#i know so much background lore for like.. shows I've never watched and games I've never played and movies I've never seen

[fallenclan]

Five frivolous, fun, and unimportant asks for various (mostly background) characters; 1. Are there any cats who know about or are weirded out by the Four hanging out more often? Does this create rumors? 1b. If there are rumors about what the Four are up to, how does Strikethorn feel about the whole thing? He's paralyzed so he's at a disadvantage if something were to split the clan 2. If film and television were something the clancats could consume, what would be Snailpetal's favorite show or movie? I feel like she'd probably be a Good Will Hunting fan 3. Skyfrost obviously was not happy about the deputy tradition being discontinued, or at least not followed by Ravenstar. How is she feeling? Stressed? 4. COTTON! Many feelings about Cotton. Do they get to see their children, or is their condition too severe, still? I understand that red cough is basically a death sentence in-game 5. How are Wolfbite's siblings doing right now? We know how Wolf feels about Snap dying, but the siblings?

i love when questions are in lists <3

Probably a few have noticed something is up, but likely no specifics--maybe they're all just buddies! The cats who are most likely to know are the cats closest to the four; Ospreyswipe (who is mostly in on everything), Hareswipe & Snowbelly, Shrikethorn, Paledawn, Kestrelfeather, Antbite

1b. Shrikethorn knows that something is Up with Darkstone, but if she pushed about it, he probably wouldn't give her a clear answer, because he doesn't want her involved. They don't really know anything specific about parts of the clan being at odds with each other, just that their friend/crush is being weird (which. tbh. is not unlike him.)

2. Hmm..... I think Snailpetal would really enjoy goofy drama shows honestly. She'd probably watch 9-1-1. I don't know about Good Will Hunting, I've never seen it, but it does seem to be a drama as well (though clearly a more serious one LMAO). I think she would prefer shows/films about interpersonal conflict/relationships rather than, say, action films and the like. if that makes sense

3. Skyfrost is indeed stressed about the whole situation, but he's aware that he doesn't really have any influence on it anymore, and there's not much he can do. That being said, if the Four approached her to ask for her help at any point, she would be so on board immediately. He'd love the opportunity to rock Ravenstar's shit

4. COTTON! She's allowed to see her kits absolutely, but they had to be taught very early on that they need to keep their distance. Sunnytuft tells them lots of tales about how wonderful and happy Starclan is, on the off chance that Cottonleaf has to go there while they're still young.

5. In-game, the other beach poly kits weren't very close to Sandsnap at all, because he wasn't their biological father. That translates over to lore a bit in that they were all closer to Myrtleclaw and Juniperfoot, but do all miss him very dearly--the death just wasn't quite as awful for them as it was for Wolfbite, who has always been very protective with a slight vengeful streak, besides

[lowkeyrobin]

I'm sorry for spamming you I'm just really excited--

Reader who also streams and just rants a lot while they play Stardew Valley?

Like mid milking a cow or something they pause the game and rant about how to kiss someone or smth?...

-🌕 anon! <3

AH OMG DONT WORRY ABOUT SPAMMING I LOVE YOU GUYS 🫶🫶🫶 but I absolutely love this LMAO I made this into a preference setup instead of a oneshot bc I didn't know exactly who you wanted and I was having difficulty finding a way to stretch it out that long anyways. idk much about stardew valley so bare with me, I rewatched Tommy's video of him playing w Molly to help me 💀💀

MCYT ; stardew valley rants

includes ; tommyinnit, ranboo, freddie badlinu, niki nihachu, foolish gamers & quackity

warnings ; language

masterlist

TOMMYINNIT

you'll just be doing some tasks and be like "you know, I've never kissed anyone before. like, how does that work?"

meanwhile Tommy came over a little bit ago to hang out after stream and he just looks at you like 🤨😨

"youve never kissed anyone?? wait... we haven't kissed before? y/n/n, what?"

you shake your head no, confirming that you guys actually never kissed somehow, your relationship was kinda new in both of your defenses.

"we've only been dating like, 2 months, it's fine"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO BE A KISSING VIRGIN FOREVER????"

literally have your first kiss on stream bro

THE EDITS 🫶🙏 I CANT EVEN

the cutest shit ever

RANBOO

you literally paused the whole game mid-farming to rant about some restaurant you and ranboo went to the past day

chat was exploding with "oooo they went on a date" and you were just like "guys it was good food, 10/10"

they get you to join a call with them and you guys talk about it together and your whole experience and how awesome the food was

not to mention the aesthetic of the restaurant was so well put together

you got back to your stream with a little story for your viewers

BADLINU

you started ranting about a movie/show you're fixated on at the moment

went through all the lore, all the characters, background info, etc

Freddie was watching and using tts to talk to you

he encouraged it dw

like he was holding a convo w you and everything it was the cutest shit ever

the edits.

also people clipped the whole like half hour long thing and posted it to YouTube like "y/u/n and badlinu talk about ___!"

you don't even remember it within a week but HE DOES

just one of those cute relationship moments he loves to think about

QUACKITY

you were playing stardew while he was playing gta and you were on a vc together

so obv it kinda sounded crazy 💀💀

"y/n I'm gonna drive my Honda Accord over there and kill all your cows!"

"I swear to God, quackity, don't even dare"

not really ranting but you were yelling threats at him and shit LMAO

NIHACHU

you guys were playing together 🫶

you were teaching her how to do everything and stuff

you eventually went on a tangent about things you do and don't like about the game

she was agreeing to your solid points and stuff

that turns into a rant about hair color and if she can color your hair for you LMAO

FOOLISH GAMERS

"Dude, how do people do that van life shit? I'd die doing that"

straight up hour and a half rant about how much you hate van life tik tokkers while playing stardew valley

he's in your chat like "Yes 100 percent" and adding onto your points LMAO

you both share a hate for van life mfs

[loverofpiggies]

i haven't watched adventure time since i was a kid so i barely know anything about canon besides what i've heard about secondhand but i am SO overjoyed just seeing your comics on my dash again. you've always been such a big inspiration for me. i'm just giddy and a bit nostalgic! (even though it wasn't long enough ago to qualify as nostalgia hahaha)

Hey that's super fair! Honestly what really sucked me back in was the new Fionna and Cake spin off that came out last year. I STRONGLY recommend it. Even if you don't remember most of Adventure Time, I feel like you can have a pretty good understanding whats going on regardless. The spin off is mostly what my comic is heavily based on, since the Winter King never showed up in the original Adventure Time show.

I hope the story reads well enough without knowing all the background though! Obviously there is literally SO much lore and history and detail to the universe of AT, but I like writing focused stories like this. If there's one thing I love, its shoving two characters with opposing ideas in a room and making them talk. Bonus points if one of them is a little unhinged.

Also that's really really kind! I literally had zero inspiration to do comics for literal YEARS. I just focused on game dev work, and that was that. I never expected watching Fionna and Cake that all my old comic-making obsessions would come right back out!

Honestly? It's been really nice to love making comics again :)

[911whatsyourgratitude]

I'd like to give thanks for episode 8x05. Oliver said it was his favorite and I can see why. It checks almost all the boxes of what I expect from the show. There are funny moments but also heartwrenching drama, not to mention exceptional costumes, make ups, and decorations. All in a single episode. Moreover, an episode usually highlights the abilities of one or two actors, but 8x05 showcased the skills of Aisha Hinds, Tracie Thoms, Oliver Stark, Lou Ferrigno Jr., and Ryan Guzman, all at once. This is quite a rare treat.

Aisha showed-off her acting skills in two back-to-back episodes. I was amazed by her monologue in 8x04, and once again by her acting while saving Denny's life in 8x05. I'd been sure there was no way Denny would be killed in 8x05, but the Hen and Karen's panic expressions, and Hen's trembling voice, made me worried for a good while. I think it doesn't matter if viewers have already known how the story will end. The way it's delivered is what matters the most. That's why we watch our favorite shows/episodes repeatedly.

The trio of Oliver, Lou, and Ryan worked wonderfully in sync. The timing of their banter is impeccable. I love the way Ryan delivered his lines when Eddie was treating Buck's boils. His intonation and punctuation was impeccable, including when he emphasized that the boils might be caused by stress. And his facial expression when Eddie couldn't see Buck in the face on the next day is a comedy gold.

All eyes have been on Lou since Tommy kissed Buck back in 7x04. And because this episode cemented Tommy's position as Buck's boyfriend (and hopefully, as end game romantic partner), his performance was dissected more than ever. We wanted to know whether he deserved the coveted place in Buck's life or not. There are clips, gifs, slow-motioned gifs, zoomed gifs, pictures, and zoomed pictures of Tommy taken from episode 8x05 circulated on Tumblr. Probably, even microbes are not scrutinized under microscopes as much as he was. And boy, how he delivered! His facial expressions and gestures showed a lot of what his lines didn't. Fans love the fond look he threw at Buck, the amused and disbelief look at Eddie, how he touched Buck's leg a little in the hospital, how he rolled his eyes when Buck told him he knew how to break the curse, his sleepy voice while he was waiting for Buck to close his laptop, and so on. If this was a test to be Buck's other half, Tommy has passed with flying colors.

Oliver is always a bit of enigma to me. Like Angela Bassett, I've never yet watched a scene where I thought he needed improvements. And 8x05 is no exception. It's delightful to watch him telling the lore of Billy Boils with such concerns. And the way he portrayed Buck's stubborness about the curse, makes viewers fond of Buck instead of being annoyed by him. It is also fun to notice little details in Oliver's acting. Fans have watched with delight in previous episodes how Buck's shoulders slumped after he took care of the bees, and how Buck waved to the phone when Chimney was taking Maddie's call about Athena's plane emergency. In this episode, we caught the detail of how Buck winced in pain while he was trying to sit when Tommy visited him in the hospital. I always wonder, which ones of those details were directional, which ones were planned ahead by Oliver, and which ones were improvised on the spot. Oliver always acts which such ease, as if every scene is natural. Sometimes I just realized that his acting must be not that easy, when I watched other actors stumbled while acted on similar scenes or deliver similar lines. It is clear that Oliver Stark is extremely talented. I often wonder where's the talent ends and the hard work begins.

I also want to thank the people who have worked on the decorations, backgrounds, wardrobes, and make-ups on 8x05. Details on the Firehouse Haunt Fest decorations are amazing, so are the costumes of the casts. I bet the team had a blast while working on this episode. Also, hats off to whoever made Billy Boils. That prop reminded me once again why I didn't choose medical program at the university.

We notice that the festivities were not only shown in the Halloween costumes. The outfits of the casts also reflected the autumn vibes. Special shout out to the team who dressed Maddie, Buck, Eddie, and Tommy, and who decorated Buck's loft. Those beautiful outfits and decorations are really pleasing in the eyes. Especially in the cemetery scenes, where Buck and Tommy looked very sharp in their suits. Some fans have used a screen shot of Tommy in the scene, with green leafs and bright sky in the background, as their wallpaper.

A special thank to Taylor Wong, the writer of 8x05. She briliantly wrote the different treatments Buck received from his boyfriend (Tommy) vs. his bestfriend (Eddie), without painting Eddie as the bad guy. Making Tommy and Eddie ganged up to roast Buck is also a smart move to show that Tommy and Eddie are best friends, and not secretly compete for Buck's love like some people imagine. And

Lastly, a bunch of thanks to Christine Khalafian and Tim Minear, who have made this brilliant episode come to live. I cannot wait to watch the next one.

[kaisukii1]

BTD HellRings AU

I remember making a AU based off my dreams a while back, maybe a month or two ago but it never got that much attention and I started to loose interest in it. I've only made 9 designs, only 7 I were satisfied with. Though, I wish to show you what I've made in hopes for it to interest me again. This will be a long rant/lore dump so be ready !!

Just for some background, the dream was about me being dragged into hell by Rire and going through each ring of hell to get out of there. I encountered some of the BTD characters which were shown in a different design (?) But, they were familiar enough to be recognizable. Now, on the rant…

"Each character is either a demon/sinner or angel and each have a different goal and purpose. They were taken forcefully by RIRE, why? Maybe for entertainment. However, there is a way out… but its not easy."

RIRE

"Lucien Rire in this AU is quite mysterious and secretive, sadistic as well. He is the king of hell and has the power to exit and enter the mortal realm and hell. He targets anyone of interest to drag them into hell. He does makes deals with humans but it's quite rare. Why does he torment and drag people into hell? You’ll never know. Maybe he has a goal, maybe he wants to prove something, maybe it’s all for entertainment… its unknown! He’s grown a interesting relationship with strade. They made a deal centuries ago. Strade could be considered his right-hand man. Rire is sometimes nicknamed “The father”  by sinners and called Sir.Lucien by Strade. Can be found mainly wandering the mortal realm. He checks up on Strade on time to time in hell."

STRADE

"Strade in this AU is mysterious and secretive and just as sadistic as rire. He has the ability to roam around each and all rings of hell freely and without problem(unlike most souls/sinners) He can teleport, appearing and disappearing. It’s rare to see a glance of him, blink and he's gone. He’s more like a ghoul rather than a sinner. He made a unknown deal with Rire when he was alive, placing him at a high rank as a demon. He has grown a interest in ren, seeing himself in his wrath. His opinion on rire is unknown but he respects him. He is found everywhere, making sure everyone is “in order”(AKA. Everyone is suffering). In his human years, he was a serial killer. When he died, he immediately became the rank he is now. now watching over his past pet/captor, Ren."

REN

"Ren Hana in this AU is quite cold and distant. His main goal is to escape hell as he doesn’t believe he belongs there. He failed to escaped time after time for decades. Most of his body is scattered with scars and other bruises from endless climbing and fighting. Each day he gets more determined. Strade has taken appreciation for his determination and finds it entertaining. Strade watches him more often than the other sinners, knowing that ren could never escape no matter how hard he tries. Ren –a pridesinner (also committing greed, violence, etc) can be found at the first ring, limbo, trying desperately to escape. In his mortal years, he was kidnapped by strade and treated like a pet. He formed a unhealthy bond with strade. When strade was killed by one of his captors, rire took strade’s soul to hell. After that, ren replaced strade, becoming him in a way. But, his main goal was to find someone to replace strade for his own comfort but he failed to do so. Just like strade, he was killed by one of his own captors. He woke up in hell, angered. He didn’t believe he should be in hell after suffering enough already. Strade was out of the picture now after knowing he could possibly escape. Now, that’s all he does, try to escape knowing that the last someone did was decades if not centuries ago."

CAIN

"Cain in this AU follows a little part of the story of Cain in the game, he kills both Adam and Abel turning him into a fallen angel and is forced down to the bottom of hell, the last ring: treachery. He breaks out of the ice and with his ragged, frozen and bleeding wings he makes his way out of hell. The gods, finding out, attempts to cast his back down to hell. Cain however, hides down in tartarus where he now lives. Angels were sent to find and permanently discard Cain. Cain asked the king of hell, rire, to help him kill the angels(wanting to start a war). Rire however, didn’t want to and fought him. Cain angered, retreats back to tatarus for hiding. After hiding out for a while, he goes into the mortal realm and finds Sano and Akira struggling to stay alive. He takes them in and raises them until they were able to live by themselves. He sets a goal to learn about the sinners, manipulating them to help get revenge on both rire and the heavens. He uses sano(with the help of akira) to achieve this goal after Seeing that Sano had a intimate relationship with Rire. Once they both were caught, he didn’t try to save them from the fear of the gods and or angels finding him. He was selfish, his goal being the only thing on his mind."

ASHE

"Ashe in this AU is one of the angels sent from god to find Cain. After encountering cain and attempting to annihilate him, he fails and Cain rips off the bottom parts of his wings(Aka. Clipping them?). Now, unable to fly and having a hatred for cain(and probably being scared of him), the gods sent him to watch over the veil(A place between the mortal realm and the gates of heaven) The veil is the place where souls go to after they die. It’s a place for them to feel at peace before facing their judgment up at the gates. Ashe’s new duty was to simply watch over the souls and make sure they feel at peace."

SANO

"Sano in this AU started off as a spy for Cain, he would go through each ring, takings notes of what happened to each sinner in that specific ring, what things or events that happened out of the ordinary and go back to cain for his notes with the help of his brother, Akira Kojima. Millenniums ago, Sano was in school, working to become a doctor. He also had a secret of kidnapping people and doing various experiments on them for both sadistic pleasure and learning what the human body could bare. Sano had a intimate relationship with Rire when Sano was in the mortal realm. However, this was against his adoptive father, Cain. Both Rire and Cain hated each-other. Rire fell in love with the human sano, asking him to join him in hell in which Sano agreed only if his brother came along too. He was able to shapeshift into a naga along with his brother. When Cain found out, he took advantage of that. He manipulated sano to help him figure out Rire's goals and what the sinners went through. Sano didn’t want to disappoint him, so he betrayed his lover. It didn’t take long for Strade to come along and figure out Sano’s actions. Strade had seduced Sano by shapeshifting into a incubus into telling him what he’d been doing. Later, strade reported back to rire. Rire felt betrayed and condemned sano and akira to be placed in different rings and for akira to never be able to exit the violence ring. Sano’s only two rings he could enter was fraud(eighth ring) and limbo(First ring). Cain couldn’t and never tried to save sano and discarded him. Strade was told to keep a close eye on him. Sano now, without Rire, Akira, or anyone grew helpless. He attempted to escape hell at the first ring a couple of times and failed all. He stopped trying. Strade, seeing Sano’s hopelessness was entertaining at first, but he quickly grew bored and stopped paying attention to him. Sano, once a high and almost royal ranked demon now leveled down to a low ranked sinner."

AKIRA

"Akira in this AU was wild in the mortal realm. He’d go to lots of parties and drink a lot. He killed and tortured a small amount of people but not as much as his brother, sano. Akira was told by sano that they would move to hell as high ranking demons. Akira was a little hesitant before agreeing on coming along. He could turn into a naga, just like his brother. He tortured low ranking sinners for fun until sano reported to akira about what their adoptive father, Cain asked of them. Akira, wanting to help his brother, agreed to help him. Once Sano was caught by Strade and was told off by Rire, he was casted down to be trapped in the seventh ring of hell, violence, which he was beaten up by other sinners and having to endure the consequences of both his and his brother’s actions."

—

Wow, that was a lot wasn't it? I also have a design for Damion and Samael, but I am not satisfied with them and they aren't too much of a major deal on the story. I would love for people to ask questions about them and ask for any other characters if they WERE in the story as well …

[cryptids-of-spielzeit]

Spielzeit Bestiary #8: The Sun Dog

Nature. Every tree, plant, and animal. It is all around us, and it is a very big part of the forest town Spielzeit's identity. The townsfolk and the surrounding forest have been in kahoots with one another ever since it split from the now defunct Playtime toy company. And now, their relationship with nature has seemingly grown stronger, due in part to a new creature said to roam the woods. They call it the Sun Dog.

Said to be the most benevolent of Spielzeit's ever growing roster of "cryptids", the Sun Dog is described as being a giant Cocker Spaniel with dark orange fur. It gets its name from what locals describe as a pendant, shaped like the sun, that it wears tightly around its neck.

It is said to be missing the lower half of its body, resulting in it crawling around wherever it goes. Those who have caught a glimpse of the Sun God report it being followed by a group of animals. The animals within said group vary, but the most common group is said to be that of a red fox, a whitetail deer, and an opossum.

Stories and sightings of the Sun Dog portray it as a protector of nature, caring for wounded and abandoned animals and helping any that cross its path. It is said to be incredibly docile, even helpful, towards humans, with one witness, Jeremy Hill, 23, describing as such.

"I was taking a walk through the woods. It was a nice day, nothing out of the ordinary. So, I'm walking, and I notice this tree, looked perfect for climbing. I get to the top of the thing, the view was really nice. Then, I heard something, sounded like, I don't know, giggling? Startled me so much that I fell off the branch, broke one of my legs. I screamed put for help for what felt like forever. Then I heard someone, they sounded like he was in his 50s, he told me not to worry, that'd he'd get me back home. That's when I saw him. We were at level with one another, he had a fox, deer, and possum at his side. Now, I've heard other people talk about this guy like he was the second coming, but actually being in his presence, I don't know, it made me feel safe. He had that look in his eyes, you know? I passed out afterwards, but when I woke up I was in town square. I won't forget that day."

The Sun Dog's contributions have not gone unnoticed. For instance, since his arrival, illegal hunting in the Spielzeit area has dropped tremendously, something that Ranger Angelo Floros has taken note of.

"Now, I'm not sure a giant, orange dog is the reason all of these hunters have went away, but regardless, this is great news. And if you want to thank this 'Sun Dog' for it, be my guest."

Many residents do, in fact, thank the Sun Dog, particularly those with some background of religion. They believe in the Sun Dog's existence so much that they have made it the central figure in their annual Summer Solstice festival. Here, there are Sun Dog themed games, food, and even stage performances about its contributions. Something notable is that during the festival, there is a chance that an animal will show up, requesting food, in which they always recieve it, yet they never immediately eat it. It is said that they bring it to the Sun Dog, who watches in the distance on the Licht hillside, where the sun shines brightest.

Is there a protector of nature living in the forests of Spielzeit? Or has Lady Luck just grazed the town with a great ecosystem? Do you believe?

(A major thank you to @abugcalledtoken for writing a greater part of the Sun Dog's lore!)

[retropobor]

Screw it, I'm an art blog now, have some more art (UTY pacifist Route Spoilers for part of it, also there's a lot of text you have to read in order to have this thing make sense)

This is my most recent work, made just last night. It's not perfect, but I'm proud of how it turned out, Although I feel as though pretty much everything needs an explanation here, especially if you feel like you recognize someone here.

For those of you who don't know (AKA pretty much every one of you other than maybe @yaboi88900) I run a DnD campaign. A very very poorly balanced DnD campaign. With a mix of heavy amounts of homebrew, and an inability to get anything playtested, I have my fair share of monsters who have almost resulted in a TPK, so I decided to put them all in an artwork to memorialize them.

Left and right: Blood elementals

A while back I was watching a a dungeon dad video about a creature known a blood elemental, and I thought they were cool, so I added a combat encounter against them. I was expecting quite a few people, so I thought 1 per person in the 4 person party worked out, and made a combat encounter against 4 of them... 2 people showed up, and as it turns out a CR 5 Blood elemental is actually pretty dangerous against a level 5 player, so even after killing 2 off, it was still a brutal combat session. There wasn't much else to say about it though. In my opinion, it was rather forgettable.

Middle (Bottom): The Cabinet Man

Ironically the blood elementals weren't the worst encounter of the storyline. Again 2 people showed up for the session, because during this time, we were struggling on player count. Basically everything after the blood elementals was this whole Lemon Demon based plotline with the BBEG being the main character from No Eyed Girl/When He Died, and the quest giver being the main character from Touch Tone Telephone (I can go more in depth in another post if y'all want to know more about it). As you are probably beginning to realize that fine figure in the center is based on Cabinet Man. He's one of if not the first stat block I ever made, which means he's not balanced in the slightest. I'll save the details of what this Cabinet Man can do for a different post because there's a lot on him, but for now know that he's never met a foe he couldn't kill before his second phase. Also he gave my players a crippling fear of arcade cabinets.

Background: The Demon Core Golem

I never actually ran this one because it's too late game for any campaign I've ever ran, but even without running it, just about everyone who's seen the stats has an innate fear for this thing and for good reason, because this thing is strong. It only has a few attacks, but all of them deal a lot of damage, and as expected for something named after the demon core, this thing is highly radioactive, meaning it deals massive amounts of unblockable poison damage if you get near it, and it can give out radiation sickness (CDC accurate radiation sickness at that). Survive all of that, and it does the job its father could only dream of, and becomes a literal nuclear bomb, at which point pretty much all you can do is run. Yes it is as powerful as it sounds. No I don't know what I was thinking when I made this.

Middle (Top): Ceroba Ketsukane, Defiler of Pacifism

This one's the most recent of the lethal encounters, having the related plotline finished tuesday. So Undertale Yellow came out, and I absolutely loved it (if you couldn't tell already), so I decided to adapt bits of the game into a plotline in the campaign (albeit with some lore and plot edits to fit the world, and because total plagiarism just ain't my style). Well if you know anything about the pacifist route, the final boss is Ceroba who dons a mask and becomes incredibly powerful* The party was sweeping through Ceroba's first second phases, and most of the third phase with ease, so I decided to quit sugar coating it for the second half of the third phase. When I was making the stat block for Ceroba I gave her an aoe attack, and perfect for her, all the players were grouped together in one place, so I decided to use that AOE attack, and in one round, I accidentally reduced the entire party other than the sorcerer in the backlines to hit point levels ranging from death saving throws to 4 at the best. Safe to say I re sugar coated it after that. And for anyone wondering, Ceroba was spared, and is now safe and sound in Ketsukane mansion, and she may or may not become a quest giver for some more side quests, Idk yet.

[riddlerosehearts]

Okay now EYE must ask you - how are you liking BG3??? How far are you?? Tell me about your Tav!!!! (Please and thank you <3)

hi!! 💖 i only started the game a few days ago and it was an impulse decision i made after having previously told a friend of mine that i definitely wanted to play it but that it'd probably take me a while to get around to it (and, because i thought i wouldn't play anytime soon i hadn't really been trying to avoid spoilers). but, i have the PC version and while it generally runs just fine, my computer is kind of slow and the game is so big that it took hours to download and install. so i kind of went ahead and started to come up with a whole character idea during that time LOL. sorry if my explanations of things get a bit too rambly/disorganized. i'm actually not very far in the game at all yet, i've been spending a ton of time doing stuff in the druids grove and i'm supposed to go find halsin but i haven't even gotten karlach in my party yet! i've recruited all the main companions except for her but i am excited to meet her. gonna put the rest of this under a cut for length.

my only background with DND is that i listened to the first campaign of the adventure zone and i've watched the legends of vox machina show. i also have a friend who's super into her own DND campaign and another friend who's told me a lot about dimension 20, specifically fantasy high--and i've considered trying it out for her but haven't gotten around to it yet! i think she actually told me the same thing about the episode lengths making it easier to get into than critical role, because i had tried critical role and it was just so long that i couldn't stick with it. but, yeah, i've also looked at the forgotten realms wiki a bit but i've never actually played DND. i have played skyrim and final fantasy 14 and some other similar RPGs with customizable blank-slate protagonists, and in those types of games i always have to make OCs to roleplay as--usually i'll think up a basic idea to start with and then flesh the character out as i get into the game. they're never really self-inserts but i do often project onto them a little.

so, in games like these my first character is usually an elf that specializes in elemental/destructive magic. idk why, that's just what i've always liked. in ff14 i started out as a black mage without knowing it was the hardest class to play LMAO. soooo i went into this planning to create a high elf sorcerer, but as i started writing out ideas and thinking about what to do, i ended up creating a half-high elf bard. they're transmasc/nonbinary and in my head they use he/they pronouns, but i picked the nb option in the character creator and that causes npcs to actually use they/them in dialogue which i think is so cool. i love that the character creator is so inclusive in regards to gender.

anyway, i named them elenion, which is something i took from the lord of the rings universe because i'm a huge nerd. in LOTR it's an elvish word that basically means "of the stars". here's a couple screenshots i took when i first started. let's just ignore the fact that this hairstyle clips into elf ears (and also that the face preset is from a mod i downloaded).

i didn't really give him a tragic backstory or even the most interesting story haha--i'm wanting to do something bigger and angstier with another character on a second playthrough when i'm more familiar with the lore and world of the game. and i'll probably also end up changing or expanding on some things about this character later, but for now i just kind of made a normal guy with normal problems. i had this idea that his father, a human who attracted the attention of a beautiful elf woman, was also a bard and was a very successful musician in his youth. so elenion has always shared his father's passion and dreamed of being like him, being able to effortlessly tell incredible tales and inspire crowds of people through song, but no matter how much he studies and practices he never feels good enough. if he seems confident it's usually just because he's gotten really good at faking it. he's also pretty reserved and often avoids having to talk about himself by asking a lot of questions. see, i kind of wanted to specifically find a way to not roleplay the usual sort of loud, flirty, goofy bard, lol. not that i dislike those kinds of characters or anything though!

however, bards are meant to be super charismatic, witty, and persuasive and of course the game strongly encourages that with the dialogue options and skill bonuses you get. so my way of explaining this is to have elenion be a bit like raine from the owl house, in that they may be shy, but they're very firm in their ideals and are no pushover when it comes to protecting themself or their allies. they're clever and have a snarky side to them, and they're genuinely friendly and caring in a way that gives them a sense of quiet charisma. which reminds me that one of the spells i gave them at the start was sleep, and it's made me imagine that when they were a kid they tried calming a crying baby by playing a lullaby on their lute and accidentally ended up casting their first spell.

oh, and, i also wasn't really sure at first where in the world i wanted elenion to come from but i decided on something pretty quickly after getting multiple of those dialogue options suggesting that the protagonist is baldurian! i pictured them growing up in a somewhat small town with their family but moving to baldur's gate as an adult, hoping that if they left the comfort of their home and started to journey out into the world a little they'd eventually find their spark and become the bard they wanted to be. unfortunately they've had little luck so far because even after all this time they can't see that maybe their whole fixation on trying to be just like their father and achieve the exact same kind of success that he had is holding them back. the fact that their father died the year after they moved away hasn't helped either. and now, in the middle of traveling to a historical site that they'd wanted to see in person and use as inspiration for a song, they've been abducted by mindflayers and are struggling with the massive upheaval that this has brought into their relatively mundane life.

so. yeah. my tav for this first playthrough may not be the most unique or exciting character but i like him! i like figuring out what kind of choices he'll make and thinking up new ideas for what he likes and how he sees the world. also, i find it funny how in your reply to my ask you said you thought you'd be into gale but then you fell for astarion--because i thought that i'd be all over the edgy, brooding, snarky vampire man, but it turns out gale is so charming and funny that i'm probably going to romance him first. i'm also pretty intrigued by shadowheart and wyll but i'm so early in the game that i can't even say who i think my overall favorite companion will be because they all seem so interesting!! even karlach despite the fact that i haven't actually met her yet, i've seen a bunch of cool gifsets of her and my brother told me he's been romancing her on his playthrough. i really need to go find her soon.

i'm sure you can tell from everything i wrote here that i am definitely enjoying the game LOL. i can already tell that there's just so many different things to do and see, that i will both need and want to do a lot of different playthroughs and that it's going to be something that sticks with me. nothing wrong with using guides and walkthroughs btw! i do it too because i'm worried about missing too many things and have the world's worst sense of direction even with a minimap. honestly i probably need to look up some guides for certain mechanics that i don't feel like i've really figured out yet. there's a sarcophagus trap in the ruins early in the game that got me SO stuck and got my whole party wiped and then i looked up a video and found out you could turn off the whole trap system by pushing a switch... i felt so stupid askjdfgf.

anyway, i think this got to be way too long of a reply so i will stop here! but if you ever wanna tell me more about your tav or anything definitely feel free to and i hope you're having an awesome day!

[rinwellisathing]

Get To Know People Better Tag Game

I was tagged by @graysparrowao3! thank you!

Three Ships:

So I assume this is like favorites? Okay, I'll try to do separate fandoms as well to keep it interesting and I'll try and make it less common ships, not exactly rare ships per se because like... I am very shy and anxiety prone so truthfully iunno what's rare and not because I don't engage a lot.

Thunderweave (Gale/Rolan) : I really like this one, even more since my fiancee and I RPed it with the idea of transmasc Rolan. It's really kind of interesting and also Rolan deserves a better fellow wizard than Lorroakan and I think Gale is a great fellow wizard being both talented, secure in his abilities, but also willing to see the potential and power in another person. Also I super identify with Rolan and my fiancee does a really good really convincing Gale for RP and cosplay. Kabru/Mithrun: I initially preferred Kabru/Laios, which I still really like honestly, but I read a longer post about Mithrun's disabilities and his trauma and how Kabru treats him like a person when most people don't and like as a heavily traumatized person who became suddenly and severely disabled as a result, I really really relate and hope that my partners will show me that same level of care when they are able (distance has been the main reason why not, my mom has mainly been the one taking care of me since I became disabled so I don't really know what my partners will do in person because one lives far away and one has been called away on family issues since before this became a major issue) Thraina (Thrall/Jaina) : This is the only hetero ship I consistently come back to. I usually prefer Sylvanas/Jaina, but realistically I don't want to put that one here for only one reason. Sylvanas/Jaina has a lot of basis in what it could be (No one at Blizzard who has been there consistently through their entire development is talented enough to have made it work so it's all theoretical and based on what much better unpaid fanfiction writers decide). Thraina, meanwhile was unintentionally somehow written as one of the most equitable, healtyh, equal, and level relationships in all of WoW and it wasn't even canon...mainly because Metzen is a weird creepy misogynist (one of the main reasons I actually mainly write Aggra/Jaina as a ship actually, because both deserve better and are, in theory, better than that bag of derivative Marvel obsessed dicks allows them to be) but anyway, it's just fascinating to me how the healthiest ship in WoW was axed, shut down, and denied despite how genuinely good it was. I could write essays on this, I *HAVE* written essays on this, but I'll spare you. First ship: Domon Kasshu/Chibodee Crockett (G Gundam) but also Meg Giry and Christine Daae (Phantom of the Opera) these were simultaneous, so honestly I had to put both.

Last Song: Where You Are (Moana Soundtrack)

Last Movie: it was this obscure random horror movie I found on Peacock called 'Wait Till Helen Comes' about a child ghost. I tend to since I've been unable to work stay up late making costume pieces and writing and pick random horror movies for background. It wasn't bad, honestly.

Currently reading: Humblewood campaign setting book for an actual play I want to do Faerun 3.5 Player's Guide for flavor bits for my BG3 fanfics and location lore for my BG 3 sequel campaign Cinderwich by Cherie Priest

Currently watching:

Interview With a Vampire Crispy's Tavern Currently Eating: Opera Cake Currently craving: The nastiest, filthiest Durgetash ERP, preferably with my fiancee as Gortash. Favorite color: Purple

Current Obsession: BG 3 Prehistoric ocean animals Junji Ito Sharks in general Costuming Fatal Frame Last thing I googled: Sophia Loren Favorite Season: WInter

Skill I'd like to learn: Shoe making Metalurgy Best advice: You're never done learning until you're dead...even then, let's assume we get reincarnated and then rinse, repeat, start learning again. I'm tagging @iron-bullogna @vialae @vestigialpersonality @dm-dragonpuff

[littlebittyhollowbugs]

1, 8, and 15 for the ask thingie?

1- my favorite song is a hard one I love the whole soundtrack to pieces, but I have particular fond memories of hearing Greenpath, the dung defender and especially sealed vessel for the first time.

When I entered Greenpath my first playthrough, was when I think I really fell in love with the game. And the music played big part in that. It gives big studio Ghibli vibes and it feels cozy but adventurous all at once. I will never forget that moment.

Dung defender I heard first actually while watching my sister play, and it was the first boss fight I remember where the music immediately stuck out to me. It captures knighthood and honor so well. and it's one (big) aspect of that fight that makes it so much fun. That and Ogrim's cheerful, playful demeanor.

Sealed vessel though! Sealed vessel was actually the very first song I heard, and I had saved it to a playlist of mine. (To help inspire my writing.) Years before I even got into hollow knight. So my brother actually bought the game the year it came out for his birthday and he and my little sister were obsessed with it for a while, I had no interest. (Didn't really play video games at all back then.) but I always really loved the art style and the vibes of the game, and I would listen as they told me about whatever bits of lore they could figure out. Anyway at one point my brother was showing me some video that had the sealed vessel soundtrack in the background and I went to look it up and save it later because THAT. SONG.

Especially the build up near the end, I get goosebumps every time. TO. THIS. DAY.

It always deeply impressed me, but now, after playing the game, and having the context for it, it makes it hurt so much worse. I will quite literally tear up if I am listening to it without distracting myself. (And the first time I heard it in game, was also while watching my sister play. At the time I did not have all the context and this was before I became obsessed, I still was tearing up though, you have no idea how distressed I was watching that fight.)

Moving on to question,

8- My favorite enemy probably lore and character design-wise, I'd have to say the mantises. I actually struggled so much in both the mantis tribe and queens garden because of them. (I was terrible my first playthrough tbh I've gotten so much better but it was fun) but I love them so much. (I'm obsessed with mantis tribe lore actually. I don't ever talk about it here, but my sisters and I have tons of headcanons and theories anyway) The traitors were annoying but they make the queens garden area so interesting and I've gotten a ton better at dodging their attacks. and walking through the mantis village after defeating the mantis lords and gaining the respect of the tribe, it's so cool. I love bowing back to them. I love them.

Also really love like, all of the mosskin. The mosscreeps are adorable and the one moss knight standing by the lake of Unn, love that guy especially.

15- Least favorite boss? Honestly, I really don't like fighting any of the dream warrior bosses. At least not after beating them once. I play in the godhome a lot and they are some of the few bosses I just, don't ever replay. Not because they are really that hard for me, actually the bosses that have taken me the most tries to beat (watcher knights, sentinel Hornet, PV, NKG ect.) are some of my favorites in the game. They're just the most.. tedious? The most annoying? I guess. And they aren't even really bad, just in comparison to other bosses in the game you know? And the characters themselves and the character designs and whatnot I find really interesting, but the boss fights themselves, Not the most enjoyable.

Wow, those are some long replies XD thanks for the ask! I love any and all excuses to talk about this game.

[ko11ok]

Just wanna say ty for being some of the chosen Kollok people that carried the hashtag and are still around

hahaha yeah ofc!!

honestly i still need to like. actually finish series 2 (cannot call it kollok because kollok 1991 is always just kollok in my heart) i got maybe three episodes in because personally I wasn't enjoying the direction they went with it. i think it would've been better as an independent series, it just didn't have the heart and soul kollok 1991 had.

okay. i was like. i don't need to go on a rant....but i want to >:)

one of the things I liked about kollok 1991 was how messy it was, it was messy and fun and dark at the same time, there was a lot of cool stuff about it, and it felt like watching someone's beloved homegame with their unhinged dm, where not everything got wrapped up neatly and you never quite knew what was going to happen next.

the second series felt to clean to me, everything was put together, very streamline, very neat. it didn't have the edges or the humor 1991 had that was integral to [of course], my personal enjoyment of it. i feel like the ascended in general felt flat to me as well, like they were trying so hard to get us invested and interested in them that they wrapped back around to myself feeling like i didn't know them at all.

i think they tried really hard to do a little bit of everything, trying to let old fans see the legacy cast and their story, bring in a new audience with the ascended and the new story. it just all felt like? too much? like by catering to everyone and anyone they catered to no one. I remember zac saying that he wanted the second series to be something that anyone who'd never heard of kollok before could pick up and start watching, but to me that was so incredibly flawed. 1991 by its nature is a complex story, even if you created something new in the universe, the deeper lore and characters are still there, especially with how it was written.

my only pet peeve with zac's gaming style is that it's clear he almost always bites off more than he can chew, and when he needs to reconcile what he's bitten off, he almost always just spits it out (retcons) rather than just tries to swallow it (improvise, shift). he has extremely rich backstories and background written, and he likes to drop hints and ideas, but he never reveals any answers that are truly satisfying. (which maybe I missed because i didn't watch the second series). he likes to tease his audience, but never truly satisfy, in my opinion the most satisfying moments almost always came from the players.

imo legacy and the ascended should've been two different shows. they could've had the same format, they even could've existed in the same universe! [BIG BIG, "this is coming from someone who watched only like the first few episodes"], they could've just broken them up into separate shows at separate times. they could've given the old fans a satisfying ending, and given the new fans something to chew on with the ascended.

in my like. dream scenario, legacy's timeline instead takes place in 2002. (i've mentioned how i think a "kollok 2002" would be really cool, another palindrome year, most of the cast would be 11 years older, and in their late twenties/early thirties) they could still have mallory having gone into the black rock, tibby wracked with guilt, and the others sort of far flung. i think they could've pulled the same stuff and gotten a good result!! they could've even kept the timeline!! the ascended would rebel shortly after, the could've even done a series about that, which would've felt very similar, and ended where the show eventually got to, with the disillusioned ascended trying to figure out what the fuck they were going to do

idk! just my ten cents on it. sorry for taking your message and doing a lil rant lmao hope you don't mind

maybe i should do a sweet kollok rewatch in the future soon....like 1991 is pretty long but maybe i could swing it again >:)

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (30/04/23)

there was no WSJ this week cause of golden week break but there was still some other stuff, like the new manga from the danberu duo or me catching up some anime

also starting from this week gonna have some background colours in the series list too, to make it easier to parse at a glance, but I'll include the meaning for them before it always

also I meant to watch a couple more anime (at least the first 3 eps) but got distracted with other stuff during the week. oops, I'll get to it tho, it's only a couple more

green - new series (anime in the first 3 eps count as new but silver those are more than the first 3 yeah but I meant to watch them before 4 came out let me live)

Anime

Uma Musume - Road to the Top Ep1 - 2

bruh. idk why these damn horse girls have such a grip on me but they do some places in s1 made me cry and this was wrenching my heart too which is fucked up cause I'm usually p unaffected by stuff anyway, this is a special ONA that'll be just 4 episode, you can even watch it all on uma musume's youtube WITH english subs even it looks great, since it's cygames own studio, the music's great, the voice acting is great, all the quality you'd expect from one of the top grossing gachas in the world (despite being jp only) the thing that surprised me the most was how good the character acting is tho, ofc uma musume has always had the little details with tails and ears but sheesh also I'm loving to see ayabe and my prince opera in action, some horses I've really come to like a lot in recent years cause of twitter

Uma Musume - Road to the Top Ep3

oh tehe I didn't realize ep 3 was gonna fall in this week's post too, putting it separately like this instead of 1-3 to not disrupt the thoughts from when I watched those, anyway good ep, had me tearing up AGAIN (damn horses..), it pains me to see ayabe suffering so much :( but I was looking up stuff about the main trio after the other 2 eps and saw Real Horse Lore so I know what's gonna happen in the finale already lol, it'll still be good tho

Megumin Ep1 - 4

let me start off by saying I'm never watched konosuba cause of aqua, kazuma and darkness, however I do like megumin. watching this since I know I wouldn't need to watch it to know anything (tho if you spent any time on tumblr back when it first came out you've seen it all through gifs and caps and clips like me so..) but anyway

it's alright, the only good animation moment was at the start of ep 1 with, of course, the explosion but I shouldn't have expected much considering what I know, oh well. however, takarie (megumin) and toyosaki aki (yunyun) really carry it with their performances, tho mostly takarie cause of how megumin in lol

not really much to say other than that so far, if you like megumin then it's a must watch show but you already knew that if you do. she should be using her first explosion next ep (5) so that should be cool

Imas CG: U149 Ep1 - 4

TL;DR: if you weren't gonna watch U149 cause "it's just for kids" you're wrong, and if you like the previous im@s anime do yourself a favour and watch it cause it's incredibly good too. I'll be honest I wasn't too sure about U149 at first, since it's the kids from CG I thought it was gonna be, well, aimed to kids as a way to bring them in into the franchise but I was very wrong! The show is incredibly good. It follows the same structure as the original im@s anime of having and episode dedicated to each of the cast members (completed with their character song as the ed) and it can actually be serious. Like in ep 3, miria is live streaming with satou shin and she gets some hate messages in the chat and it's a very tense scene. they even did this cool trick where the noticeably muted the colours during that scene to give it an heavier atmosphere it was so good man. Also I love all the cameos of other cg girls, the direct and background easter egg ones too. Also because I played the game hearing the insert songs and eds just got me going like that leo pointing me lol. Anyway I'm start to ramble too much but, please understand, I love idols. A lot. One final thing I'll say however is: it was very funny going directly from megumin into this and seeing the difference in quality; Megumin has the bare minimum of animation (cause kadokawa) but you can really see the passion behind U149, all the characters got little details and you can see their personality with how they move and interact with each other.

Mashle Ep4

still nothing crazy animation but we did get the lance fight and the first muscle magic moment, and it actually didn't look half bad which gives me hope for fights later on but we'll see how it turns out

Pokemon Horizons Ep4

nice ep, mostly an introduction to roy the other protag, he isn't nearly as annoying as he could be so that's good, there was also a buncha good expressions so that's fun

Jigokuraku Ep5

nice episode, mostly exposition and set up so some people aren't gonna like it, but it happens every now and then in the breaks between action. also they really made takarie say chinpo noooo

Manga

ST✰R: Strike it Rich Ch 0 - 1

new manga by the duo behind danberu, yabako and maam, it's probably gonna be set in the kengan universe since it's yabako writing it but we'll see. anyway like it said in the post I made before, it's about a underground fighting ring for women, it came out with a prologue chap and the 1st one, setting up all the characters and all that, the art is a lot more brutal than I expected since I just see danberu as ripped cute girl fanservice but shoulda kown better not really much else to say, chap 1 ended with a big cliffhanger, I wish it was a bit longer, hina down here seems interesting enough tho so we'll see how it goes, gonna be rough remembering to read it tho since it's biweekly

Dandadan Ch103

nice and emotional chap, should only have 1 or 2 more left of vamola's backstory now

Saihate Quartet Ch10

not much to say, tho it's nice that luci's already shown up to the cast according to my buddy mega it's not doing great in terms of views, so it's very likely to get canceled/end soon so that's a rip

Kaiju 8 Ch85

the first 1v1 fight to end, they didn't have to go full yaiba at the end there but it was still good. next up is cap narumi so that should be good too tho the one I'm looking forward to the most is hoshina's

Shuumatsu no Valkyrie Ch77

aww I was hoping they'd say who the next fight was gonna be but they didn't, didn't expect to see siegfried tho but since he's been established now there's no way he's not gonna do something later

Jiangshi X Ch14

thought this was gonna be the classic "mc awakens to a power they didn't know they had when in danger" but it was just the amulet his dad gave him (? afaik), also I think the art looked off this week? but might be just me

Spy x Family Ch79

nice yor centric chap, been a while, tho her harpie coworkers were annoying me with their jealousness

Ayakashi Triangle Ch128

ah yes the classic aquarium date, expecting a lot of shenanigans next week since everyone's following them

[dojae-huh]

What do you think of GOT the beat and do you think they are in anyway related to SuperM. They also have 7 members, BoA also seemed to have Taemin's role? As to why she also has Taemin's role, I think you once said TM is like the one controlling them all (SuperM members) and in Stamp on it (GTB's latest title song), the dance break started with BoA standing in the middle and she did this dance and they (GTB mems) saying she's like a dark magician controlling them all

I like the group. I'm pretty impressed with "Stamp on it" MV. It's all about showing off the girls, but it is very well done. And the styling is superb. BoA also got a much better make up and a more suitable outfits this time around (in "Step Back" she looked noticeably older in comparison to the rest).

I listened to the album. Continue to be surprised that Korean female idols have metallic tone to their voices. There are very few exceptions.

I like that super-groups like GOT give an opportunity for older idols to get more time on the stage. I don't know BoA, but I've seen a short clip with her where she expressed her desire to continue to perform. However, she doesn't have enough interest from the young public, if not for LSM owing her, she wouldn't get solo albums, me thinks. GOT won on music shows already.

SM establish new rules for idols, makes their careers longer than in the past. Which means that those neos who decide to stay, will have similar opportunities.

I actually never thought about GOT's connection to SMCU, but now that your brought it to my attention... in the MV commentary video BoA said that Taeyeon's star near the left eye makes it "an odd eye". It was an unusual comment. And now I remember that Seulgi, Karina and Taeyeon had odd eyes in their MVs. We decided it means being under the influence of Taemin, but with still remembering and knowing who they are (and possibly playing double-agent).

BoA is the goddess in SMCU, the good force. When SMCU was introduced, she was observing the others.

GOT girls enter a mansion and are scanned by surveliance technology, which Black Mamba uses. There matrix grid is shown in green as well. In the song they are taunting an interested in them party to come out and face them, enter the game, but warn that "you better watch out". Winter has a line "D-days are coming". There is "Someone can take a rule and change it". Of course the song is about a suitor/possible lover, but it also can be enterpreted (through lore lense) as an adversary (Taemin).

All groups tell the story from different time periods. Maybe GOT Karina has already defeated Black Mamba and any control the latter had on her.

"Step back" doesn't have an MV, however the Stage as space images on the background. So maybe before the real lore, gathering at BoA's planet?

[mysticdragon3md3]

A lot of the Claude fans on my timeline have been excited about this upcoming character since they spotted him on the cover art.

Still don't know anything about him though. lol Other than, it's nice to see diverse skin tones, and he is reminiscent of some ideas that went into Claude's character/background.

I wonder if Intelligent Systems is reusing whatever research they did for Claude's backstory. It'd be nice if they could show us more of their ideas for Claude/Almyra that got cut or unused from FE3H.

If he turns out to be Claude von Riegan 2.0, maybe I'll get interested in Fire Emblem Engage.

But I'm like, sure, some things about him are a bit reminiscent of Claude. But why would I move my fixations onto this new character, just because he reminds us of Claude, when we've still got Claude right here? Maybe it's just me. I have a history of being touchy and even defensive over my favorite characters, as well as reluctant to move on with my fandoms (aka obsessive fixations). Maybe I've gotten too out of practice in taking on new fandoms with every new anime season and every new game. Why take the time/effort to get into new things instead, when I'm already very happy staying obsessed with Claude and my current ships?

I'm still not really interested in Fire Emblem Engage. FE3H was the first Fire Emblem to catch my interest, and I wouldn't be surprised if it stayed that way. I've seen a lot of veteran FE fans joke that you never really move on from your first Fire Emblem. But I can't seem to even concurrently be interested in FE Engage. I didnt even finish watching the new trailer from this week. I couldn't even finish watching Faerghast's analysis vid for it. (I only knew about this new character making an official appearance in the trailer, because everyone was posting about him.) Engage looks pretty, but unless Claude and Dimitri are summoned, I can't stay interested. My fixations are always obsessive and often singular. But also, I get this weird feeling of overwhelm, whenever I think about looking into all the new characters and lore for other FE games. And Engage has its own story, on top of calling back to previous games' characters and their lore. I feel like each Fire Emblem is essentially asking me to get into a whole other series. Maybe FE3H was already a lot for me---so much lore, character backgrounds, motivations, relationship dynamics, and all to get a full grasp of, before any of my thoughts on FE3H would feel safe to post, without getting yelled at for being incomplete information---and maybe the subconscious idea of starting that all over again is too much for me. Maybe the idea of getting into another FE, FE Engage, is just too overwhelming for me.

In any case, those are my impressions, for my personal fandom records. We'll see how badly this post ages.😂

[icewindandboringhorror]

that sort of video essay format on youtube where people spend 20 - 100 minutes analyzing random things is my true weakness because i am a fool and for some reason my nonsense brain is just always up to listen to people discuss literally any concept despite it usually being stuff I couldn’t care less about like a movie I’ve never seen (or even wanted to see) in my life or a sport I’ve never heard of

[magneticflower]

Ooo, I'm gonna go crazy a bit with the TV asks (sorry not sorry) but: 2, 6, 8, 10, 15, 16, 19, 35, 41, 50 & 51!

TV Show Game Asks

This took me a good minute to finally answer so I apologize for that and I also apologize because I got super long-winded as usual. I'll put like everything after the first two questions under readmore so I don't clutter the dash sjsjs. Thank you so much for sending so many! They were fun to think about and answer. Hopefully, my answers are coherent sjsj

2. if you could have saved one TV show from cancellation, which one would it be?

This is by far the easiest because Anne With An E deserved it's five seasons and I will forever hate netflix and CBC for robbing us of it

6. which shows do you think are underrated and need more love?

Hmmmmm, well recently I've been rewatching Baby Daddy which was a show on ABC that had the iconic Melissa Peterman on it and it's just sitcom gold. It's super ridiculous and all the characters are messy in their own beautiful ways. It's super fun whilst also having some SERIOUS pining going on that just works. I'm really enjoying rewatching since it has been so long and I forgot everything. I forgot how good it was.

For a newer show, I think Only Murders in the Building is pretty underrated for how good it is--- like I know it's got a fair amount of people watching it but definitely feels like it hasn't quite hit on tumblr like some other shows have even though it is just SO good. I never expected the trio of Steve, Martin, and Selena to be so good but they work together flawlessly and it's such a fun murder mystery comedy that has a really unique tone to it.

8. do you prefer week-to-week content, or just binging all in one go?

For new series, I think I actually prefer the week-to-week content because the experience last longer and there's more time to digest episodes and to engage in creating and discussing content. When it's all released at once, it feels like you have to race to finish it otherwise you're gonna get spoilers or you're gonna miss the chance to discuss it if you want and I've realized that that actually is just not a fun experience and ruins the journey of consuming the series. I much prefer getting a week to process an episode rather than having to binge it all at once just so you get to see it all before it is spoiled for you.

For old series, I love to go on a good old binge of it just relive it.

10. what’s one show you thought you’d love but turned out to really hate?

I was excited to get new a/tla verse content way back in the day when Iegend of k*rra was released but it absolutely was a letdown and ruined a lot of the original lore and characters and I rue the day it ever showed up

15. do you feel like there are any overrated TV show formats?

(This kinda goes hand-in-hand with the previous question) After numerous letdowns, I have decided that spinoff/sequel series with an entirely new generation or with the former generation as just background stand-ins for when they're deemed plot-worthy enough to make an appearance should just be stopped. The original characters are always disrespected or disregarded in some fashion too and it sucks.

I have yet to see one really do any justice to the source material and more often than not it ends up contradicting it in such an egregious way that it sours a lot of what made the original series special because people start waving around the new contradictory materials as something you MUST agree with even if it is a terrible new take or it ruins old characters/concepts.

I hate that I can't go into tags for the original series of shows that have sequels without having to see the nonsense the new show has thrown into the mix that totally ruins the original canon content or characters and I wish they'd would just stop making them in general. They're never as good as the original.

16. do you feel like there are any underrated TV show formats?

I don't know if this counts as like a format or whatever but I think that kdramas have it right by having the stories of their shows already figured out in its entirety before it's released. Sure, you usually only get one season of the show and it's usually only around 16 to 20 episodes but I'd rather have a show know where it is going than end up like a show that has to keep constantly find new ways to drag out the story because they want to get renewed for another season even if the series doesn't need it. Like, even with Moira, she said she had already decided on 5 seasons for AWAE and knew what she wanted to do with it and I actually like that so much. I would rather a story know where it is going than getting ruined because the creators never had a set idea on how they wanted to end it or were too money hunger to know when to do so.

19. are there any shows on your “to watch” list right now?

oh, so many but I've started a new chapter in my life and I have absolutely no time for myself so I've just been watching familiar content to de-stress rather than attempt any new stuff. I need to finish several kdramas (Devil J/udge and D/oom At Your Service in particular) and eventually, I'll try an episode of s/quid game just to see if it my type of thing. There's definitely more I probably have on my list but those are the ones I can think of right now.

35. who are your top 5 TV characters right now?

hMM, I haven't been watching a lot of tv so I'll just list 1 fave character from five of some of my faves series

Toph Bei Fong from ATLA

Ino Yamanaka from Naruto

Marilla Cuthbert from Anne With An E

Chuck Bartowski from Chuck

Oliver Putnam from Only Murders in the Building

41. if you could change 1 detail about any show, what would you change and why?

There are so many shows I would have just 1 thing I needed to change but my mind is on awae right now so I'm just gonna stick with Mary didn't need to die and I wish they didn't do that to her even if that episode was heartbreakingly beautiful.

50. what’s one TV cliche you love?

Always love me a good found family cliche especially if they bicker and tease each other all the time but would absolutely die for each in a heartbeat if need be.

51. what’s one TV cliche you despise?

I don't know if it counts as a cliche or not but I'm gonna say it anyways---- I absolutely hate whenever a certain character (especially a main) never seems to actually get consequences for their actions even when they treat the people around them like dirt and on top of that they always seem to somehow end up the victim of the situation even though they are the one that is the root of the problems. That ish irks me to no end and will easily turn a character I enjoyed into someone I no longer like anymore because they've been completely stunted in their character growth since they never actually have to own up to what they do.