#i WISH i could post in real time

[nashishishi]

idk how to explain to people that the reason i haven't been online much is because the school i go to has barely any signal and the home i live in currently also doesn't really have any good signal and there is/was a typhoon passing through the country so it made the signal problem worse, so the only time i could get signal was when i went out on the weekends, but there's been a shit ton of smog in my area recently, either from the abnormally active volcano nearby or from the horrible pollution, both of which render the air quality unhealthy, meaning i get sick more easily because i'm either inhaling sulfur dioxide from the ashfall OR i'm inhaling sulfur dioxide from the pollution, meaning i'm stuck inside my house with horrible signal for most of the day

and the typhoon that is/was passing through the country means that it's also been raining quite a bit recently, and rain + sulfur dioxide = acid rain, meaning i REALLY can't go outside, meaning no signal for me. ever.

also, even when i Can go outside, it's usually just to run errands. obviously it's not advised to go outside if it's not necessary, so i only ever go out when i need to do my groceries or something like that, which means the only time i can get signal is also the one and only time in the entire week when all i do for 2 hours is cross a bunch of streets, run down supermarket aisles, try not to let my wallet get stolen, and then walk back home. none of which are activities that i can do while also diverting part of my attention to scrolling or messaging on my phone

so yk like if i could explain all that in like 1 or 2 sentences that would be great. it's just that if i say "the whole goddamn country (including me) is in a crisis rn srry" and it hasn't reached world news yet, it almost sounds like a non-issue (or just a straight-up lie) if i use it as an excuse

[front-facing-pokemon]

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

perhaps my most #cancelable videogame take i can post on this website is i think that the kind of people who say that anyone who picks the "morally wrong" or "mean" options in video game dialogue should, as a player, feel bad about their own choices/morals in real life. is that those people are just another flavor of the kind of dudes who play Disco Elysium and get mad for not being rewarded for picking the facist options. both of these groups are reducing games to "a thing I want to agree with me and everyone else who doesn't either suffers or does not have the option to play a character who behaves otherwise" rather than "a medium where you get to (or even Have to) explore different kinds of characters in order to experience the full depth of the story and characters in it."

When I want to pick options in a game that are mean, negative, arrogant, or ignorant, it's because I want to explore what would push a character into becoming that kind of person. Sometimes I want to see how the NPC characters who I-The-Player like/agree with react to someone who is fundamentally different from them. I think it's GOOD actually when the narrative allows you to push limits and especially when it has the option to then punish you for it in some way, such as losing options/routes later on, or companions straight up abandoning you for your choices. It DOES often make me deeply, viscerally uncomfortable to make choices in a game that are so counter to my own, but it means I get to experience that discomfort in an isolated environment and also think about what it means, what would push the character or even yes a real person into actually feeling those things. And I get to play with what ways the narrative could challenge them/make them grow over the course of the game--or on the other side, it can let me make a character who does start off more open/accepting but let the events of the narrative push them into being more reactively closed-minded instead.

I like that we have invented a medium where you can play a game multiple times and experience it differently depending on the character you play as. Books and TV and movies are all static--the greatest draw of games to me is the ones that are responsive, that can tell a slightly different story every time--when other characters in the game respond differently to you because of it, or some paths open up and others don't. And so yes it did disappointment me when a franchise that previously had these elements, Dragon Age, did not include them in the most recent installment. I don't think games should have options where you get to just hit a button to say something racist with no consequences or exploration into why a character would do that. but like, if i can only ever play a game as an upstanding person who is morally right all the time in basically the same flavor for every dialogue. I only get to truly play that game Once, you know? And I only get to see the way the companions react to someone they like and trust. And never really go deeper than that.

So like... I just sit and think about the scenes you can get in Inquisition. with Cassandra breaking down, because she fears she placed a would-be tyrant at the head of a powerful organization--that she searched and searched and chose wrong. Of Varric who is desperate to convince you not to become a monster, like the last person he feels betrayed him. Vivienne intentionally pissing you off because she wants to see how far you'll go when angered, how much she has to worry about your reactions. They say so much about the companions, what they fear most, and where they will draw the line. And especially in Inquisition, at these crisis points--you don't have to double down. Your character can have a come-to-Andraste moment where they go "woah... is that really how people see me? is this what i want?" and I think that kind of option can do way more for encouraging actual players to examine the choices they make in stories, more than locking the player into supportive, non-aggressive options does.

now. do i think all games execute these flavors well? no. writers and devs will have their own biases and blind spots, even if they are otherwise well-intentioned. and I don't think the ends of the scale need to extend from "absolute angel" to "horrible bigot", because the real complexity of course lies in the middle. I am not asking for games to let me be bigoted at every turn, what I want is games that let me make the protagonist deeply flawed in one or more ways--fearfully closed-minded to things outside their upbringing, or afraid of change to the status quo, or who want to advance their own aims regardless of consequences to others. I actually agree that the game was correct not to include any options for disrespecting Taash and their personal journey for example, but I do wish... idk maybe that we could have had a scene where if for instance the player character avoided outside-world missions relating to clearing away blight, they could confront us on how this might devastate the natural world and its creatures like dragons, and push us into trying to resolve it. Or in the other direction, if you spend the (currently meaningless) time giving money to background NPCs begging in the cities, Neve could could have a special cutscene thanking you for your attention to people otherwise beneath notice. You know?

And of course not every game can do this, I can write those sentences up there that represent hundreds of hours of dev time, of course they can't do it all. But the prior games usually did have at least a little of this, and that was enough to make me really fall in love. I KNOW the tumultuous development cycle, restarts from scratch, interference from higher-ups all contributed to why Veilguard was unable to hit those same marks this time. And we probably won't ever know how much of the loss of options/reactivity was intention vs a side effect of these things. But I wish people wouldn't frame players who miss these aspects as insane/morally corrupt. When for most of us it's because we genuinely enjoy challenging and exploring these aspects of reality in fiction in a way entirely unlike what we actually support in real life. i fully acknowledge not everyone desires to play this way. and that's fine!!! i am glad people can enjoy doing a "good" run each time that brings them joy. but for me it really limits the potential bounds of my enjoyment i guess. I like media that is complicated and messy and makes me think, and extra so when I get to see how playing that way impacts the greater story around it.

[dykesevika]

Btw Ambessa’s boytoy does NOT have a confirmed name.

This is not Miguel. The only official ‘name’ he has is Gorgeous Man.

[icewindandboringhorror]

I know this is just a silly bad quality random screencap of a screencap that I found on facebook lol, BUT it's a succinct enough image to easily describe the concept in a quick/accessible way hopefully :

-

(and of course, feel free to elaborate in tags, etc.! (especially elaborating about other senses as well.. can you "hear" in your mind just as well as you can "see"? taste? etc.) It's an interesting topic to me, as someone who's like a 4.5 at MOST lol. I'm curious what option will be the most common :0c )

[sainz100]

2022 Canadian GP | x

[joshuamj]

Linktober Day 8. Tunic

[lovely-menza]

I went to pink floyd's their mortal remains in buenos aires last tuesday so I feel like sharing some pics I took there (bc I took a lot) :D

[accirax]

last night i had a dream that it was Friday, and i was watching Chapter 2 Episode 15. it was nearing the end of the episode, and Teruko had accused Ace in the Closing Argument. however, Ace was nonstop arguing with MonoTV that he didn't do it and that everyone had it all wrong. MonoTV laughed cryptically, and the episode ended on the cliffhanger...

...that MonoTV was about to introduce Ada Tobisa, Eden's secret twin sister, as the seventeenth student in the killing game.

no, i don't know what role Ada would have had in the murder.

earlier in the dream episode, we had seen the left photo as its own CG, and were led to believe that it was a photo of Eden as a baby (i have no idea how this came up in the Trial). however, the end stinger was showing the CG with the two of them, and that the left picture was actually Ada all along.

anyways, call me the Ultimate Fortune Teller, because i'm pretty sure i've foreseen exactly what's going to happen in Friday's episode drop 😎

[nixotinix]

aah ivy and selina,,,,, no matter how long it has been, I will always go back to drawing them at some point

[meowsticmarvels]

the concept of delta engineering the decision game so he and phi can be born is kinda funny he's like ok so i have to worsen my parents' existing ptsd so me and my Stupid ass sister I Guess will be born witj magic powers and shes also gonna have worsened ptsd as a result. this is a Necessary evil Life is Simply Unfair :/

[fridgevespidae]

perpetually pissed about how the internet treats the circus show and i dont mean the fandom rn...

[librarisxng]

also reminder, please do not send hate towards the other NCT members. they are not involved with Taeil’s scandal whatsoever and if they were, SM would’ve announced their departure from the group as well.

[rragnaroks]

hello. it is i, your friendly neighbourhood goblin that pops up every now and then to scream about something new.

i love damien haas.

this has been a psa.

[joelletwo]

never even commented on this one. must i

[numberonetribble]

Hello! Update from me!

In order to not get burnt out on drawing, I like to work on whatever I feel like each day. However, I REALLY want to work on part 2 of the Earthspark comic, BUT it has alot of moving parts and I want to do it right the first time.

So while yes I'm working on it lowkey in the background, there shall be more fun things/non-Piston things in the meantime. Example: I got something going live tomorrow stay tuned!

I'm going to LA TFCon in March and my outfit isn't done yet so I have to work on that as well! It was going to be more elaborate, but, Piston. (If you see me say hello! I'll post what my bag looks like and also I'll have Piston with me)

Also I would like to be emotionally vulnerable for a moment, I never thought people would like Piston so much and it makes me tear up a little bit. No really! Thank you so much, I genuinely mean it! The first time I drew Piston I didn't like it at all and was going to quit but then I drew this on their reference sheet and it changed everything:

I hadn't drawn in years and always wanted to and this little bug got rid of my artist block. So I pursue! Yet, sometimes, I get nervous bc I have some serious not fun story related things planned with them and I don't want tomatoes thrown at my head. Plain to say, no matter what continuation, The Last Mile Marker, Earthspark or TF One, my goofy lamb gets hit with a hammer and has to recover from it, somehow. Piston is my pride and joy and I love them with all my heart, they too shall pursue to stay goofy!

To see such a kind and welcoming embrace from the Transformers community makes me so happy! I love each and every one of you thank you for being so nice!

Here is a teaser of the first page of part 2. I stretched out the canvas to fit one of the sketches. Yes I misspelled peace! Right now I'm working with a friend to figure out the perspective on the last page, safe to say, images that go hard I'm cooking i love colors etc etc. I don't know when it will be done, but it will be!