultrahand

Amiibo - Literally just the amiibo skill, similar to the amiibo rune from Botw.

Finally, we have two mysterious skills

Compass-thing - Some weird compass-looking green icon. It’s probably a tracking feature, but we do not know it’s purpose yet.

Blank - We honestly don’t know what this could be. Could be a camera skill. Could be a secondary feature to one of the main 4 features. We just have no clue at all.

Effectively, these are rune replacements. Ultrahand + Autobuild is just Magnesis but better. Recall is Statis but instead of freezing an object, you make it go in reverse into it’s original position. Amiibo is amiibo.

Ascend is basically Revali’s Gale but through rock instead of the air. Fuse is entirely new. However, Ascend has some great exploration potential. Maybe I can find an air pocket in a cave with treasure. Hopefully, though, that treasure will be worth it and not some stupid consumable sword.

The bomb runes and Cryonsis are entirely gone. The bombs have been replaced with bomb flowers as a consumable item now. So no more remote bombs, round or square. Cryonsis could have a similar skill that is that missing blank skill, but I suspect they want players to use the Ultrahand system, and make ships and the like. Cryonsis would remove the need to do this, so it has to go.

Most of these skills are entirely focused on the sandbox-style of BotW. I am not a particular fan of sandbox games, and it saddens me that this is the direction Zelda seems to be going. It was fine for a single game, but I had hoped for a more cultured, straight-forward experience in future installments. I figured Totk would still value freedom to the player, but it doubled down in ways I was hoping it would not.

The only real “combat” skills are maybe Fuse and Recall. Fuse because of making weapons better. Recall because you can make rolling stones hit enemies or the like.

But calling them real “combat” skills is a stretch. They don’t really actually do combat, but rather craft the necessary items to create a combat experience. I’m hoping that like BotW, we get more “combat” skills like Urbosa’s Fury (unless they didn’t add stuff like this because they want to player to interact with the fusing system).

I am worried about the size of the map. BotW ran pretty ok, but it still had issues. This is a bigger game, with a LOT more going on. Honestly, it seems too ambitious for a Switch game. My super powerful PC sometimes struggles to play Elden Ring, and a little Switch will seamlessly play the biggest Zelda game of all time? When it couldn’t even get a small title like Link’s Awakening to play smoothly? I’m skeptical.

And with the map size so big, I feel like this will be a one and done game for me. I’m a lot older now, and exploring large maps are only fun once. After the first time, it’s too overwhelming to try it again. I love Elden Ring, but it’s 30 square mile map keeps me from wanting to do another thorough playthrough again. I am actually replying it, but I plan to skip a lot.

When it came to BotW’s map, it is so large but empty of meaningful content that I don’t have it in me to roam around just for the reason of roaming around. I need goals, that come with real, tangible rewards at the end. Now we are getting the map again (which was already 22 square miles) plus the sky PLUS underground stuff. That is a lot of land. How can you fill all that with meaningful content you want to do again and again? This could be potentially bigger than Elden Ring’s map. And Elden Ring’s map is really big. It’s starting to all get too big for me.

Also, Korok seeds are back. Urg. Why? I don’t want them. Can we not figure out another means to fill the world with content besides more Korok seeds?

However, and this might sound a bit callous... but I look forward to the future “BotW” versus “Totk” fights.

Already it’s happening. Fans wondering if Totk will completely invalidate the experience BotW offered. Totk looks richer, fuller. It’s larger. It looks like it has a better story. NPC companions, probably better side quests, lots of crafting, and hopefully better dungeons!

I have no leg in this fight because I love MM and MM is not the most favorite Zelda game in the series among fans. I don’t particularly enjoy the direction Zelda is going, both in lore and gameplay. Seeing people argue about which game will be the better Zelda experience, BotW or Totk, will be quite funny to me.

To end on a positive note, the Sky Islands we did see do look quite beautiful. I look forward to see these beautiful lands.

#my thoughts #Tears of the Kingdom #Zelda discourse #spoilers

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latin-dr-robotnik · 2 years

Text

Okay everyone, just a heads up: in case you haven’t blocked the #sonic frontiers spoilers tag, I’ll be using it from now on when it comes to posts, images, videos and anything that doesn’t come from the official Sonic social media channels.

It’s not only that the recent “final preview event” gave us literally hours of gameplay, interviews and opinions from those who got a chance to play it, it’s the fact some cutscenes leaked despite SEGA having a hard ban against showing anything related to them and the first Super Sonic boss.

Even I think some spoilers are starting to get out of hand and I don’t want to engage with every single one. I’ll be playing, sharing and talking about Sonic Frontiers as soon as it drops, I’ll use the spoilers tag, but also block it for myself just in case.

Note: the Discord server WILL stay as spoiler-free as possible. There’s a #spoilers channel if there’s really something to talk about, but outside of that we’ll keep everything clean and safe.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic frontiers #it actually upsets me because sega put a hard ban on story stuff #and somehow someone didn't get the memo and showed a fucking cutscene from chaos island #and a big fucking cutscene at that #according to somecallmejohnny the preview event had tons of press people from all over the world #and sega was pretty damn clear about what they could and couldn't talk about when the embargo lifted

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chungwoohell · 6 months

Text

ep: 463

RTD arc part 3

-Please, please tell me the route to putting Lee Sejin in a straitjacket. It was in the music video or something, Please I don’t know how.

-The comedy ending where Cha Eugene escapes alone is so funny, I laughed out loud while filming Chakitty

-Wow, when Baese got his wallet stolen on the way to work, it was actually Chungwoo who stole it Lol the scene is shown in the jailer version!! (gameplay recording)

Good content after content and more content.

Originally, after the music video was released during the comeback, there was a gap of a few days between the appearance on music broadcast.

Usually, this period was spent in anticipation, looking at social media news, previews, and small content. Or watching the music video over and over again while anxiously waiting for the broadcast to air…

-Ahhhh, Eugene finally put on the guard uniform ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ wtf I’m so happy, I can barely breathe. Wear your uniform loosely, my baby.

It’s completely changed.

The fan community and SNS were flooded with all kinds of spoilers, strategies, videos, and screenshots, it was truly a celebration.

(t/n: “it was truly a celebration”: I didn’t know whether to change it to “it felt like Christmas” because in this context it felt like fans were getting so much content/fanservice similar to the feeling of getting lots of gifts on Christmas.)

TeSTAR placed a lenient rule that the ‘normal ending’ and ‘bad ending can only be streamed.

The reason for such an unconventional attempt in the first place was to spread the word of mouth and because it’s a promotional opportunity that couldn’t be missed.

Besides, if you wanted to experience it for yourself, you have to buy the album anyway.

The ‘code’ on the photocard, which opens the locked door at the ending, belongs to one account, so pirates couldn’t see the ending!

-LOL you’re a bitch.

-But I’m worried that it’ll be pirated soon because they’re good at making all kinds of cracks ㅠㅠㅠ

-However, it seems like the sales are doing okay since it’s released. Oh, it’s great that the USB is counted by album sales.

-it’s really a new worldview, fun fun

In addition, the lyrics, music, and concept photos that can be downloaded from the game title received favorable reviews for the unique emotions they provide when looking back after playing the game.

-The game deepens the narrative of the album… Fuck I hated the worldview so much. I can’t believe they made me say that.

Overall, it was a unique attempt.

And it was completely unexpected.

First of all, it means that aggro was drawn properly.

[TeSTAR put a real game in the album]

[<127 Section> Ruined Factory production team releases new work: Testa Album (no joke)]

[TeSTAR’s crazy live-action gameplay status haha]

The astonishment of fans who had no idea that the MV expansion version was actually a game spread everywhere, and naturally, Internet users came across the news.

-The MV was an introduction to the game.

-What’s going on lol

-TeSTAR, you really do everything. I really respect you. From a magical boy to the one road of Otaku

-I want to try this too. What's going on with the quality? Can I just buy the album? What should I buy?

On WeTube, several gamer streamers who couldn’t miss this piece of gold were already playing it.

It was because of Lee Sejin’s shocking prologue that it was easy to get reactions and the WeTube scene came out well, so it was a win-win.

Of course, there were fights and noises as tastes and evaluations went back and forth, but even that was a hot topic.

It was a promotion that I couldn’t ask for.

-If I order now from the official website, will it arrive tomorrow?? I took the bus to the store, and it was sold out.

-What version should I start with?

-TeSTAR, this title game is an OST? Hey?? Why is everyone so upset?

Thanks to this, album sales were soaring tremendously. Simple components such as a USB, recycled paper box, and photocard, lower the barrier to entry by allowing users to purchase the album without burden.

This was just the beginning of all this typhoon-like activity.

“Whoa.”

Homma was playing the game like crazy.

The balance of thrill with a cinematic live-action structure, interactive choices, and luck elements that do not require much control… It did a great job appealing to the people.

Thanks to this, she was devoting all her free time to playing.

“The scene of Moondae is really pretty…”

Currently, I was replaying the VER 2 album, which mainly features Prisoner Moondae. When playing as a prisoner through the VER 2 USB album, the chapter started from the past perspective of Park Moondae and Cha Eugene.

-Oh, the two of them are having a heated argument in the lab, but I’m scared of them all.

ㄴ?? Wasn’t it very sad and pitiful?

ㄴ?? What choice did you have?

ㄴ Exactly your choice.

Also, in the latter half of the episode, there was an event where the thieves wore prison uniforms when they were caught, and an event where they overpowered the guards and made them wear prison uniforms.

-Moondae throwing his prison uniform at Keunse seems to have personal feelings, but it’s not acting, it’s like they’re really friends.

ㄴ LOL

During the playthrough, I was able to find out a little bit about the identity of the experiments the prisoners were being subjected to.

[⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ 10ml administration: Detect objects 100m away

-Complaints of dizziness, hallucinations, and headaches.]

'Hmm, psychic? Is this an experiment to create something similar?'

For some reason, it felt like an American sensibility... It was definitely a bit weird and creepy that way.

Anyway, Cha Eugene seemed to have an extraordinary mind and a very developed sixth sense, and Moondae seemed to be able to use telekinesis!

‘……Although he vomited blood.’

After recreating the scene in the music video where the surveillance camera explodes and seeing the bad ending where the gate collapses, she sealed away her telekinetic powers.......

Album VER 2's prisoner POV playthrough felt like that.

A story similar to the Phantom Thieves POV, but more desolate and focused on facilities.

However, the VER 3 album was a little different.

In the case of this camp of guards, we took a slightly special structure....

It was a play that started from Lee Sejin's perspective and cooperated with the phantom thieves.

-Shh.

-…!

-Be quiet and follow me.

‘Omg.’

It’s like he’s sick of the facility and pretend not to show it… It seemed like he was a guard on our side. Of course, the truth is, I was planning to catch them all at last minute, so they don’t steal them.

Is what Lee Sejin said while humming to himself.

-It’s nice~ They come on their own and break the rules…

‘Evil!’

VER 1, the first experience with the intensity of the prologue made it powerful!

Thanks to this, VER 3 has a strange structure which made the players dizzy wondering when they will get back stabbed.

‘Hmm, was this because I played as a Phantom Thief first?’

“Uh, wait. Come to think of it.”

Was the order really intentional?

Homma suddenly have an idea.

They key shape in the music video… it’s the same of the USB in the VER 1 album.

The other two look slightly different from the music video.

When selling, it was shown on the product page. People who were only going to buy one album would obviously buy VER 1.

Before that, I bought the album reservation without any information knowing that it would come in a set.

‘And those who bought all 3 must’ve played VER 1 first since it was in the music video.’

Don’t you think it was strange?

That means that the players will experience playing as phantom thieves before exploring the story of the prisoners and camp guard.

After experiencing the first version, you can continue discovering new things while maintaining the thrill in the other versions.

‘And.’

Homma gapped.

She was unable to process the detailed structured to prevent multiple playthroughs being boring. Even if she didn’t know the game well, it was very touching.

‘Oh my god,’

Anyways, let’s talk about it.

In VER 3, the phantom thieves were able to accompany Lee Sejin and wore blue navy unforms!

There was no longer an option to hide from the guards.

Instead, an event occurs where you can access the facility's documents or find more information.

-Keep It Safe, hence 'KIS'.... What do you mean by “keeping safe”?

-Um, the people outside?

-…From what?

-From all danger? Hey, I don't know either~ How would the employees know that?

Fortunately, Lee Sejin's values become slightly shaken when the phantom thieves cooperate with the prisoners and build some friendships with them.

This is because we learn that the two prisoners were imprisoned even though they had not broken any rules.

-I was kidnapped.

-Me too.

-……Hmm.

And through various events, he comes to accept Ryu Chungwoo's proposal to join as a phantom thief.

-Is that so?

-…!

-It’s almost time for me to change jobs since my annual leave is coming to an end.

“Oh oh!

This way, he was succeeded in seducing many TeSTARs, including the guard, Lee Sejin…

She watched only the normal ending to the end.

‘Why!?’

Although I was exposed to spoilers for Moondae’s syringe options, I made the right choice and saw the phantom thief’s uniform… It was in the normal ending back then too.

“What…?’

About Ahyeon… Is It because you’re so scared that you couldn’t approach Ahyeon or seduce him.

[We left this damn facility.]

It’s like this every time and the ending credits roll with after content!

Anyways, all that’s left is Park Moondae’s amazing thighs… That’s it.

So, this time she was really prepared.

“Let’s do this…”

Homma looked up a strategy while avoiding spoilers as much as possible and sat down in front of the computer again, clenching both hands.

Found it! The True Ending conditions!

‘First if all, you have to play VER 1 first…’

She clicked on the game icon and quicky played through it.

Now for the strategy.

-No matter which faction you are in, make everyone except Seon Ahyeon your comrades and then meet Ahyeon in front of the final gate!

‘I guess the dice came up when I was hiding was a hint!’

That wasn’t entirely the ‘right’ option.

If you meet without recruiting all your friends, it’s game over, but if you meet with all your friends, a true ending event will occur!

‘Good.’

Then the fateful moment.

-If you just turn there…

Homma closed her eyes tightly and ignored the ‘hide’ option.

Finally…

Tap, tap.

Bae Sejin, who had put the key in the lock pad, flinched and looked back.

From around the corner, a blonde guard in a navy-blue uniform came out, starting with military boots.

The screen froze.

“Whoa.”

Homma clenched her fists and…

-……

The background music flowed into emptiness.

Seon Ahyeon stared at the key Bae Sejin was holding.

Next, he glances at the six people standing around, dressed in the same style.

After alternating shots and breathtaking close-up scenes…

The guard opened his mouth.

-There it is.

-…!

-The jewel.

Homma covered her mouth.

‘Omg!’

Yes!

A gem that the phantom thieves tried to find, but ultimately concluded it was false information spread by this facility to capture test subjects.

Tutaculum really exists… Seon Ahyeon informed me.

Then, he turned around and started walking away again without shaking.

Tap, tap.

On the screen, Bae Sejin swallowed his saliva.

-…What should I do?

[Follow. -Trust]

[Ignore. -Disbelief]

“……After,”

This is unconditional.

If you follow along and fail here, there's no way you'll get the true ending!

Homma quickly clicked 'Follow', and naturally the characters on the screen followed Seon Ahyeon.

Seon Ahyeon passed the outskirts of the complex facility several times, moving at a speed that was not very considerate.

Down, down.

Overcome a couple of light dice decisions....

Jiiiing-

-…Where?

We arrived in front of a small iron gate.

Next to it is a locking pad like the entrance.

With modern organ BGM playing, Seon Ahyeon stood next to the iron gate.

The six members with the keys approached the lock pad.

Only then did the blonde guard open his mouth.

-Obverse.

'... obverse?'

Homma was embarrassed.

I'm entering the code and suddenly what does the front side mean?

'Is there anything on the front of the photocard?'

However, no matter how much I looked, there was no hint in the photo of Kim Raebin with the awl in his mouth.

'On the back is this....'

[AW23-5DQ2-B25E]

This code.

Just as she was about to panic, fortunately Bae Sejin's narration came out.

-The code is... Among the dummy data in the key, it was written on the back of the man's photo. It's not facing the front.

'I know yeah!'

-But facing front? Why are you saying the opposite?

-……Wait, the opposite?

"...!!"

At that moment, Homma also realized.

If you think of the letters on the back as being viewed from the front.

'... It looks backwards, in the opposite direction!'

If so, the code is....

Crash.

She started tapping on the keyboard.

[AW23-5DQ2-B25E]

this.

[E52B-2QD5-32WA]

Then it should be like this!

“…Okay!”

The moment you press enter,

Uuuuuung-!

With a bright light, the iron door began to open.

My toes felt tingly.

'Wow....'

And after the light subsides.

In the screen, in the very center of a small room with iron walls on all sides.

Inside the hexagonal glass tube was a beautiful, green-colored gem.

An ecstatic BGM was played.

'The props are really cool...’

The camera slowly approached the jewel....

A gloved hand reached out. and....

[Catch the jewel.]

[Ask a question.]

“……”

A choice appeared.

‘Hmm,’

Homma crossed her arms.

This game had no save and load feature.

It is possible to skip events that have already been seen, but this means that once a choice has been made, it’s impossible to go back to the previous moment.

But.

‘…The truth must be revealed.’

My friends on social media said that’s the meaning of the true ending!

Feeling like a detective, Homma swallowed and pressed down.

[Ask a question.]

On the screen, Bae Sejin withdrew his hand. Then he turned his head to Seon Ahyeon.

-…Why did you bring us here?

-……

-What is your purpose? Why are you giving us the jewel, the Tutaculum?

It was then.

-…! Wait for a sec,

Someone intervened.

…Prisoner Park Moondae, who was dressed in a phantom thief-style leather suit, asked quickly in a low voice.

-What do you mean “Tutaculum”?

Bae Sejin responded.

-This gem is the Tutaculum.

Park Moondae’s face turned pale.

-No, that’s… This is the drug administered to the prisoners managed here.

-…!!

-It’s not a gem. Tutaculum is… Here, it’s a code word meaning drug.

Wow, crazy.

‘The drug that creates superpowers…’

No, now that I think about it, it seemed like it was green too. Homma covered her mouth again and stared at the screen with a twist.

“…”

The camera slowly turns.

Ryu Chungwoo asked while looking at the blonde guard.

-Then,

-What is this gem?

That moment.

The screen turned off.

"...?!"

Only then did Seon Ahyeon’s voice rang softly from the black screen.

- The guard mysterious and scary with the black baton did not open his mouth.

-But at the end of that gaze... There was a prisoner.

With calm BGM, the screen became bright again.

And what is revealed... It was an attic.

TeSTAR sat on the floor between the warm lamp light and a board game in the middle.

That scene from the teaser.

"...??"

Homma is in confusion!

However, Sun Ahyeon’s calm voice continued.

-It’s the players’ turn.

Cha Eugene and Park Moondae, who were sitting comfortably, twitched their eyebrows at the same time. They were two people who played the role of prisoners.

Ryu Chungwoo, who was resting his chin, spoke thoughtfully.

-You said you saw the prisoner. Did he want to give the jewel to the prisoner? As Compensation?

-There’s no psychopath, so it's probably like that.

After Cha Eugene grumbled, Park Moondae opened his mouth, rubbing his chin.

-…Well, if a hacker is able convince several people to the same side in such a short period of time, it seems like he will become a threat in the future. Isn’t he trying to give me the real jewels and send them back? It’s cheating.

-Ah~ Don’t have any regrets.

Lee Sejin nodded and smiled cheerfully.

-Good! Then I will say this.

Then, the screen was sucked in, the background returned to the secret facility.

In that scene, Lee Sejin, dressed as a phantom thief, spoke.

-I also have a question~

-“Keep It Safe”. Speaking of the slogan… Actually, it’s not “Safe”, it’s Sacrifice, right? Chief jailer. What are we keeping safe?

-I thought there were rules, but now I see that they don’t really follow them~

After that, a truth battle continues using the secrets of the facility discovered while playing the game.

And the conclusion is…

-It’s not a prison… It was a research institute.

This facility was an institution conducting research to completely control Tutaculum, a drug that gives strange abilities!

'Ooh.'

It was quite exciting to see the information collected so far being connected.

-Really?

I still don't know why the scenery returns to the attic as if I'm being sucked in again.

It was nice to hear Seon Ahyeon’s soft voice.

-But the blonde guard was neither agitated nor answered.

-Oooooh!

-Should we fight?

-Let’s fight, I’ll roll the dice.

In response to the combative members’ reactions, Seon Ahyeon, who was holding a book, smiled and nodded.

-Yes, then… Who will fight?

-Of course, the strongest person should do it, right?

-……

Raebin Kim clicked his tongue and held up the dice as if he didn't feel like it and Seon Ahyeon also picked up the dice.

-I'm going to roll a cube. The maximum number is 6. Players are left with a dodecahedron, with a maximum number of 10. That's a big difference.

-Still, if the player's dodecahedron number is smaller, the player can defeat the warden.

Some might jeer at this as it is a ridiculous scam, but everyone is just nodding their heads as if they are very immersed in it.

Homma did the same, but soon realized the reality.

'Uh oh, can I really do it?'

And that premonition was correct.

'omg!’

As the dice appeared on the screen, Homma was almost screaming internally as she calculated the odds... Finally, I put my hand on the mouse again.

And pressed,

"evil."

Degurrrrr....

The ten-sided dice rolls... Rolling... The numbers....

[5]

‘…Oh, no.'

It’s too big!

Homma felt her blood run cold and swallowed her saliva without realizing it as she looked at the screen.

The game was in progress.

Sun Ahyeon was throwing the dice inside his book, so the numbers were not visible.

Over Seon Ahyeon's face, an expressionless guard in a navy-blue uniform briefly overlaps.

'uh?'

But after a while.

Seon Ahyeon smiled brightly and put the book away.

The number shown by the black die is....

[6]

-I was defeated.

-Oh my God!

-Oh~

Cheers erupt.

-So, you guys…

Seon Ahyeon smiled and closed the book.

-You obtained the jewel and successfully escaped from ‘KIS’ foundation.

-I was your game master.

Applause erupted.

-Ah~ It was fun!

-Thank you for calling me. It was fun to try.

-Oh, no…

Seon Ahyeon smiled softly and put the paper book he was holding. As he said before, he seems to be in charge of hosting this board game.

‘Oh, I think I saw something like this on TV?’

It came out like this because it was an American teen concept!

Homma nodded.

‘Ahyeon played a key role!’

Still, Ahyeon's fans may be a bit disappointed that the amount of content he has is small. That thought passed by without me thinking, but anyway, I was absorbed in the cute appearance and development of TeSTAR on the screen.

-You seem like a nerd, you made a fuss about not liking it, but surprisingly you enjoyed it~?

-I know that if anyone talks about what happened today at school, I won't leave them alone.

-Look at this guy!

While Cha Eugene and Lee Sejin are grumbling, Kim Raebin is rubbing his chin. A rather violent silver accessory was shaking.

-The setting was 2025. They say the world will fall in 1999, but in a later era, I will have a stronger role.......

-You're better than me, who was a kidnapped test subject.

-Being a test subject would be better.

Kim Raebin responded grimly, but Park Moondae just chuckled and Seon Ahyeon also laughed when he saw that.

In that wholesome scene, Bae Sejin smiled and put down his dice.

The narration continued.

-Secret confinement facilities, experiments with psychics, hackers and phantom thieves, and even a thrilling escape. It was a great journey.

In the board game, jewel tokens were shown close-up on the screen.

-The secret we discovered was surprising, but there may be another story hidden there.

-No, I think it would be fun to tell the same story again.

The camera show TeSTAR in the attic, bathed in soft lamp light.

-…I hope to come back to play again someday.

The camera moves up to capture a harmonious image of TeSTAR sitting in a circle.

Along with the gently arranged sub-songs of this album, a subtitle came to mind.

[True Ending]

~In the tutáculum. (은신처에서)

(t/n: 은신처에서/in the hiding place, it’s in parentheses for the ones who don’t know English.)

It was the true ending.

“Ha…”

She leaned back in her chair.

So, this game is like the American teen TeSTAR from the 80s playing a board game... That was the concept.

'So, repackage album........'

It was all connected....

Homma felt an indescribable overwhelming emotion and watched the ending credits roll again.

The scenes I had seen so far passed through my mind, the scenes in the attic, and the character details.

“…..”

The dopamine was constantly increasing.

(t/n: homma said some slang word for a dr*g LMAO but there’s no way she actually did them…)

I was very curious about the stage, but I still had to wait to see the stage.

So that was why.

‘I’ll play again!’

***

After taking care of the urgent matters, she clicked the icon again and reconnected to the game.

This time it was a different version.

‘The warden!'

The main subject of Moondae was postponed for the grand finale!

In order to see the true ending one more time, I continued pressing the skip button.

'Ah, this is really fun.'

My heart was pounding. What new things will be shown in this version?

When the TeSTARs wearing guard uniforms side by side finally reached the point where they pressed the code!

"Good!"

[E52B-2QD5-32WA]

'Great!'

And that was the moment I pressed enter.

'Now the door opens and the jewel....'

It definitely had to be that way.

[%EA%B8%B0%EB%8B%A4%EB%A0%B8%EC%96%B4]

Instead.

The blonde guard looked back at the camera.

Seon Ahyeon.

'...Uh?'

-I pressed the wrong button.

“...??"

-It's a different version of the code.

Seon Ahyeon, who is in uniform in the game, smiled. It was his first time smiling as a jailer.

-You’re okay.

-But... I made a mistake with this.

Cotton gloves grabbed the camera.

-It means you played a lot.

"...?!"

Just now... “Play”?

-Correct? So, by chance, you ended up making a mistake by writing the code written on the card, not exactly as it was, but in the opposite direction... It means you did a lot.

The BGM has disappeared.

No, before I knew it... The angle of the screen also changed.

In the game world, were the other members were invisible, only Seon Ahyeon was visible.

That moment.

-Let's keep playing.

The hidden route has begun.

#dmj hell #idol hell section #rtd arc

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