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merrybandofmurderers · 4 years ago

Text

Inquisitor as a Companion

[source, source]

[TW for canon-typical abuse of mages, canon-typical violence and murder, implied child abuse/neglect, references to self-harm, mentions of sexual situations, references to alcohol consumption, foul language]

Inquisitor’s Name: Siobhan Trevelyan (pronounced ‘shah-VAHN’, he/him pronouns)

Race, Class, & Specialization: Human, mage, blood magic

Varric’s Nickname for him: Cutter

Default Tarot Card: Emperor – Success, strength, authority; dislike for authority, mistrustful

Romance Tarot Card: The World – Successful completion, end to personal cycle, travel; difficulty with closure, fear of change

Recruitment quest – An Aspiring Revolutionary: (triggered after The Threat Remains by speaking to Leliana in Haven) Leliana received a letter from a group of apostates looking to join the Inquisition. It’s curious that they claim no affiliation with the mage rebellion in Redcliffe, but they could still be useful. The Inquisitor is given the choice to go to the Storm Coast to meet with them.

(locate the apostate encampment east of Storm’s Solitude Camp along Westridge) The Inquisitor approaches the camp by following a trail of Templar corpses. There are twelve mages, who justify the deaths of the Templars by explaining they were attacked first. They are all radical apostates, believing the mage rebellion led by Fiona too conservative in its actions. Siobhan steps forward, introducing himself as the leader of this venture. Siobhan’s greeting is friendly if the Inquisitor is a mage and cautious if they are not. Siobhan explains his group wishes to give justice to mages, and the best way is to solve the current crisis and ally with a growing political power.

The Inquisitor can ask for more information, openly welcome them as allies, or accuse them of being maleficar for the Templar deaths:

If questioned: Siobhan willingly answers the Inquisitor’s questions, but his comrades grow restless. They express unhappiness with how much Siobhan is sharing. He tells them off, but they aren’t placated. The Inquisitor has dialogue options to de-escalate the situation or invite a confrontation:

If de-escalated, the group insists it’s too risky to ally with the Inquisition and most of them were against it in the first place. Siobhan tells them to leave if they want, but he will still join if the Inquisitor will have him. The Inquisitor can agree and recruit him or refuse, and he will leave with his comrades, telling the Inquisitor, “It’s too bad; seems like you mean well.”

If confronted, Siobhan’s comrades will attack the Inquisitor and they must fight them. When half the apostates are dead, combat ends. Siobhan warns the remaining ones off, tells them to take care of each other, and then offers his help alone. The Inquisitor can agree and recruit him or refuse, and he will leave with his comrades, telling the Inquisitor, “Shame, you seem interesting.”

If welcomed: the Inquisitor’s companions will verbally express displeasure, which provokes Siobhan’s comrades. He tries to call them off, and the Inquisitor has dialogue options to de-escalate the situation or invite a confrontation:

If de-escalated, events play out as described above. The Inquisitor can accept Siobhan’s offer or refuse, and he will leave with his comrades, telling the Inquisitor, “Sorry we couldn’t reach an understanding.”

If confronted, events play out as described above. The Inquisitor can accept Siobhan’s offer or refuse, and he will leave with his comrades, telling the Inquisitor, “It’s too bad; we could’ve done something.”

If accused: Siobhan’s comrades are angered into attacking despite his warnings to stay back, and the Inquisitor must fight them. When half the apostates are dead, combat ends. Siobhan warns the remaining ones off, tells them to take care of each other, and then asks the Inquisitor if they can really afford to be so judgmental of willing allies. “Some of us are fighting for our lives out here. I thought you’d get that.” The Inquisitor can choose to apologize and agree or reiterate their statement that the apostates are maleficar:

If agreed, Siobhan will offer his help alone, which the Inquisitor can accept and recruit him or refuse, and he will leave with his comrades, telling the Inquisitor, “My advice? Figure out what you want.”

If reiterated, the chance to recruit Siobhan is lost. He leaves in anger with his comrades, telling the Inquisitor, “Your loss.”

Where he is in Haven/Skyhold: In Haven, Siobhan can be found outside the tavern. Upon reaching Skyhold, Siobhan sequesters in the dungeon study tower beneath the library.

Things He Generally Approves of:

Allying with the mages (Greatly Approves)

Conscripting the Templars (Approves)

Briala ruling through Gaspard (Greatly Approves), all three forced into a truce (Approves), reconciling Briala and Celene (Slightly Approves)

Conscripting the Grey Wardens post-Adamant (Approves)

Allying with the Sentinels and doing the Temple rites (Approves)

Inquisitor drinks from the Well of Sorrows (Approves)

Destroying Samson’s armor (Approves)

Allowing Calpurnia to live (Greatly Approves)

Snarky or aggressive responses in general

Being helpful to mages and non-humans

Supporting mage freedom

Recruiting Clemence at the Gull and Lantern (Slightly Approves)

Saving Adan and Minaeve in Haven (Slightly Approves)

Criticizing the Chantry and Templars

Expressing uncertainty about being the Herald of Andraste

Declaring to set an example as a mage or the Inquisition a force of vengeance (Greatly Approves), for non-human options (Slightly Approves)

Killing Imshael (Greatly Approves)

Flirting with Harding with him in the party

Completing his personal quests

(if Jaws of Hakkon completed) Revealing the truth of Ameridan (Greatly Approves)

Things He Generally Disapproves of:

Conscripting the mages (Greatly Disapproves)

Allying with the Templars (Greatly Disapproves)

Gaspard or Celene ruling alone (Greatly Disapproves and Disapproves, respectively)

Exiling the Grey Wardens post-Adamant (Disapproves)

Refusing to work with the Sentinels and doing the Temple rites (Slightly Disapproves)

Morrigan drinks from the Well of Sorrows (Disapproves)

Fighting Calpurnia (Greatly Disapproves)

Aggressive, dismissive, or mocking responses to him showing vulnerability

Being rude to mages and non-humans

Supporting the Chantry, Templars, and Circles

Declaring the Inquisition for faith (Disapproves) or claiming it for their own power (Greatly Disapproves)

Making mage prisoners Tranquil during Judgment (Greatly Disapproves)

will lead to a confrontation which can result in him permanently leaving the party

Selling the histories to the Chantry after Din’an Hanin (Disapproves)

Refusing to help him with his personal quests

(if Jaws of Hakkon completed) Concealing the truth of Ameridan (Greatly Disapproves)

Mages, Templars, Other: Siobhan almost always sides with mages. He is anti-Templar, anti-Chantry, and anti-Circle. He supports non-humans and is vocal about fighting against oppressive establishments. Nothing will satisfy him but complete freedom for mages. However, Siobhan is critical of Tevinter; mage freedom is useless if built on the subjugation of others. He often engages in debates with companions, especially Cassandra, Vivienne, Solas, Dorian, and Bull.

Friends in the Inquisition: Siobhan is closest with Sera, Iron Bull, and Dorian, spending time playing pranks with Sera, drinking with Bull and arguing with him about the Qun, and debating magic with Dorian. (The Inquisitor having a good relationship with Sera, choosing the Chargers over the dreadnought, and condemning Dorian’s father will all grant approval.)

He respects and admires Leliana but doesn’t feel Leliana is open to a new friendship and so keeps his distance. While he finds Cole fascinating, Siobhan does not appreciate his invasive compassion. Disagreeing with Vivienne and recruiting Cole will gain his approval, but Siobhan will largely keep his distance from the spirit and aggressively reject any of Cole’s attempts to comfort him. He has no problem with Varric, but neither are they close; he disdains Josephine’s luxurious life but appreciates her efforts.

Siobhan is mostly at odds with Vivienne, Cullen, and Cassandra. He can’t tolerate Cassandra and Cullen’s defense of the Templars and Circles. They admit the system had problems but not that the problems originated with the Chantry and were enforced by Templars. Vivienne’s Loyalist views drive Siobhan crazy. Vivienne is, at least, critical of the Templars, but Vivienne won’t tolerate Siobhan when he starts raising his voice which only makes him more frustrated, so he tends to avoid her.

Siobhan picks up right away that Blackwall is not what he says he is; Siobhan doesn’t confront him about it but remains watchful. Initially enraged at the truth of Blackwall’s deception, he ultimately comes to understand that Blackwall was depressed and desperate to find a way to be good and make amends (giving Blackwall to the Wardens or pardoning him will grant approval, while making him carry on the lie will grant disapproval). Siobhan has fully forgiven him by Trespasser.

Romanceable: Siobhan can be romanced by a woman of any race; mages will have the easiest time of it, while human nobles will have more of a challenge. Male Inquisitors cannot flirt with Siobhan. If neither Siobhan nor Sera are romanced, they will begin a relationship; it is possible to encounter them together in Sera’s room sometime after What Pride Had Wrought, and it will be mentioned in companion banter

Cutscenes:

First: (Occurs after reaching Skyhold following the initial cutscene) Siobhan will remark on the flirting they’ve been doing and asks the Inquisitor if they’re serious or just looking for a good time and that he is not opposed to either.

If the Inquisitor says they are serious, Siobhan will falter and show vulnerability for the first time. He says he is interested in return but has never had what the Inquisitor is offering and needs time. The Inquisitor can assure him they will wait (Approves) or flirtatiously say they are looking forward to it (Slightly Disapproves).

If the Inquisitor chooses the “good time” option (Approves), Siobhan will coyly reply, “Then we’d better do something about that soon.”

Second: (Requires sufficient approval and completing side missions) If the Inquisitor previously chose the “serious” option: Siobhan and the Inquisitor are in the dungeon study tower. Siobhan remarks that they’ve been spending a lot of time together, and he wants to believe the Inquisitor is truly serious. If they are still interested, he is willing to try a relationship. At this point, the Inquisitor can confirm the romance or break it off:

To confirm, the Inquisitor must choose the dialogue option, “I will never give you reason to doubt me.” They share a kiss, with Siobhan looking at them tenderly afterward.

To break it off, the Inquisitor must choose the dialogue option, “I’m not.” Siobhan nods and say he understands but hopes they can still be friends. If the Inquisitor chooses a dismissive or mocking dialogue option, they lose significant approval and Siobhan will be frosty until it is regained. If the Inquisitor chooses an affirmative or reassuring dialogue option, they gain approval and Siobhan will continue being friendly, even showing support if the Inquisitor enters a romance with someone else.

If the Inquisitor previously chose the “good time” option: Siobhan and the Inquisitor are in bed together, bantering and enjoying the afterglow of sex. At this junction, the Inquisitor can either confirm the romance or break it off:

To confirm, the Inquisitor must ask if Siobhan remembers saying he wasn’t opposed to something serious, and Siobhan says he does. The Inquisitor says their time together has been fun, but they want something more serious, after all. Siobhan hesitates, but then admit his feelings have grown as well, and he is willing to try a relationship. They share a kiss, with Siobhan looking tenderly at them afterward.

To break it off, the Inquisitor must choose the dialogue option, “This has been fun, but I can’t keep messing around.” Siobhan pouts but says he understands and gets dressed. He will turn vulnerable and say he hopes they can still be friends. If the Inquisitor chooses a dismissive or mocking dialogue option, they lose significant approval and Siobhan will be frosty until it is regained. If the Inquisitor chooses an affirmative or reassuring dialogue option, they gain approval and Siobhan will continue being friendly, even showing support if the Inquisitor enters a romance with someone else.

Third: (begins Romance Quest, requires sufficient approval and completing companion quests; superseded by a Crisis Point if approval is too low and certain decisions were made regarding his companion quest and mage/templar issues) Romance quest – Radical Leanings: (directly after completing companion quest, provided the other requirements are met) Siobhan wakes from a nightmare in the Inquisitor’s bed and proceeds to pace about the room, distraught and angry over what happened with his father. The Inquisitor has various dialogue choices to comfort (Greatly Approves), question, or offer the distraction of sex (Slightly Approves)

In response to sex, Siobhan will laugh and accept the distraction gratefully. Afterward, he shares all the information detailed above. The Inquisitor thanks him for sharing, saying they are glad to have earned Siobhan’s trust.

After having sex, Siobhan will confess he wants to get in touch with his mother. She was married young and always under the thumb of her husband; it’s possible she doesn’t feel the same way and deserves the truth of what happened even if she doesn’t want a relationship with Siobhan. The Inquisitor can promise to help (Approves), say they need to think about it (Slightly Disapproves), or tell Siobhan it’s a bad idea (Disapproves). (a war table operation becomes available only after one of the first two responses)

Crisis Point: (Radical Leanings is superseded by the crisis point in the event that Siobhan’s approval is too low and certain decisions were made during his companion quest; if one of these is not met, a mage prisoner being made Tranquil and/or the Templars being recruited will be counted instead) Siobhan will confront the Inquisitor and say he has suffered too much to put up with being hurt by a lover. He will remain with the Inquisition for the greater good but is ending their relationship. Apologetic dialogue choices can mitigate approval loss, but the romance cannot be continued after this point. Aggressive/accusing dialogue choices will result in Siobhan leaving the Inquisition permanently.

Fourth: (concludes Radical Leanings, requires completing the war table operation with Josephine or Leliana; tarot card changes to Romance after this scene, provided the romance is not broken off) The Inquisitor will receive a letter from Dahlia Trevelyan saying she wants to see her daughter. They must take this information to Siobhan and travel to Serault in Orlais where Dahlia has been sequestered for several years. Dahlia is overjoyed to see her daughter and tearfully apologizes for failing to protect him. Siobhan is overwhelmed, and the Inquisitor can encourage him to reach out to his mother or hold her responsible for what he has suffered; respectively they will reconcile and promise to reunite after everything, or Siobhan will leave, saying they do not wish her to contact him again.

(back at Skyhold) If reconciliation was chosen (Greatly Approves): Siobhan will be tearful but happy and thank the Inquisitor for all they’ve done. He feels at peace for the first time in a long time and looks forward to renewing his relationship with his mother.

(back at Skyhold) If refutation was chosen: Siobhan will be agitated and snappish, and the Inquisitor has various dialogue options to offer help (Approves). Siobhan will apologize and thank the Inquisitor for everything they’ve done. He confesses he is disappointed, but he should have known better than to hope his mother would have a satisfying solution to everything. The Inquisitor comforts Siobhan and says they will be part of his family if he wishes.

(if the Inquisitor refused to help in the previous scene and the war table operation was not triggered) Siobhan will be temporarily removed from the party but be at Skyhold the next time the Inquisitor returns. He reveals that he contacted his mother against the Inquisitor’s advice and met with her in Serault. He was glad to see her but not satisfied with what she had to say. The Inquisitor can offer comfort (Greatly Approves), say “I warned you,” (Slightly Disapproves) or be angry with Siobhan’s disappearance (Disapproves):

If comforted, Siobhan thanks them, apologizes for leaving, and muses that maybe reconciliation will take time. The Inquisitor can promise to be with him next time and they kiss.

If “I warned you”, Siobhan bitterly says, “I suppose you did. But I had to see for myself.” The Inquisitor can then de-escalate by offering to be there if Siobhan ever needs to talk about it (Approves), Siobhan thanks them, and they kiss. If they don’t de-escalate, the romance is broken off with the scene from the crisis point.

If angered, Siobhan argues back that he had to do this and thought the Inquisitor would understand. The Inquisitor can apologize (Approves), to which Siobhan does too. They kiss, and the Inquisitor offers to be there for him in the future. If they don’t apologize, Siobhan says, “It seems we misjudged each other,” and the romance is broken off with the scene from the crisis point.

Small side mission – A Pair of Black Sheep: (triggered after meeting the Warden contact in Crestwood) Hawke’s Warden ally has a contact within the Wardens who turns out to be Siobhan’s sibling, Aisling. Three war table operations become consecutively available to assist them and in turn provide information on how Corypheus infiltrated the Wardens (must speak with Siobhan at Skyhold after meeting the Warden in Crestwood to trigger the operations and speak with Siobhan once each is completed to trigger the next one)

If the operations are completed before starting Here Lies the Abyss at the war table, Aisling will come to Skyhold and join you on the siege of Adamant, which grants the Inquisitor a bonus towards pacifying the Wardens (there will be a heartfelt cutscene at Skyhold with Aisling and Siobhan reuniting which grants a Greatly Approves). Afterward, Aisling will leave for Weisshaupt, regardless if the Wardens are recruited or exiled, and tells the Inquisitor to take care of their younger sister.

If the operations are not completed, Aisling will not be present at Adamant (the Inquisitor will receive a Greatly Disapproves from Siobhan by starting the quest at the war table without completing them). After returning to Skyhold, Siobhan will receive a letter from Leliana, informing him that Aisling’s subterfuge was discovered, and they were forced to flee to Weisshaupt.

Companion quest – A Red Right Hand: Siobhan tells the Inquisitor that Leliana received a letter from a desperate mage regarding their collective being besieged by Templars. They did not wish to fight in the war, but that didn’t matter to the Templars, and now they seek asylum in the Inquisition with the hope to bring peace. Siobhan asks the Inquisitor to help with the matter and they can either agree (Greatly Approves) or say they will think about it (Slightly Disapproves).

(cutscene triggered by traveling to the Western Approach and arriving at the Ritual Tower provided the quest confronting Erimond has been completed, if not it can be triggered by fast traveling away and then returning; takes the place of the Fortress Squatters quest) It is revealed that the letter was a ruse to lure Siobhan to the tower. There are several Templars keeping a handful of mages captive in chains. The Inquisitor has the dialogue options, “What’s going on here?”/“A trap. I should have expected.” (Slightly Disapproves)/“Surrender now and release these mages or else.” (Approves)

The man who orchestrated this trap appears and is revealed to be Siobhan’s father, Dolan Trevelyan. He hoped to have Siobhan captured and killed or made Tranquil to “prevent further embarrassment to the family.” Siobhan retorts, “You are not my family. You saw to that years ago.” He reveals he tricked the mages into capture by spreading rumors that the tower was a mage haven.

Siobhan is hurt and enraged at his father’s betrayal and swears to kill him. The Inquisitor can tell Siobhan to hold back (Disapproves) or let him kill his father (Approves).

If held back, then depending on dialogue choices/perks, the Inquisitor can trick the Templars into standing down and free the mages (Approves) or fight the Templars and free the mages (Greatly Approves); freeing the mage automatically recruits them to the Inquisition. Siobhan will then kill his father regardless. If the Templars were tricked, the Inquisitor can choose to recruit them (Greatly Disapproves) or conscript them (Slightly Approves).

If he kills his father first, the Templars react by slaughtering the mages. The Inquisitor can then choose to recruit them (Greatly Disapproves), conscript them (Slightly Approves), or kill them (Greatly Approves).

Depending on if Siobhan’s disapproval threshold is met, recruiting the templars can prompt him to leave the party permanently; if Siobhan does not leave now, he can use this decision to accuse the Inquisitor in potential later scenes.

Option 1: (back at Skyhold, the mages are saved) Siobhan thanks the Inquisitor for their help, saying he is glad his decision to join the Inquisition was proven to be the right one. The Inquisitor can say they were glad to help (Approves) or tell Siobhan to be more careful vetting requests for help in the future (Disapproves):

If glad, Siobhan will tell the Inquisitor they are a good friend, and he is certain the recruited mages will be a benefit to the Inquisition. The Inquisitor can then ask about Siobhan’s father (Slightly Approves), to which Siobhan replies, “It doesn’t matter. He’s dead now, and that’s good enough for me. Now let’s get drunk.”

If chastised, Siobhan will argue, “You saved those mages when they would have died otherwise! That isn’t good enough for you?” The Inquisitor can admit he is right (Slightly Approves) or stay firm (Disapproves):

If conceded, Siobhan will assure the Inquisitor they did the right thing. The Inquisitor can then ask about Siobhan’s father (Slightly Approves), to which Siobhan replies, “It doesn’t matter. He’s dead now, and that will have to be good enough. Now let’s get drunk.”

If firm, Siobhan will say, “And here I thought better of you. Watch yourself, Inquisitor. Your good works won’t protect your reputation if your callousness gets out.” He then turns and leaves before the Inquisitor can reply.

Option 2: (back at Skyhold, the mages are not saved) The Inquisitor asks how Siobhan is doing. Siobhan snaps, “How do you think I’m doing?” The Inquisitor has the choice to offer comfort or snap back:

If comforted: Siobhan will apologize, saying the Inquisitor does not deserve their anger. The Inquisitor can then ask about Siobhan’s father (Slightly Approves), to which Siobhan replies, “Does it matter? He was always a terrible father, and now he finally got what he deserved.” The Inquisitor says they are there for him if Siobhan ever needs to talk (Approves). Siobhan replies, “I might take you up on that offer. Someday. Now let’s get drunk.”

If angry: Siobhan will apologize, saying the Inquisitor does not deserve their anger. The Inquisitor accepts his apology and can then ask about Siobhan’s father (Slightly Approves), to which Siobhan replies, “Does it matter? He was always a terrible father, and now he can rot.” The Inquisitor says they are there for him if Siobhan ever needs to talk (Approves). Siobhan replies, “I might take you up on that offer. Someday. Now let’s get drunk.”

Tarot card change

Option 1: The Devil (reversed) – Chains of oppression broken, freedom to choose

Option 2: The Tower – Sudden changes, disruption, calamity, end of a cycle

(if the Inquisitor has initiated a romance with Siobhan, the completion of this quest will trigger the beginning of the Romance Quest or the Crisis Point)

Friendship Cutscene: (occurs after completing companion quest) Siobhan comes to the Inquisitor’s room, confessing he had a nightmare, and is distraught and angry over what happened with his father. The Inquisitor has dialogue choices to comfort (Greatly Approves), question, or berate him for how he handled everything (Greatly Disapproves):

In response to comfort, Siobhan will thank the Inquisitor for supporting him and being understanding. He reveals his history of being disowned and sent to the Circle, of the abuse by Templars, of escaping and rescuing his sibling and curing their Tranquility only to lose them to the Wardens, joining an apostate group to protect mages and fight Templars. The Inquisitor has different tones to provide further comfort. If they are a mage, they can commiserate with Siobhan’s suffering (Slightly Approves). The scene concludes with Siobhan saying, “You are a blessing I thought I would never have. I am glad to have you as my friend.

In response to questioning, Siobhan says, “You deserve to know after all you have done for me,” and shares all the information detailed above. The Inquisitor can then offer comfort and Siobhan will thank them. If they are a mage, they can commiserate with Siobhan’s suffering (Slightly Approves). The scene concludes with Siobhan saying, “I’m glad to have met you. I am glad you are my friend.

In response to berating, Siobhan will snap back, “What do you know of my life? You know nothing of what I have been through!”

If not a mage, the Inquisitor can either agree (Slightly Approves) or say that doesn’t excuse Siobhan’s (Greatly Disapproves):

If agreed, Siobhan will calm down and share an abbreviated version of the information detailed above. The inquisitor will offer comfort, and Siobhan will thank them.

If resolute, Siobhan will spit at them and say the Inquisitor is lucky to be the savior of the world, or Siobhan would not hesitate to make them pay for their callousness. If his approval is low enough, he will then leave the party permanently.

If a mage, the Inquisitor can either argue back that Siobhan’s suffering does not excuse their actions (Disapproves) or say that they do know and they are sorry Siobhan carries such anger inside him; they can say they struggle with anger too (Approves), or that they hope Siobhan can find peace (Slightly Approves):

If argued, Siobhan will accuse them of being a brainwashed, submissive mage, exactly as the Chantry wants. The Inquisitor responds that they have done what they need to survive; since Siobhan has done the same, he has no right to judge them (Slightly Approves). Siobhan will flinch, then turn away and leave the room.

If commiserated, Siobhan will calm down and share an abbreviated version of the information detailed above. The Inquisitor will offer comfort, and Siobhan will thank them and apologize for lashing out.

(following the friendship cutscene, if Siobhan did not leave) Siobhan will be temporarily removed from the party but be at Skyhold the next time the Inquisitor returns. He reveals that he contacted his mother and met with her in Serault. She was married young and always under the thumb of her husband; it was possible she didn’t feel the same way and deserved the truth of what happened, even if she didn’t want a relationship with Siobhan. He was glad to see her but not satisfied with what she had to say. The Inquisitor can offer comfort (Greatly Approves), or be angry with Siobhan’s disappearance (Disapproves):

If comforted, Siobhan thanks them, apologizes for leaving, and muses that maybe reconciliation will take time. The Inquisitor can promise to be with him next time and Siobhan says he is glad to have the Inquisitor as a friend.

If angered, Siobhan argues back that he had to do this and thought the Inquisitor would understand. The Inquisitor can apologize (Approves), to which Siobhan does too, and the Inquisitor offers to be there for him in the future. If they don’t apologize, Siobhan says, “It seems we misjudged each other.” If his approval is low enough, Siobhan will then permanently leave the party.

Leaving the Inquisition: (if the Inquisitor reaches Siobhan’s disapproval threshold) Siobhan will confront the Inquisitor and say he has suffered too much to put up with being hurt by a supposed comrade. He will remain with the Inquisition for the greater good but will leave as soon as Corypheus is defeated. Apologetic dialogue choices can mitigate approval loss, but Siobhan will leave permanently if his approval does not improve. Aggressive/accusing dialogue choices will result in Siobhan immediately leaving the Inquisition permanently with the parting words that the Inquisitor is lucky to be the savior of the world, or Siobhan would not hesitate to make them pay for their callousness.

BANTER

Cole’s reflection on his thoughts:

(General) “Blood is life, life is power. He takes his due, will bleed to never be bound again.”

(After personal quest, if mages saved) “He is powerful, never powerless. Will break the bondage for his kin who cannot fight. Silver swords slice, but it only makes him stronger.”

(After personal quest, if mages killed) “Their blood, their bodies. ‘I failed, I failed, I failed.’ He didn’t. He tried. So many don’t.”

(If romanced) “A burst of warmth at the sight of her. Brilliant, beautiful, striking the core of his soul. ‘Anything, I would do anything.’ So would you.”

(After meeting his mother) “So many questions, so few answers. ‘Mother, don’t let them take me!’ Turned away to hide her tears from his. Guilt-gutted. But he is heart-torn, wonders if he can heal.”

Comment(s) on Mages:

Siobhan: “It’s good to see mages finally fighting back.”

Vivienne: “Because it’s impossible to make change without senseless carnage.”

Siobhan: “‘Cause the Templars are so sensible, huh?”

(after killing mages) Siobhan: “It’s a fucking waste. If these mages had just been taught right, been respected, it wouldn’t have had to come to this.”

Cassandra: “The Circle was in place for—”

Siobhan: “Oh, shut up. You’re one of those most responsible for this mess. Your whole job was to keep abuses from happening and you failed. Catastrophically.”

(hinterlands) Siobhan: “So many people think mages want violence, but we don’t. We just want to live.”

Vivienne: “Life is but a series of necessary restrictions, darling.”

Siobhan: “I’m not talking about restrictions. Imprisonment isn’t restrictions, abuse isn’t restrictions. This chaos harms everyone, but we were pushed to our limits. (sadly) Don’t we deserve to be just as safe as anyone else?”

Vivienne: (kindly) “The world you hope for doesn’t exist, my dear. There will always need to be sacrifices.”

Siobhan: “I can’t believe that.”

Comment(s) on Templars:

(after killing templars) Siobhan: (spits) “Serves you fucking right.”

Cassandra: “You shouldn’t disrespect the dead.”

Siobhan: “Big words from the person who made him dead.”

(hinterlands) Siobhan: “Fucking bastards, every single one of them.”

Blackwall: “Really? Every single one?”

Siobhan: “You find me a Templar that never hurt a mage or looked the other way, and I’ll gladly have a drink with them. Until then, the only thing their entrails are good for is feeding the crows.”

Siobhan: “People always wanna talk about Templar suffering, so let’s fucking talk. Mages left the Chantry to protect themselves from being hurt—Templars left the Chantry ‘cause they wanted to hurt us even more. I’ll feel sympathy for Templars when they actually feel sorry about what they’ve done.”

Reaction to being in the Fade:

Siobhan: “So, we’re in the Fade? Physically in the actual fucking Fade? That’s, uh—” (shaky laugh) “—shit.”

Siobhan (at the graveyard of fears): “Not looking at that, not thinking about it, shoving that into a dungeon and locking the fucking door.”

Siobhan: “Wish I had a fucking drink. You think this Fade water would make me black out?”

Solas: “Unfortunately not.”

Siobhan (about Divine Justinia): “Definitely a spirit. Or demon.”

Iron Bull: “That supposed to be comforting?”

Siobhan: “No.”

(encountering fearlings for the first time)

Hawke: “And they take the form of spiders, something so many fear.”

Siobhan: (mutters) “Spiders, huh? I’d have taken fucking spiders.”

(encountering the Nightmare)

Nightmare: (in Aisling’s voice) “Do you ever wonder if the words they call you are true? ‘Apostate’. ‘Maleficar’. You carve into your wrists to draw on a greater power, the power of demons. Do you ever think about proving the words true? I could give you a power greater than you’ve ever dreamed.”

Siobhan: “Get my sibling’s voice out of your fucking mouth! A demon’s never gotten the better of me, and you certainly fucking won’t!”

When looking for something:

“What’s that?”

“You know what they say about curiosity… something to do with cats?”

When finding a campsite:

“I’ve camped in worse places.”

“Huh, looks safe enough.”

Kills an Enemy:

“Thought you could fucking take me, huh?”

(using blood magic) “Hey, ever wonder what your insides look like?”

“Damn right you should be afraid of me!”

When the Inquisitor Falls:

“Get the fuck back up!”

“You think I’m gonna let you die, huh?”

“You’ve still gotta save the world, fucker!”

(if romanced) “Don’t even think of leaving me!”

When he is low on Health:

“Some fucking help here!”

“Hurt like a bitch!”

“Bleeding’s under control, but I could use a potion!”

When he sees a Dragon:

“Please tell me we are fighting that!”

“Knew I made the right choice joining you.”

When doing his small side quest, A Pair of Black Sheep:

Initiating: (triggered by speaking to Siobhan after returning from meeting the Warden contact in Crestwood) Inquisitor: “So, you have a sibling?”

Siobhan: “Yeah, a few years older. To be honest, I’m not really surprised they’re in the middle of this. They can’t help trying to save people.”

Inquisitor: “Seems like it would be a good idea to get in contact.” (Approves)/“Are sure contacting them is a good idea?” (Slightly Disapproves)

Siobhan: “Leliana can probably help with that.” (following this conversation, the first war table operation becomes available)

First: (triggered by speaking to Siobhan after completing the first war table operation) Inquisitor: “Heard back from Aisling.”

Siobhan: (Approves) “Yeah? What did they say?”

Inquisitor: “They’re safe, and they gave us some good information on Corypheus. They need some resources, though.”

Siobhan: (pleased) “Well, let’s see what Leliana can do.” (following this conversation, the second war table operation becomes available)

Second: (triggered by speaking to Siobhan after completing the second war table operation) Inquisitor: “The resources we provided helped Aisling out.”

Siobhan: (Approves) “I really appreciate this, Inquisitor.”

Inquisitor: “It’s important.” (Approves)/“It helps us, too.” (Slightly Disapproves)/“We need all the help we can get to take down Corypheus.” (Slightly Approves

Siobhan: “Let’s see what else we can do, then.” (following this conversation, the third war table operation becomes available)

Third: (triggered by speaking to Siobhan after completing the third war table operation, concludes quest) Inquisitor: “Your sibling’s really helped us out. We’ll be ready to move as soon as we hear from [Warden contact].”

Siobhan: (Greatly Approves) “I can’t wait. Corypheus won’t know what hit him.”

Default saying:

High approval:

“You need me?”

“Good to see you.”

“Got something for me to kill, I hope.”

Neutral:

“Yeah?”

“What is it?”

“Need something killed?”

Low Approval:

(sharply) “What?”

(snarky) “Let me guess: the world’s ending again.”

“You thinkin’ about paying me back sometime soon?”

Romanced:

“Hey, lover.”

“Am I glad to see you.”

(sultry) “And what could you possibly need me for, huh?”

Travel Banter with Canon Companions:

(walking around) Siobhan: “I sort of thought the Tevinter would be the one person accepting of blood magic.”

Dorian: “Why would I be accepting of something only resorted to by weak-minded fools?”

Siobhan: (scoffs) “You’ve never been inside one of our Circles, you’ve never had to fight for survival in the wilds. I’d like to see how long you’d last.”

(walking around) Siobhan: “So… Cassandra. How straight are you really?”

Cassandra: “Who said I was straight?

Siobhan: “I’ve heard it around.”

Cassandra: “Just because I do not flaunt it, I suppose…”

Sera: (if in the party) “Told ya! You owe me a sovereign, Serrah Bloody Bits.”

(after Demands of the Qun) Siobhan: “You know, Bull, I appreciate you.”

Iron Bull: “Even though I’m Qunari/Tal-Vashoth?”

Siobhan: “I’m not talking about that. I appreciate that you’re not ashamed. But even more than that, I appreciate that you’ve never flirted with me.”

Iron Bull: “Wasn’t sure you’d be comfortable with it.”

Siobhan: “I wouldn’t be. That doesn’t stop most men. So. I appreciate it.”

Iron Bull: “…No problem, Von.”

(discovering Venatori notes in the Hissing Wastes) Siobhan: “You know, it’s these bastards that give blood magic a bad name. Well, and the Vint magister bastards.”

Dorian: (if in the party) “How good of you not to forget.”

Siobhan: “And the Chantry, of course.”

Dorian: “Yes, can’t forget that.”

Cassandra: (if in the party) “The Chantry—”

Siobhan: “Shut up, Seeker.”

#my stuff #oc meme #oc: siobhan (trevelyan)#this is.. so long lmao #i am very pleased with it but #i've got three more to go OTL #also formatting looks funky on the ddash #recommend you read on the actual blog page #i have no idea how this would fit into an actual playthru #but since we all know dai's narrative structure is fucked anyway it doesnt really matter #why are my trigger warnings always so fucking long #well better safe than sorry #oc stuff

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ofieugogyshz · 2 years ago

Note

7, 17, 29!

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

getting to escape, experience another world, be someone else entirely and experience catharsis from that. stuff like that.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

i havent touched anything lately, my most current wip is over a few months old i think. I'm not even sure what will or won't make it into it, because it's the db xenoverse squad fic. there's just. SO MUCH to ramble on about, following 5 diff characters even tho it'll focus mostly on Chikori.

i will admit that i still dunno what i'm gonna do for Kian for most of the series. but the story starts about 3-4 years before the events of xv1, with the Majin Time Patrollers Nanna and Mulla investigating a time anomaly/rift, and coming across Chikori. after vague exchanges in which both parties have varying levels of suspicions, the majins decide to drop the saiyan off on the saiyan rehabilitation planet Earth. they go back, chikori spends 2-3 years living on the peaceful planet in a sort of dull haze (and i'm... just realizing how that echoes my own irl... chikori so full of parallels of life for me circa freeing of my previous shackles.) meeting Fallafal and living with his family, until the Majins come back 2-3 years after dropping chikori off, going "oopsies" (well, nanna mostly) because they got yelled at by the supreme kai of time (skot) for not bringing her back. and then chikori goes with them and fallafal is just like wtf and demands to go with bc he has a crush on chikori is concerned about her wellbeing and doesn't trust people who just. forget to take someone back with them? and drop them off in the woods on a planet they're not even from???? so yeah that's def sus but also golden retriever puppy dog fallafal :c

and then they both become time patrollers over some time (maybe a year, maybe less), making friends with a few others' xv ocs, and then... the events of xv1 happen!!! and then it just becomes a regular retelling with ocs slapped in. there's a different saiyan arc, of sorts, that is centered around Chikori and her PTSD and closing the doors on some parts of her life that she was forcibly extricated from, and learning how to walk away and/or heal from that. Fallafal learbs some self-confidence/to not attach himself so closely to Chikori bc he feels all alone and useless being a human among super warriors that could destroy earth with just one finger, and his own feelings of inadequacy because he can't keep up with the squad. i don't know what the others' arcs are, beyond Kian opening up to the squad on the side, a la "powerful lone wolf joins the friendship squad and begrudginly accepts their friendship". Maybe something where Nanna's just been set up as this frivolous squad leader and then it's revealed how much she actually protecc/care her newbies. Mulla.... idek yet.

then idk somehow they defeat demigra with the power of friendship or some shit and chikori never learns ssj bc i'm just following my og playthru and i never used that skill at all LMFAO

this is a lot of pre-game story to set the fuck up though, a lot of fucking "how they all meet" details, and oh also i love fallafal's sister bc she's trans and gr8 but i'm sad bc i didnt make her a mc and she deserves to appear more but just. wouldn't fit in with most of the story. but she deserves her own shit. love her.

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

we just don't know. sometimes it's a "i have a MUCH more interesting idea based off this one random thought and i am going to take it and RUN WITH IT." most times its just "this random idea popped up and it sounds so amazing for a fic that i have to write it RIGHT NOW OR LOSE IT."

sometimes it's just the "here's how events would unfold if it was me or my ocs" and that's how you get my retelling fics LMFAO.

when the well is dry:

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elytrafemme · 3 years ago

Note

(this is in reference to the tags you left a few hours ago on my post about when c!ranboo is going to lose a canon life)

LITERALLY YEAH YOU'RE SO RIGHT THANK YOU!! im saying this a c!ranboo enjoyer When Is He Gonna Die Or When Is He Gonna Kill Someone Else. that sounds absolutely terrible but i think that's the best part 😭 ive been hoping SO hard that c!ranboo does set up tnt in las nevadas like c!wilbur told him to those days ago and something, ANYTHING becomes of it but 😔 who am i to know... and also, like you said, ill only accept ranboo never having lost lives if the actual deal is that he's lost lives in his enderwalk or has lost lives and forgot; how that'd even be revealed?? who knows 😭 BUT I THINK ITD MAKE SENSE!! itd Fit!!

-callizinc :D !!!!!

YEAH!!!

i really hope it happens in this arc because narratively, i think it would be really interesting. and, i promise i'm not just saying this because i love c!tubbo and want to hold him in my arms away from the world, but i think it would be interesting if c!tubbo's last life doesn't get taken, but c!ranboo's first life does.

first lives and last lives are both sacred for different reasons, but i think especially with how much c!ranboo does (totem hunting, material collecting, avoiding tension, arming himself, etc) to keep c!tubbo safe, i just think it'd be interesting if all his endeavors to protect c!tubbo did succeed, but in the process c!ranboo's own life is taken. and, i think for the parallels between him and c!wilbur, it'd also be interesting if it was his own actions that did it.

in terms of taking another person's life, i think that would settle into this sort of theme i sensed in c!ranboo a while back (especially after the little nightmares ii playthru cc!ranboo did HAHA) of becoming the very thing you didn't want to be.

honestly, the thing with the las nevadas arc is that i feel like a death has to occur. and so far, if i'm correct on this because i know c!quackity has some ambiguity regarding what life he's on: c!wilbur, c!tubbo, and c!tommy are all on their last lives, and c!quackity has two left, and c!ranboo has three left. i feel like this is most likely to culminate (or at least, i'm hoping so) in c!ranboo and/or c!quackity dying.

or c!ranboo lost a life and forgot it whcih i know there isn't much evidence to support and i know i keep bringing it up but the idea makes me fucking crazy like what if he did. what if he DID.

cc!ranboo said that c!ranboo was going to get character development. and i don't think death is the only sort of thing to develop a character; there are many kinds of tragedy and it doesn't have to be death or divorce to do it. but i think c!ranboo has yet to confront the realities of death beyond witnessing the people around him experiencing it, and never quite knowing what it was like for them. so i think he deserves to face it.

and to c!quackity losing a life, that's just because he's one of my favorite characters and i like for him to suffer

#nightmare.ask #i feel like i literally just made a tag for you but apparently i didn't uh #calli tag :O !!!#great that works. anyway sorry for the ramble HAHA

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hidden-clue · 5 years ago

Text

I just finished "Curse of the Blackmoon Manor" so here's some impressions:

Every single time that dragon at the tunnel entrance started roaring I got a mini heart attack

It's really messing with me that Lani was able to voice both Nancy and Loulou, the most put together, and most drunk-sounding character, to think those were conversations between Lani and herself... wild

I got beat in "go fish" a LOT. My ego took a hit.

Jane is a super intimidating character for a child, if a kid talked to me in that way I would get stressed. She's either always right or straight-on bullies you. Very evil vibe. And yet only character in the game who geniuenly wants to hang out and gives you tools and info. I love when she gets openly cold too, she's so not afraid to show her attitude. I did not even suspect her first time I was playing

I still didn't get to hear Jane sing Brigitte song. Sad. One day I will trigger it again.

That fucking maize of chambers with planet symbols on them is one of the most evil concoction in all of Nancy Drew, who the hell could navigate that??? Not only everything moves but also spins around every time you so much as touch a door? In what kind of conditions was this thought of? It must have taken a person in their darkest phase of insanity to come up with that. If I didn't get a walkthru help on that I would still be in there, cursing and crying.

Conservatory is my favourite place, would 100% move in there and talk to all the plants, putting plants together was my favourite puzzle, and I literally do that irl because I do grow small plants and I have to fit them on a shelf to get them to light! Points for realism

Usually underground and secrets tunnels and passageways are my favourite parts of Nancy Drew games, but this game,,, had more secret passage space than actual usable space? I mean how many flight of stairs were there??? Is the manor built just miles underground??? Simple basement with a lock is not enough for these people? Is all that space just unused because people who live there aren't cool enough to appreciate the passageways? ... who controls the insect outbreaks that are sure to occur in such spaces?

Also, often I would enter the passageway at gargoyle then exit at dragon, and because I just clicked furiously thru it I have no idea where the two are even connected. Are they one after you solve triangle puzzle? I do not know.

I jumped every single time Ethel appeared, but also how does she get the nerve to patronize me? She's there as a tutor and yet threatens me with vague "not only your body will be harmed" nonsense, maybe this is not a part of your job Ethel? Who asked you? (I rant here bc if I was facing her I wouldn't dare to say anything she's terrifying)

I only figured out in this playthru that easiest way to beat the wind dudes was to guess where they were going to land and plant myself there. I used to struggle chasing them for like an hour before.

Can you imagine bringing in a plumber to try to deal with the whole "opening columns" situation they got going in there?

#cur #curse of the blackmoor manor #clew crue #cluecrewplaythrough #nancy drew

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superrcell · 5 years ago

Note

Maria Kaina (your mafia assigned kin)?

my mafia assigned kin… mean queen maria…

note before i start this: i dont remember her in bachelor route like at alllll so that may skew some of my opinions for now.

How I feel about this character

i truly did Not care about her before getting her like 7 times in like 3 days in mafia games, which made me realized. playing and writing a mean girl is very fun, and shes actually interesting!

like i dont think i think of her because she’s like the Main utopian, and well, we all know im not too fond of Those people…

i keep typing this out over and over… truly, i find her very, very interesting. i love mean women (in theory). my biggest thought on her is that she fits her role perfectly. shes absolutely everything you’d expect from a woman coming from a wealthy family, a woman with immense power, a woman whos entire life is laid out before her and in her grasp. shes everything shes supposed to be a direct contrast to katerina and this all reflects so perfectly in her personality.

however, how i feel about her as a person is more complicated… yes, i find her interesting, but as i alluded to, i would absolutely Hate her if i actually knew her, and i think most of the dialogues i have with her just make me so… angry! i cant stand how she is. sorry, its the utopian hating coupled with my anger at rich people.

idk, my main thoughts are i like evil women. sometimes.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

oh, eva!!! i dont really remember much of their dynamic in-game, but i think the at least idea of how their personalities complement each other is very interesting. plus, once again, dahlia has really made me enjoy it :) its my favorite wlw ship between the not-termite patho characters, and one of the very few i genuinely am like very :) over seeing content with…

My non-romantic OTP for this character (im just interpreting this as other relationships i find interesting)

oh, hm…. i once again must say how i dont think of her Too much, so i cant really think of many. especially since she’s so mean, i cant really see any friendships she can be in that are… very good? i think that her and andrei would be………. Very interesting, considering how brash the two of them are and how their personalities would interact with each other. but truly, i cant think of too many relationships that are. Good with her.

well, i suppose her sort of dynamic with capella is fairly interesting… but i dont have many more thoughts than the two mistresses once again taking hold of the town, fighting for their own utopia is an interesting thing to explore! plus the fact that maria doesnt hate capella and says she admires her, and is excited to see her become the white mistress (according to the portrait quote on capella) is interesting to me.

and of course im interested in her relationship with khan, because idk it just seems a little bit more of those kinds of siblings that absolutely HATE each other but if it came down to like life or death, theyll care immensely for one another… yeah.

My unpopular opinion about this character

hm! idk if i have any unpopular opinions; it seems most people dont quite like her or think about her… is finding her interesting an unpopular opinion? because then that! otherwise i dont think i have any :o

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

i wish she had lived in my patho2 playthru ummm!!! well, i dont really remember how bachelor route is, but im interested in if theyll go into more detail with maria’s connection with the polyhedron, such as clear up what her artbook description means (such as what the community of the signs is).

also something i hope Won’t happen is the romance with daniil i swear to fucking god if it happens im going to attack ipl myself.

send me a character :)

#txt #if we do that utopian motw game and i do play maria then u will Really know my maria opinions #when i would have them #but yes thank u niru!!!!!!! ilysm!!!!!#sorry i didnt have Too many thoughts on her!#i plan on going thru bachelor route again soon... and Then i will have thoughts #arysthaeniru #patho #forgot i actually am tagging these with smth

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puppyenergy · 5 years ago

Text

@rickenrolled you’re an absolute mad man i love you. here’s all my answers. long ass post beneath the cut

1. Who’s your favourite character from UT?

i love them all but if i had to pick one then chara

2. Who’s your least favourite character from UT?

asgore

3. Your opinion about UT fandon:

very sweet, lots of smart and lovely and creative and gay people. could do without all the transphobes and incest/pedo shippers tho but like, theyre kinda everywhere aren’t they. like flies! smack

4. What’s your favourite quote?

“you never gained LOVE, but you gained love. does that make sense? maybe not.“

5. What’s your favourite soundtrack?

death by glamour

6. Pacifist, neutral or genocide?

pacifist

7. Why did you decide to play UT?

when it came out, my first exposure to it was thru supporting a friend who had recently started a youtube channel and they did a playthru of undertale! i ended up being unable to wait for them to finish it and just went and bought the game myself so i could play it. i was just so invested, i couldn’t wait for them to upload asklghskl

8. Favourite battle?

undyne’s

9. Favourite scene?

GOD I CAN’T CHOOSE JUST ONE SCENE. fuck. you can’t do this to me.

10. Your first letter to Mettaton was:

“legs” probably sldkghsd i don’t remember

11. Your reaction when you saw Omega Flowey for the first time:

VERY SCARED. I LEGIT THOUGHT MY GAME WAS POSSESSED.

12. Your headcanon about Frisk’s gender:

they’re nonbinary but i specifically headcanon them as agender! i also rlly dig genderfluid frisk as well bc same.

13. Which UT character reminds you of yourself?

mostly frisk but also chara and also mettaton

oh and all the dogs

14. Which UT character reminds you of your best friend?

TEMMIE. we are dog and cat solidarity.

15. Would you smooch a ghost?

i already have!

16. Which UT character would be your best friend? Why?

all of them. i will befriend them all.

17. Do you remember your first killed character? Who was that?

toriel ;_; i reset & redid the entire game for her, i felt so bad

18. Did you do sth in game you regret?

killing toriel lmao

19. Which ending was your first?

pacifist!

20. Your favourite land in UT and why: (Snowdin, Waterfall or Hotland)

snowdin is my favorite... it’s just so home-y. i rlly love snow, it brings a lot of happy memories. the christmas aesthetic does as well. and it’s also where you meet sans & papyrus & all the dogs. it’s just such a happy place.

21. Your favourite place in UT and why: (Undyne’s house for example)

i just rlly love snowdin ok. every area in snowdin. i still remember my little gasp!! when i found out that the snow on frisk’s head is always a different shape every time you go thru that slide-y puzzle.

22. Your headcanon about River person’s gender:

“it doesn’t really matter.”

23. Your headcanon about one of the UT characters:

papyrus is nonbinary!

24. Butterscouch or cinnamon pie?

cinnamon!

25. Your opinion/headcanon about six human souls:

i always connect the deltarune characters to the six human souls for some reason. kris is the cyan soul, susie is the purple soul, ralsei is the green soul, lancer is the blue soul, noelle is the yellow soul, and then im not sure who would be the orange soul... ofc only one of them is actually human but that’s always an association i made asdlghsd

26. With who would you go on a date?

none of them tbh sdkglhskdlgha i would go on hangouts with them tho!

27. Marry, fuck, kiss and kill:

marry: napstablook fuck: mettaton kiss: all of them getting kisses from me!!! mwah kill: none :(

28. Do you wanna have a bad time?

no!! i wanna have a fun time. a sillay ol’ time.

29. Your favourite UT au:

there’s this one unfinished comic someone made a while ago i don’t even remember what it was called but it was about two charas or smth??? idek if that counts as an au but tbh that comic is the origin of my love for feral chara

30. Your least favourite UT au:

all of the ones where anyone is misgendered or there’s incest/pedo/abuse in it it just automatically makes it a bad au.

31. Would you want to fall into underground?

i mean, yeah. where’s the hole. i’m on my way.

32. Describe or draw your undersona:

the puppy is specific to dfta

my other undersona is dragon kid. he’s a human & monster fusion with a rough past. he’s also adopted. the cat is his sibling.

33. One reason why you love UT:

toby said Hello LGBT Community

34. One reasom why you hate UT:

frisk’s design is,, u kno

35. If you could choose one type of food from UT, what would it be?

dog salads for days!

36. Your favourite amalgamate:

snowdrake’s mother & endogeny

37. Your headcanon about Gaster: who do you think Gaster is to Sans and Papyrus? (Father, brother, uncle etc)

i like to headcanon him as their dad

38. Your opinion about bad puns:

they’re good, ok.

39. Do you draw fanarts from UT? If yes, then what do you like the most to draw?

yes i do asklghsdkgl i could probably draw chara/frisk/asriel forever and be ok with it

40. Which of human souls fits you the most?

red, baby

41. What would be the first thing you would to show to Sans, Papyrus or the rest of characters in human world? Why?

the stars!!! they’ve been wishing on rocks for too long. time to see the real thing.

42. Which song reminds you of UT or one of the UT characters? Why?

skglhslkhg i make playlists just for this tbh. i have a playlist for mettaton, chara, frisk, asriel, undertale in general, and then one for both chara & frisk. too many songs to talk about rn so here’s the most recent one i added to chara’s playlist:

https://soundcloud.com/serious-url/last-night-on-earth-2

my favorite lyric is “we are horrible but not bad”

43. Your opinion on underloid:

i. i’m not sure what that is askdlghsdk

OH I JUST LOOKED IT UP ITS UNDERTALE VOCALOID??? i’ve never listened to it before but tbh that’s real cool

44. Do you forgive Asgore for what he’s done?

no lol

45. Did you pay for Tem’s college?

I DIDNT, IM SORRY TEM... i just dont have the patience to sell all that residue

46. Have you seen any youtube letsplay of UT?

i swear i’ve seen them all now. i watch them when i need some free serotonin. u_u

47. Do you listen to any fanmade songs? If so, then which are your favourite?

i don’t rlly listen to any but i have a few saved! i rlly love the fucking checker dance & death by glamour mashup

youtube

48. What are your favourite theories?

narra!chara if you can even CALL that a theory man it’s literally canon

i also rlly like the theory that ut sans is actually from deltarune, and also maybe a darkner.

49. Who is your favourite enemy? (Not including boss monsters)

LESSER DOG

50. Do you have any headcanons about Chara’s past? (Why they hate humanity, why did they fell to the underground etc)

i think they had some pretty shitty ppl in their life until they met the dreemurrs, probably.

51. Who is your favourite dog?

DONT DO THIS TO ME,

52. What was your reaction to true lab?

fear and a lot of emotion

53. Your fabourite voice acting:

myself sakldhgklsh

54. At the end of pacifist run did you stay with your friends or did you come back to your family?

i always send frisk to stay with toriel bc as their player guardian i would not feel comfortable with myself if i just left a child stranded on their own. it was the same in oneshot. if i’m ur temporary game dad then i’m leaving u in a safe place before the game ends ok.

55. Who is older - Sans or Papyrus?

sans

56. Your OTP(s):

OK LISTEN. GOATBUN,,

also ALPHYNE

57. Your NOTP(s):

any of the incest/pedo ones. especially with fr4ns & ch4sriel i’m gonna get real stabby.

58. Your BROTP(s):

chara/frisk haa

59. Your favourite puzzle:

i like the shooty spaceship ones!

60. Which battle was the hardest for you?

fingers in his ass.... fingers in his ass.... asgore he likes b

61. Did you still hate Flowey after you discovered his true indentity?

i never hated flowey, ok. and also no.

62. The saddest moment:

“the next day.”

“...”

“the human died.”

63. Which ending is your favourite?

true pacifist, pls

64. How old do you think Frisk is?

9, maybe? i always change my mind on this asdlghsdk. they’re just a baby. age is baby.

65. Any post pacifist run headcanons?

both chara & asriel get revived. always.

66. Your favourite NPC:

the trans woman lionness npc who mettaton gives his dress to

67. Humans or monsters?

both!

68. The funniest situation:

my brain is failing me but i fucking love the idea that frisk is just walking away from undyne during her battle sequence and she’s just CLANK CLANK CLANK in her armor stomping after but ugh has to stop and wait while frisk gets a phonecall and UGH has to check on sans who fell asleep at his post.

AND UNDYNE’S HANGOUT

UGH JUST UNDYNE IN GENERAL I LOVE HER

69. Skeletonfucker, robotfucker, goatfucker or kinkshaming?

listen i KNOW i said i’d fuck mettaton but i’m NOT a robotfucker.

70. When playing for the first time how many candies did you take?

one! i wanted to be a good boy.

but then i just went ham,

71. Did you kill or spare Flowey at the end of the game?

spare and i got emotional with how he reacted

72. If you had to be one of the main characters, which would you choose?

73. If you had to kill one of the main characters which would you choose?

i wouldn’t kill any of them!! i love them all. i refuse.

74. Which character(s) would you like to cosplay?

HMM. i could probably pull off frisk the best.

75. Your favourite Burgerpants’ quote?

#i can't believe i actually answered them all #long post #.txt

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theshatteredrose · 6 years ago

Text

Time for my thoughts on the game

Ok, so this will be from the point of view of an author rather than a gamer. Everything written below is my personal opinion. Also note that I may have forgotten a few things during the course of the playthru. But I feel that I understand enough to focus any spare time and attention to plotting for my series~

Under cut for Spoilers:

Let's start with the things I liked:

I already spoken about the legend of Lemuria, but I still appreciate that it remains close to the original series

NPCs interacting and journeying with the party through certain labyrinths. It was a nice touch seeing them interact more with my characters. And how they were able to help the party in different ways. It allowed for greater interactions with the labyrinths rather than just fighting and mapping.

The adventure logs/skits are always fun, sometimes giving voices to some of the party members. I would purposely seek out deadends just to see if there would be a skit there.

The variety added to the maps. Walking atop of walls was certainly a new thing. I have a love-hate relationship with puzzles, though. I understand them because they indeed make things interesting. But am frustrated with them nevertheless :'D Also seeing old labyrinths in new layouts

FOEs that were initially from other games acting differently. Example, the conga-line of death in Undersea Grotto. In EO3, those fishes just conga around peacefully. In Nexus they'll all hunt your ass down, queuing up for the privilege of murdering you.

Undersea Grotto - in it's 3d glory, it is beautiful to look at~

The openness of the map. It has 14 labyrinths with 10 mini-mazes - places to explore is huge. From an author's pov, it can be opened even further because the island of Lemuria itself is vast.

Absolute Favourite NPCs:

Honestly, besides a few which I have ranted about in previous posts, the NPCs in this game are for the most part likeable and interesting.

Leo - precious harbinger deserves nothing but love and protection

Oliver and Marco - it was nice seeing a boy duo for a change and they're so wholesome together

Blót - breaking my heart here Q^Q But, boy, do I have plans for you~

Makiri - for being a forest folk leader who doesn't automatically try to murder you and everyone you love, and for actually listening to reason. Interesting to see that the Forest Folk now reside in a place eerily similar to Lost Shinjuku in EO1. Does lead credence to my "Lemuria as a fallen utopia" theory.

Things that I found "Meh":

Persephone - I don't dislike her, I just found her rather bland. Noble princess archetype, really. Also, did it bother anyone else how she didn't even look at you when speaking half the time? Look at me when I'm speaking to you, woman. But god, wouldn't it have been a kick to the guts and awesome if she was the one who wanted to control Jormungandr? No one would have seen that coming, am I right?

Rob - No love or hate for him. He's just a right little shit. That one sentence he uttered, though, pissed me off. How he doesn't get a punch to the face for what he says is beyond me. A few of my boys would definitely be queuing up to punch him in the teeth. There's little else about him, though, so he goes under the "meh" heading.

Now, for what I disliked:

Enrica - terrible character, terrible design. Being the leader of the Seafearers was the perfect opportunity for a character who was rugged, scarred, and a right badass. Someone who would fit the role of leading a band of misfit vikings/pirates. Instead, we get an underaged, underdressed, annoying boob princess. Her only defining features, other than her boobs that are right in your face, is that she supposedly can read/speak 20 languages and is considered very lucky. Her only redeeming quality was finding items in the labyrinth. That's it.

Kvasir - interesting character design, absolutely abysmal character. What else is there to say about this guy other than he's a creep who I would warn everyone to stay away from. If he was a real-life person, people would avoid the shit out of him. I honestly don't know what they were trying to achieve with Kvasir. There were a few moments where he was funny, but he soon became creepy and tedious to talk to. The latter half of the game I just mashed the A button to skip his dialogue.

Artelind - what can I say about her that I haven't already? My dislike for her in EO2/Untold2 skyrocketed into outright hate in Nexus. I wouldn't be as hateful toward her if there was some linkage back to her story in EO2. Something like "I did some terrible things back in Lagaard and I am now trying to redeem myself by aiding the seafarers". Instead, she's portrayed as some kind of sweet, benevolent martyr. What? Murdered several innocent guilds during her time in Lagaard? Psh, of course not! Get over it. I'm as sweet and innocent as a new-born babe.

Ah, and of course, the "consciousness" of Yggdrasil is the sprite of a basically naked little girl. I'm sensing a pattern here.

A few minor criticisms:

The variety of labyrinths could have been far greater. I enjoyed Undersea Grotto, Cherry Bridge, and Sandy Barrens. But there were far too many 'green' labyrinths. Don't get me wrong, I like the other labyrinths. But think of the stratums of the other games. The diversity found there. There were no labyrinths from EO5 either.

Also, Blót and his brother (who doesn't get a name? If he did, I must have missed it) seemed to have gotten the short end of the stick in this game. We don't learn much about him, really. Just a few snippets here or there. But little else. What happened to him to make him think that reviving the Jormungandr was a good idea? How was he able to fool people into believing there was only one of him, not two? There is a lot left unexplained about him. It does allow for me to be extra creative with him, and believe me, I will. He has a lot of potential. I'm also ignoring the 'ending' for him with Enrica because that was more than half-arsed.

The final labyrinth is kinda just...glossed over for the most part. I mean, other than the fifth floor, you don't know anything about this labyrinth. There's no hints to what it was previously. I feel that there could have been events where the party encounters some kind of cryptic scribblings or writings, hinting to what resides at the bottom of the labyrinth. You don't know anything until you reach the bottom where you get a minor info-dump. And again, you're just shoe-horned into battling the Abyssal Princess because some glowing, high-pitched voiced little girl told you to. No rhyme or reason why we should trust anything she says.

This is only a minor complaint, but So. Much. Mapping @_@

Also; None of my utmost favourite NPCs were included in this game Q^Q Loooogre...

Overall review;

I enjoyed this game. A lot. Needless to say, since I love all the entries in the series, but this was a wonderful game and a fine last edition for the 3ds. I will miss the mapping option in future games, but I'm thrilled to know that the series will continue. This series is my absolute favourite and it means everything to me. It was fun game with the diversity of classes and portraits to choose from. It's honestly an author's dream. I look forward to seeing new editions to this series on the Switch, and I'm definitely looking forward to plotting out my own future sagas~

#Etrian Odyssey #etrian odyssey nexus #spoilers etrian odyssey nexus #nothing more than my personal opinion #author ramblings

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tumblunni · 8 years ago

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ANYWAY! I’mma gonna talk about my playthru of Digimon World Next Order, to distract me from the fact i’m rapidly approaching the ending and have to wait to sate my JRPG tastes on Persona 5 afterwards...

* it is really really REALLY REALLY really REALLy great to finally be able to play a game in the DW series as a female character. Holy SHIT, man this is overdue! And it isnt handled awfully like in Cyber Sleuth where everyone constantly calls you male and the character design is really oversexualized and doing weirdass poses for everything. There’s still a lil bit of ‘cliche girly option traits’ but seriously she’s like the least stereotyped design we’ve had in the games since Dusk and Dawn! She gets to wear SHORTS and A HOODIE! A hoodie that has an inexplicable hole in the back for some reason, but whatever! xD Also I actually like her version of the Protagonist Hair better, even tho I think its lame they colour coded them in the ol cliche genderedness. Boy character just has one streak of coloured hair at the front, but girl has a spiralling streak on the end of her ponytail that looks like a punk poison sort of fashion~! And it leaks pixels when she runs, and has a really nice glow effect that kinda makes it draw patterns as you swing her model around. Makes me wanna run in circlesssss~ Her dubbed voice is a bit boring cliche anime love interest tho, a bit squeaky after you’ve been hearing it for hours. But the dude is Like Every Shonen Hero Voice Ever, so i think its meant to be intentionally generic for both of them. I could swear he’s voiced by a bad Tai impersonator! XD Also I’m just kinda thankful cos every other girl in the plot gets a REALLY squeaky unbearable english voice, thank god protagonist is spared...

* its a lil bit of funnyness tho that for some reason the skill list is the only place where the translators forgot about the protagonist options. Like.. a LOT of Tamer Skills are weirdly gendered when it would have taken five seconds to change that. Why does it have to be stuff like ‘Cooking Boy’ and ‘Cooking Man’ instead of basic and advanced cooking? Especially cos the other one in between is called Gourmet Cooking...

* I love forever that so many of the virus type recruitable digimon are sweethearts of hugs and joy. Now THAT reminds me of the original Digimon World! Seriously I am SO GLAD that Literally The Same Myotismon has a sidequest about rescuing his precious myobrella so he won’t faint in the sun. or like.. if its not the same Myotismon then MAN he would totally be a great ship with the other equally helpless one in the first game XD He has a nice new function as a townsperson, instead of just being ‘a manager’ in the colloseum and never even being a fight. (That annoyed me as a kid! He just stands there!) Now he runs the card gallery, cos you collect ‘antique cards’ in this game and he restores them with his painting skillz. its a nice lil in-joke cos they’re all the original first trading card artworks from waaaaay back in the first season! And Piedmon is in this one too, yay! He’s actually like the only morally dubious virus type AT ALL, he talks like a cliche mwahaha mad scientist even as he does nothing particularly evil. His sidequest is a funny thing of playing hide and seek and he sucks at it. While yelling hammily about being an evil genius! And then he has quite a useful function in the town, he does a random effect on you once per day with his evil science, and it could be good or it could be bad, but if its bad he actually pays you compensation money for it! EVEN THE EVIL GUY IS TOO KIND And OH MAN I am so happy and sad for Skullgreymon! A good guy skullgreymon was always one of my ideas for a DW fangame, im so happy it happened for real! In this game Skullgreymon is a fashion designer with low self confidence, and you recruit them by finding weregarurumon who’s their biggest fan and becomes their first friend. Its so sweet! They never actually interact once you recruit them both tho, cos they work at different parts of the town. But im still gonna assume they keep in touch! Its also a shame skullgreymon doesnt actually run a fashion shop, cos there actually WAS a fashion shop in Digimon World Redigitize aka the one damn game we’ll never see dubbed T_T Instead skullgreymon gets this kinda depressing role of just standing around outside the entertainment area saying ‘i wish i could work with children but they’re always scared of me’, and then if you bring a newly hatched digimon to see them then they gain bonus stats from being terrified somehow?? NOOO WHERE IS THE OPTION TO TEACH MY CHILDREN THAT SKULLY IS A FRIEND

* Anyway, my main digimon are (still) Hershey and Zephyr, and I love them! I’m still working on hoping to eventually get the full terriermon and lopmon canon digivolution lines with them, wow its hard. But I adore them no matter what form they take at the moment! I ended up loving them so much that i never raised any other digimon ever. i just rename them the same name every time they reincarnate, and pick the same eggs! I’ve gotten close to unlocking every single variation of the bunno brothers evo lines!! But it IS getting really annoying that you have to type the name manually every time, why no option to just stick with the previous name? DW1 had that and it was on way worse hardware! Oh, and its funny that I started off calling them the bunny brothers cos thats what they were in adventure 02, but then after playing the game for ages I’ve settled on headcanoning hershey as female and zephyr as nonbinary. And also I started off with the cliche personalities of sassy rebel terriermon and stoic lopmon like in Tamers, but Hershey ended up being the rebel instead and Zephyr is like a shonen hero cinnamon roll! They’re both equally sassy and eccentric tho XD I’m not quite sure yet what would be their ‘canon’ final mega forms that I wanna keep them in for the final boss and stuff. But hershey’s made me regain my appreciation of Ladydevimon after I stopped liking her as soon as I grew old enough to understand that most of her fans only liked her for being ‘a stripper’ :P Like.. she’s a really damn good design even without the fanservice?? I like her way more than devimon, myotismon and etc, I wish she’d gotten to be a major villain! i mean it sucks that devimon got to be one when she’s literally his evolved form. (And yes I am happy that it continues to be canon that ladydevimon can digivolve from devimon and the same for angewomon and angemon. DIGIMON AINT RESTRAINED BY HUMAN GENDER ROLES YO) So yeah anyway, I kinda headcanon Hershey as a hypothetical less skimpy redesign of LadyDevimon? or like.. if she got her own unique Mega form that kept a similar design, rather than just being retconned into lilithmon and rosemon’s evo lines. I just don’t think the skimpyness fits with Hershey’s personality but the rest of the design just has such a cool piratey thiefy type look?? And she’s like THE BEST monster girl in the franchise, she’s the only one who really gets to be monstery looking, even if she’s still an hourglass figure sex object. i mean i always thought it was meant to be a subversion of that?? She has that giant monster claw hand and is really vicious and powerful in battle! All her animations in the game are her shredding things with it and doing the classic dracula rise-from-the-grave when she’s knocked out, and just... ITS REALLY BADASS!! I didnt know how cool a fight with her could be, cos she just got that stupid ass fanservice joke slap fight in the anime... ANYWAY Ladydevimon is good I appreciate her I like her even though she’s in the general genre of fanservice digimon that I dislike. She’s like the one single one I dont hate! (Tho I still wish we had more than like.. two un-fanservice female digimon in the entire damn series) Buuuut I dont think her design quite fits Hershey even though she’s the digivolution I keep using ingame. Maybe if I can find a different Mega that I prefer, and make up a fanmade digivolution line? or I could do a fanart variation of the digimon...

* ANYWAY I kinda ended up headcanoning Hershey as a former member of the broken apart pirate crew in Mod Cape. Cos like.. what if your digimon had backstories of what their life was like before they met you! like Gatomon in Adventure, they were chosen to be partners to a destined hero but had to wait so long they’d become disillusioned. Cos when you meet em at the start of the game they’re mega level and only get poofed back into eggs cos of machinedramon’s attack. WHAT LIFE DID YOU LEAD WITHOUT ME. I AM HERE TO PROTECT YOU NOW AAAAAAA!! So yeah it would be cool to headcanon Hershey as a former highway bandit type character who has trouble adjusting to living in a city surrounded by happy innocent people and hugs. I dont see her as grumpy tho.. like, she’s kind of a bombastic trickster archetype but she’s still super cynical and ‘I only care about myself, anything else gets you hurt’. I was thinking maybe if I designed a fanmade mega for her she could be like a magician pirate zombie demon??? Like.. yknow piedmon is a deck of cards clown guy with those four daggers? i actually got Piedmon as her digivolution when she was a Ladydevimon and I was thinking MAN it could be so cool if we had like a zany zombie digimon who attacks by stabbing a sword through her own back! Like ‘watch me saw a woman in half’ XD A design where she has a load of weapons stuck in her and uses them to fight with! like how mummymon is a mummy + soldier in a leg brace design, hypothetical zombiemon could be a zombie + actual tragic assassination victim. Plus a magician. Or a clown. And ladydevimon. And a pirate. LOOK I JUST HAVE A LOT OF MUTUALLY CONTRADICTORY HEADCANONS OKAY xD

* I don’t really have as much development ideas for Zephyr yet, aside from that they’re Hershey’s more cheerful and positive sibling. But I see them as also being kinda creepy and battle-hungry and stuff? Like.. both these twins are total virus types, clown type, typical final villain type of acrobatic doom! And both are good guys deep down. But Zephyr is a more cinnamon roll type of good and Hershey is grumpy unwillingly dragged into goodness. And like.. Zephyr is a bit dotty and only accidentally creepy, not really understanding how to socialize properly. And probably they would be like ‘NO BIG SISTER, STEALING IS BAD’ *currently stabbing a guy* I think maybe my headcanon for Zeph might be that they were for some reason left completely alone while waiting for the protagonist? Hershey at least found some companionship with the pirates, even if she became super bitter after the team broke up. I think Zeph maybe started off as a wild forest mon that’d even forgotten how to speak, until by pure chance they bumped into their long lost twin sister and then met the protagonist. So like an innocent angel who’s all new to the city and excited about everything, but also kinda fighty and dangerous because of the same stuff that makes them innocent. I dunno, I might make them an angewomon or ophanimon to match with Hershey? Tho I wanted to make them both good guy virus types, it could be an equally interesting contrast to have a vicious battle-obsessed angel who’s the absolute opposite of softspoken fancyness! And I also kinda associate them with the colour green even though I ended up picking a grey themed digivolution for Hershey instead. But all of Terriermon’s natural digivolutions are all machiney and don’t suit this personality as much... I dunno, maybe I could make up another headcanon/variant type thing? Cos after all lopmon’s line gets two champion level forms and two megas but terriermon only has two recolours for the same ultimate level. Maybe even it out, lol! Or like, I’m thinking like.. what if Terriermon had a mega that suited Henry more? i was reading someone’s review where they said it was weird that pacifistic Henry got a giant robot specializing in attack while Rika got the humanoid pacifist digimon. And yeah, that IS totally weird! And it got me imagining what if Terriermon got a humanoid digivolution that was like a martial artist?? or maybe like a speedy superhero lookin armour thing! Like just a more humanoid rapidmon! or I dunno maybe if puppetmon is in this game then zephyr could be puppetmon. I miss puppetmon. puppetmon never got to be in ANY games except dusk and dawn! I WANNA SEE A 3D PUPPETMON YO!!

* Man I just spent this entire post rambling my headcanons for silent protagonist characters instead of actually talking about the game... aaaa...

#bunni plays next order

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builtinadaygames · 7 years ago

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itchy tasty: Free Games on itch.io, issue #3

Hi, I'm Kevin Beissel and I make videogames under the name Built In A Day (@builtinadayKB).

This is the third post I've done about games on itch.io, you can read the others here or you can read them on my personal site, builtinadaygames.com/blog

This post is slightly different than the others. The devs covered in this post have released well-regarded indie games thru publishers like Devolver and Adult Swim (Terri Vellmann and Andrew Morrish) or self-published on platforms other than PC (Powerhoof). The previous posts focused on devs with only self-released work (and no titles on Steam).

I had played games by all three of these devs on Steam and was pleased to find they had work posted on itch as well. Since itch has all types of games, especially small and experimental work, it was fun to play something by these devs that could explore a bit more and see them try things that might not work in 'commercial products'.

Not to say that they're work on Steam is generic or traditional or (worst of all) 'safe'. But there is value in watching an artist experiment, fail, take risks, embrace weirdness and just try stuff, whether they 'succeed' or not.

So, my motivation for this post is basically two-fold: to let other gamers know that itch has cool, experimental work by devs you already know and love, and to encourage devs of all types to keep making new stuff (especially the small or weird ideas they have).

Here are the ground rules:

The purpose of this series is to cover some of the free games on itch.io, from a developer and fan perspective.

Before we get to the games, I just want to clarify why I'm doing this and what I hope it accomplishes. So here's the what, why and how:

The WHAT

Discuss free games available on itch.io

I've got a list of profiles to check out, but please send along any recommendations.

There are no restrictions on genres. The whole point of this is to be curious and ask questions. So no dumb rules like "No walking sims" or "No puzzle platformers", which would prolly eliminate half of the available games anyways.

The WHY

I want to become a better developer and playing experimental/small/art/trash games should help.

Getting an audience is hard and getting constructive feedback is even harder. I can't help the devs covered in these posts with the former but maybe I can with the latter.

The HOW

There is no rating system.

There is no alter ego here, these are not 'angry' reviews.

These aren't even really reviews.

The goal is to focus on the design choices that were made and discuss the reasoning behind them.

I don't really care about being right, I don't really care about sounding smart ("Yeah, no shit" the reader grumbles), I don't really care about agreeing with you. I'm more interested in looking at the hierarchy of ideas (to borrow a phrase) that form game design. By working at the ends and working in the middle we can find out more about it, right?

Enough with the formalities, let's get started.

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Profile: Powerhoof (@Powerhoof, powerhoof.com, powerhoof.itchi.io)

Games: Murdercide 2017 and Peridium

Style: point and click adventure games, cyberpunk/comedy and horror/suspense respectively

Powerhoof is the two-man team (Dave Lloyd and Barney Cumming) behind 'Crawl', the excellent local coop dungeon-crawler on Steam. They have a diverse selection of games on itch, but I'll be covering only three of them, tho each one is worth a look.

The point and click genre offers the chance to show off their narrative skills, with plenty of good dialog and superb voice acting. Their games always have appealing visuals, so it was exciting to see that skillset paired with a good narrative. It's also remarkable that both games are so different in tone, yet work so well.

Each game can be played in less than ten minutes, so describing the plot would spoil a huge chunk of your playthru. So think of them like this: if you like Douglas Adams or 'Blade Runner' then check out Murdercide and if you like 'The Thing' or 'The Shining' then check out Peridium. And if you like all those things and were also a fan of LucasArts adventure games, then for sure check out both.

Also, these games are much more about atmosphere than they are about the traditional elements of point and click games. Yeah, you will have to use an inventory item to interact with some scenery, but none of it gets in the way of the setting and the story.

If I'm not mistaken Powerhoof has hinted at doing a full-length adventure game someday. I've been mistaken before tho (turns out if you mix an acid with a base you get a reaction, you know like mixing drain cleaners?), so they'll prolly make something else that's dope.

Game: Riders of Rhea

Style: top-down, action, roguelike

Elevator pitch: It feels like an 8-bit version of 'Mad Max'. I guess this is the perfuntory part where I point out that Powerhoof is based in Australia. But this elevator ride is almost over, so fuck it.

You ride on a motorcyle thru a desert wasteland and track down groups of enemies using a mini-radar. Another panel displays stats about your bike (armor/shield, heat, speed). When you defeat enemies you get random drops, usually a small decrease from one skill (-1 usually) and a larger boost to another skill (+2 or higher).

The controls took awhile to get the hang of, but I eventually could take on small groups. I can get overwhelmed easily (are we still talking about the game?) but that level of challenge makes each success feel more satisfying.

I've been searching for interesting action games lately and this one certainly fits. Great minimalist art-style, nicely blends offensive and defensive tactics, and has a 'one more run' charm to it.

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Profile: morrish (@int_main, andrewmorrish.net, andrew-morrish.itch.io)

Game: Tough Love Machine

Style: puzzle, pretty colors

Andrew Morrish has two games available on Steam, 'Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe' and 'Kingsway'. I haven't played the latter, but SPPD has a great concept, fantastic visuals, tight controls and a diverse group of playable characters. I didn't know he had stuff on itch, but TLM was recommended by Steven Miller (@stevenjmiller37, who also has a bunch of cool games on itch too). It's a great puzzle game: fun, intuitive and a joy to look at.

There are two hearts and two arms on the screen. Using the arms (WASD for the left and arrow keys for the right) you reposition the hearts until they are either stacked or side-by-side. This seemingly simple formula yields impressively deep results.

One thing I always look for in puzzle games is how clearly they visually communicate concepts and rules. In games like 'Stephen's Sausage Roll' or 'Baba Is You', the concept and mechanics work seamlessly, because the visual cues and puzzle design are so well done.

Those games ('Roll' and 'Baba') force you to very carefully consider the space you're given and how the rules you know can be applied to them. I know that sounds like something that ALL puzzle games should do, just like regular exercise is something that ALL people should do, but we know that's not the case.

So when I got stuck in 'Roll', it usually meant there was some part of the level I wasn't utilizing, despite the design/visual cues clearly pointing me towards it. TLM does a similarly good job of keeping the puzzle design uncluttered and avoiding bullshit red herring solutions, another common puzzle game pitfall.

BTW, I haven't actually beat it yet. I'm stuck on the level called "you might actually be getting worse". My God, this game sounds like my ex-wife.

Just kidding, I don't have an ex-wife. I'm not kidding about being stuck but don't spoil it for me. You can spoil it for my ex-wife tho, she always hated surprises. Or maybe she just hated me.

Whatever the imaginary case may be, just make sure you don't hate 'Tough Love Machine'! You could say it's TOUGH not to LOVE it. You could say that, especially if you wanted people to hate your writing style.

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Profile: terriv (@terrivellmann, terriv.itch.io)

Game: TANKITA

Style: roam-around tank-shooter

Terri Vellmann recently released 'High Hell' (which I'm very excited for) but I've been playing 'Heavy Bullets' for just about a year now and I love it. I was a bit put off at first and it took awhile to develop effective strategies (I can get to level six out of eight so far), but a good run in 'HB' is super satisfying, even tho they all end in an abrupt death.

TANKITA (or 'Bounty Hunter Tankita') is a tank-shooter with nice 'roam-around' style maps. Each map has bases to destroy or enemy waves to fight off. All of it is done in a low-res style but with bright colors and appealing cartoon-style character/vehicle designs.

You control the tank's movement with the L-stick and weapon aim with the R-stick. The left and right bumpers are your main and alt fire, and the A button is jump.

As much fun as the game is, the control style caused some mild frustration. The only issue I have is with the jump. Circle-strafing enemies is pretty effective, except you have to keep moving your right thumb to jump or risk taking heavy damage from missiles.

However this frustration led to a worthwhile thought experiment: If I were to remap the controls, what changes would I make and how much would they change other gameplay elements?

I'll preface this by saying (or writing, at least) this:

A lot of well-intentioned game design feedback suffers from a common problem: the proposed solution has far-reaching consequences and would alter so many facets of gameplay that the amount of work necessary would far exceed being just a 'small tweak'.

So, my first instinct is to eliminate the jump entirely and focus on the weapons. The problem with that is the tank is now largely defenseless, so the enemy behavior and the map layouts have to change drastically to compensate. For starters, the enemy's missile fire rate would need to be adjusted (even tho you can shoot them down with your own missiles) or the amount of damage they do has to be heavily nerfed.

My next idea was to eliminate the alt fire and just have the main weapon and the jump ability, and map them to LB/RB. This allows a good balance between offense and defense, but still requires that many enemy/level elements be reworked.

I like the second solution better. Either solution would take a lot of time, but the second has a higher 'ceiling'. You could compensate for the lack of an alt fire several ways:

Create opportunities for 'massive' or 'chain' style damage - like lure a group of enemies near a fuel truck, pepper the truck with your main gun and watch the explosion cause a chain reaction among the enemies. Incentivizes the player to group enemies together and utilize environmental elements, which would mean reworking each map's layout.

Have Contra-style weapon drops - sometimes you get just the right weapon and other times you pass it up. It's asking a lot of the player to go thru a game (even a short one) with only one weapon type. The control style is still simplified to jump/attack, but the player can still have some variety.

Still, 'TANKITA' is worth checking out, as is Vellmann's other work on itch. I like his visual style and something like 'mundo lixo' is a good chance to admire the aesthetics without any pressing gameplay demands.

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Well, folks, thanks for reading. May other people indulge you to the extent that you've indulged me.

Love & Respect,

==KB==

#itchio indiegame

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