#i really do love the atmosphere of this game

[d-targaryenshoe]

Blissful Banter- Luke Thompson

Word count: 1432

Summary: Yet a lie detector brings fun to one's connection even the truth likes to be discovered.

Luke glanced at the lie detector machine with skepticism and amusement.

You sat across from him with a playful smile on your face.

You had been together for a little over a year, and despite your age gap—Luke being thirty-six and you twenty-five, you had developed a deep and affectionate relationship.

However, you both had a teasing nature, often poking fun at each other in a way that only made your bond stronger.

Today, you decided to put your playful banter to the test, literally, by trying out a lie detector test.

"Are you sure about this?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched the technician prepare the equipment.

"Absolutely," you replied, your voice light with excitement. "I’ve always wanted to see if you could lie to me with a straight face."

Luke chuckled, shaking his head. "I don’t lie, love. I’m an open book."

You snorted, rolling your eyes. "Sure, and I’m the Queen of England."

The technician, a stern-looking man in his fifties, adjusted the sensors on Luke’s wrist.

"Remember, the machine will measure changes in your physiological responses," he explained in a monotone. "So try to relax."

"Easy for you to say," Luke muttered under his breath. He caught your amused gaze and winked. "Bring it on."

With the machine ready, the technician nodded at you to start.

"Okay, let’s start with something simple," you said, crossing your legs and leaning back in your chair. "Who’s your favorite character in Bridgerton?"

Luke smirked. "Benedict, of course. How can I not."

The lie detector remained steady, confirming his truthfulness.

"Really?" you asked, raising an eyebrow. "Your own character."

Luke laughed, shaking his head. "Anthony’s too uptight. And Colin is the opposite of Ben, cool, confident, and irresistible."

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t hide your smile. "Alright, Mr. Confident. Let’s see if you’re as honest about other things."

You leaned forward, your tone turning teasingly. "Do you like my cooking?"

Luke hesitated for a fraction of a second, a split-second that didn’t escape your notice.

"Of course I do," he replied, his voice a tad too enthusiastic.

The machine beeped softly, indicating a small spike.

You gasped, your eyes wide with mock indignation. "You liar! I knew you didn’t like my quinoa salad!"

Luke chuckled, shrugging. "It’s not that I don’t like it, I just... prefer your lasagna."

"Mm-hmm," you said, squinting at him playfully. "I’ll remember that next time you ask for seconds."

The atmosphere between you was light and full of affection, with the lie detector test turning into a fun game rather than a serious interrogation.

You both knew that these little white lies—like Luke’s opinion on quinoa—were part of what made your relationship so enjoyable.

"Alright, my turn," Luke said, sitting up a bit straighter. "Do you secretly think I’m too old for you?"

Your expression softened as you considered your answer. "Truthfully? No, I don’t think you’re too old for me. I love that you’re a bit older. It makes me feel like I have someone who’s mature and knows what he wants."

The machine stayed silent, confirming your truthfulness.

Luke’s heart warmed at your words, and he smiled, reaching across the table to take your hand. "I’m glad to hear that."

You squeezed his hand in return, then leaned back with a mischievous grin. "But just to keep things interesting… Do you ever get jealous when I talk about how attractive Simone Ashley is?"

Luke’s grin turned into a mock scowl. "Jealous? Me? Never." But the lie detector’s soft beep betrayed him.

You burst out laughing. "I knew it! You’re jealous."

Luke raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, fine, maybe just a little. But can you blame me? She's an absolute gem."

"True," you agreed, still giggling. "But don’t worry, you’re the only one for me."

You shared a tender moment, the banter giving way to genuine affection.

Luke realized that despite the light-hearted nature of the test, it was reaffirming what you both knew deep down—that you were crazy about each other, quirks and all.

"Okay, back to business," Luke said, clearing his throat. "How much did you actually know about Bridgerton before we started dating?"

You blushed slightly, biting your lip. "Honestly? Not much. I might have watched a couple of episodes before, but I wasn’t really into it until I met you."

The machine remained silent, and Luke smiled. "So, you started watching it just because of me?"

"Maybe," you admitted, your cheeks still pink. "I mean, it was worth it to understand your character."

Luke laughed, feeling touched. "That’s sweet. I’ll give you that one."

"Your turn," you said, your eyes gleaming with mischief. "Did you really think I was into you on our first date, or did you think I was just being polite?"

Luke chuckled, remembering your first date. "I was pretty sure you were into me. I mean, who wouldn’t be?"

You raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for the lie detector’s verdict.

The machine, however, remained steady, backing up Luke’s confidence.

"Wow, someone’s cocky," you teased, though you were impressed.

"What can I say?" Luke replied, grinning. "I’ve got a sixth sense for these things."

You shook your head, as though you were smiling. "Alright, Mr. Sixth Sense. Here’s a tough one—have you ever lied to me about something important?"

Luke’s smile faltered slightly as he thought about the question.

He wanted to answer quickly and truthfully, but the seriousness of the question caught him off guard.

"No," he said finally, his tone sincere. "I haven’t lied to you about anything important."

The lie detector agreed with him, showing no signs of deception.

You smiled softly, your eyes filled with warmth. "Good. I believe you."

Luke exhaled, realizing just how much your trust meant to him. "I’d never lie to you about something that mattered. You’re too important to me."

For a moment, the playful atmosphere shifted to something deeper, a reminder of the solid foundation you had built together despite your age difference and different life experiences.

"Okay," you said, clearing your throat and lightening the mood again.

"Let’s end on a fun one. Have you ever pretended to be interested in one of my hobbies just because you didn’t want to hurt my feelings?"

Luke laughed, knowing exactly what you were referring to. "You mean like when I pretended to enjoy that pottery class?"

You gasped, your eyes wide with faux outrage. "You didn’t enjoy it?"

"The clay was all over the place, and I made a bowl that looked more like a pancake," Luke admitted, grinning. "But I did it because I wanted to spend time with you."

The lie detector stayed silent, indicating that he was telling the truth.

You giggled, shaking your head. "Okay, I’ll give you that. But I actually thought your pancake bowl was pretty cute."

"Thanks," Luke said, smiling. "But let’s stick to your cooking from now on."

You laughed, the sound warm and infectious. "Deal. But only if you promise to keep watching Bridgerton with me, even when there’s no more Simon Basset."

Luke leaned across the table, capturing your lips in a quick, affectionate kiss. "Deal."

As you wrapped up the lie detector session, Luke realized that the test, while initially just a bit of fun, had brought you closer.

The playful teasing, the honest confessions, and the laughter reminded you both of why you worked so well together.

Despite the differences in your ages, your relationship was built on trust, understanding, and a shared sense of humor.

"Well, that was fun," you said as you stood up, stretching after being seated for so long. "We should do this again sometime."

"Only if you’re ready to admit that I’m your favorite Bridgerton," Luke replied with a wink.

You rolled your eyes, as though you were smiling. "We’ll see about that. Maybe I’ll start lying just to keep you on your toes."

Luke laughed, wrapping an arm around your waist as you walked out of the room. "As long as you keep laughing with me, I think we’ll be just fine."

As you left the building, the sun setting in the distance, you both knew that the little adventure with the lie detector had only strengthened your bond.

After all, love wasn’t just about being truthful, it was about finding joy in each other’s quirks, teasing, and growing together—even when a lie detector was involved.

With that thought in mind, Luke and you walked hand in hand, ready to face whatever challenges—and jokes—your relationship might bring next.

[milehighmegs]

Good Omens Playlists

So I've seen some pretty wonderful Good Omens playlists on Pinterest, most of which are based on music in the show (especially Queen, natch), songs that say how Zira & Crowley feel about one another or describe them as characters.

In the wake (double meaning totally intended) of S2, I wondered: how do they feel about each other NOW? We've all been there. The sad love songs, the sleeping all day, entire pints of ice cream while watching romcoms... but mostly the recounting of how it all could've gone so wrong, what we wished we'd said & done, and what we wish we could say now.

Since Zira & Crowley definitely have communication issues (Nina & Maggie were SPOT ON in their convo with Crowley), I imagine they would have an easier time telling each other their feelings through other means. I'll admit, there's a bias here: this is what I would do, so of course I project onto these characters. But isn't that the beauty of fan art? We put ourselves into the work/live vicariously through them because we have such a damned hard time saying want we want & need and how we feel in plain language? Mostly because such complex feelings are REALLY REALLY hard to explain to ourselves, let alone to another person. But art- writing, music, imagery- can say what we struggle to put into more direct words. Music is an enormous part of who I am, so I often find that the songs of others say perfectly what I feel I never could.

On that note (pun only slightly intended), I've created 3 playlists: one for Crowley, one for Zira, and one for the both of them. The individual playlists are meant to reflect the 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. There are elements of other stages within the songs meant to correspond to a particular stage, even coming full circle (it seems like acceptance, but there's a hint of denial in there, etc.). The joint playlist is of songs I imagine would make the memories of each other start to creep in (or totally gobsmack them in the feels) when they hear them, or things they wished they'd said/want to say to each other.

So without further ado, here are the playlists:

Crowley's Heartbroken Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6LyYnip9XuZqcRIEsiDSwz

Zira's Heartbroken Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3YUi13sTfPSR99R1dB2XVY

AziraCrow's Heartbroken Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/48NpfV42Y8LTVSFsui8zl2

For those of you who don't have Spotify, here's what's on the playlists:

Crowley 'Never Tear Us Apart' - INXS 'Bad Romance' - Lady Gaga 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore' - Madonna 'Cosmic Love' - Florence + the Machine 'As It Was' - Hozier 'I Found' - Amber Run 'Wicked Game' - Chris Isaac 'Dancing On My Own' - Calum Scott 'Halo' - Depeche Mode 'Falling' - The Civil Wars

Zira 'i love you' - Billie Eilish 'And I Am Telling You' - Jennifer Hudson 'You'll See' - Madonna 'Somebody That I Used To Know' - Gotye 'Someone Like You' - Adele 'Boys Don't Cry' - The Cure 'Un-break My Heart' - Toni Braxton 'For No One' - The Beatles 'Comfort' - Julia Jacklin 'I Will Always Love You' - Whitney Houston

AziraCrow 'I Have Nothing' - Whitney Houston 'Nothing Compares 2 U' - Sinead O'Connor 'Torn' - Natalie Imbruglia 'Hopelessly Devoted to You' - Olivia Newton John 'In A Lonely Place' - Bush, the Tricky Remix 'With Or Without You' - U2 'Don't Let Go (Love)' - En Vogue

'Don't Speak' - No Doubt 'Here With Me' - Dido

A note on the playlists: I know that Zira wouldn't listen to most of this if any, and Crowley would outwardly cringe just thinking about some of these. The point wasn't to choose songs that they'd go out of their way to hear, it was to capture the feelings they'd be going through. Crowley's songs are a bit darker: more minor keys, moodier atmosphere, etc., while Zira's are more sad but lighter & gentler (except maybe 'And I Am Telling You'; that's a straight-up "aww HELL NO YOU AIN'T GONNA FUCK THIS UP THIS IS HAPPENING YOU KNOW WE BELONG TOGETHER"... well, the song says it pretty well).

I 'd love to hear any thoughts about this, agree or disagree, love or loathe, hate that you love it... What would you put into a ZiraCrow playlist?

Hope you enjoy it!

[spirit-tracks]

I just started Hyrule Warriors (the og) for the first time!!! I got the game secondhand and dusted off Ol' Reliable (WiiU) so I can finally see what the fuss is all about. I know it's a Fighting Game about an interdimensional war and watched like one video of gameplay maybe five years ago? But that's all I know going in.

(I also played a little bit of Age of Calamity on my brother's switch back when it came out, but I never could understand what the hell was happening on the screen at any given moment, so this is fairly fresh of an experience for me.)

Some thoughts!:

The game's art style, fighting gimmick, and cutscenes reminds me a LOT of Super Smash Bros for the Wii, specifically story mode

Link is indeed just as Sexy as everyone makes him out to be. His voice is nice to listen to and the Blue Scarf is quite fetching

Shiek is SO FUN TO PLAY AS and I love being in the Know about their identity because Impa keeps going "I sure do hope Zelda is okay :(((" and I'm giving Shiek the eyeballs 👁👁 like "when are you going to tell her"

I only know the barest barest bare minimum about Lana and Cia going in but I am liking Cia as a villain so far, the reality breaking is awesome and also her bird mask is cool as hell

A lot of people consider this the non-canon explanation for the converging of the timelines, and although I'm not really on board with the Timeline Convergence theory, I DO See The Appeal of this explanation because the cutscene where all the different worlds started to collide and Skyloft was on the same map as Twilight Princess's Bridge of Eldin,,, my inner nerd is screaming

The game unloaded a LOT of mechanics on me all at once, which was a little overwhelming, but I think I'm getting the hang of it just by way of spamming the hell out of my attack button and hoping for the best. I'm starting to learn which button patterns make for my favorite attacks and how the item switching and special attacks help in certain areas. I also read through the tutorials like 5 times each. Despite how much STUFF is going on at any given moment, Im getting the hang of it surprisingly quickly.

It's somewhat difficult to keep track of what the other warriors are saying in the corner of the screen while I'm trying to focus on killing enemies, but I really like how they keep you updated on what's going on all over the battlefield, so that you can react and strategize accordingly. Speaking of the battlefield, I'm SO BAD AT NAVIGATING THE MINIMAP

It didn't take me long to catch on about how to reclaim bases and outposts, and I find a lot of satisfaction in taking back land, especially with the variety of monsters we get from across the other games. Bosses will have the same weaknesses from their og games, and I'm having a blast trying to remember how I killed Dodongo or Gohma in Ocarina of Time so that I can kill them in this game too. It's so rewarding when I get it right!

I've just completed the Valley of Seers, and I'm gonna pick it up again tomorrow maybe! I'm actually really surprised with how much fun I'm having so far, since I'm not usually all that big on Fighting Games, but it definitely helps that it's Zelda specifically 😂

[lunarharp]

played dragon age 2...just simple scribbles

[dropespeon]

god. god. sasasap. ogd

[puppyeared]

38 and 39 for the ask game!

(Love your art by the way)

38: fav song at the moment?

pawprint panic | party at club bug | love birds

39: youtuber you've been obsessed with and why?

link to scruffy's youtube channel

[velvetjune]

i played the remastered alan wake a while back and am replaying the original on steam, and, honestly, they’re so similar, I couldn’t tell which is which if you held up comparisons. ive come across reviews about the game looking outdated and bad (mostly compared to other releases in that time), but the original looks great and I like the hazy dark lighting for both this and awan

[thunderboltfire]

Chants of Sennaar: a review

What if You had modern dictionaries at the Tower of Babel?

It's been a while since I've played a proper point-and-click game and I've got charmed by the fact I've seen Chants of Sennaar described as Dark Souls of Duolingo, so I've decided to buy it.

Is Dark Souls of Duolingo an accurate description of the game? Not really, I wouldn't describe it as exceptionally difficult. It's pretty innovative in its gameplay though, and it definitely draws a bit from Duolingo in its mechanics. Especially in the way the main character learns languages.

Chants of Sennaar puts you in the boots of the Traveller, whose main goal is to explore the mysterious, ziggurat-like Tower. In order to do so, he has to find passage through several floors and learn the languages of its inhabitants to move upward the Tower.

Armed with contextual clues and a notebook used as a dictionary, we learn the meaning of foreign glyphs and decipher the grammar, which helps us solve problems and uncover mysteries.

From a linguistic perspective, the interesting choice that simplifies the language learning is that the Traveller mostly listens, and rarely ever needs to speak/write in learned languages. Also, technically speaking the entire conversation goes on in writing - the inhabitants of the Tower speak in comic word bubbles, which removes the problem of the phonetics, but to compensate for lost complexity, each language has its own writing system. Most of the complex glyphs are based on combination of concepts related to simpler glyphs, which makes them a neat puzzle on their own.

To not spoil too much - the grammar and syntax of the languages are mostly similar, with one big exception and individual exceptions for some grammatical phenomena. For the linguistic nerds out there, all the languages of the Tower are isolating languages, which makes the sentence structure more of a concern but also makes inflexion pretty much nonexistent.

The story has an air of a parable, with the characters not having specific names and most factions representing certain concepts and approaches to life in an archetypal way. The effect is reinforced by the fact that none of the inhabitants of the Tower has a visible face - including the Traveller, whose face is obscured by a hood. It feels like a fable, and the feeling is enhanced by the monumental architecture (which can be considered a separate character telling a large part of the story) and the deliberate color schemes, drowning the locations in gradients of colored light.

The game's visual style is both simple, utilising low-poly models, and very well-executed, with well-thought out color palettes (we don't talk about the water on the bards' level XD), camera angles and stylisation which builds fantastic atmosphere. The UI is extremely minimalistic, which puts further focus on the visually intriguing world. The OST is beautiful and haunting, and while the whole plot is rather uncomplicated with a simple moral, the legendary, cryptic air of it and the feeling of discovery makes it work.

Putting an innovative spin on a classic genre and building amazing atmosphere through visuals and music are definitely the strongest points of Chants of Sennaar.

I have two points of criticism - the last floor of the Tower, which seems to be a little rushed, and the sneaking sections. The game is generally very relaxing, apart from a few small sections in which there is some sneaking or one has to move quickly. To be fair, these sections fit the concept of the levels they're in, and are very forgiving (you can die, but the checkpoints are placed in a way that don't make you lose progress), but for someone looking for pure point-and-click they might seem unnecessarily stressful.

Overall, it's a great adventure and I thoroughly recommend it, especially if You like linguistics or interesting point-and-clicks!

[cubicpeebles]

favorite "slug" "cat" ?

Probably either Enot or Saint. Saint had my favourite campaign, but I find Enot the most fun to draw. I know I'm a bit of a broken record, but it really is so hard to choose!

[wren-likethe-bird]

wren rambles about the borderlands movie in tags

[feluka]

my dragon age origins hot take is that the fade section and ESPECIALLY the deep roads sections of the game were incredible and so much fun

[torchickentacos]

firewatch is SUCH a good fucking game oh my god. listening to the ost while studying and just in love with this game again

[elysiuminfra]

Hi, I just wanted to say that the way you capture movement and color and shadows specifically is very soothing to me, they have a strange, nostalgic feeling to them, like dreams that you can't quite remember, I can't take my eyes off it

thank you...!!! thank you so much!!! ohhh this means the world to me. shalom my friend

[aerithisms]

the sprawling nature and lack of structure of bg3 act 3 isn't dissimilar to act 1 so theoretically i should like it just as much but the lack of companion reactivity in comparison really does make such a difference. act 1 had a similar "fuck around and do whatever" vibe but the characters would have things to say about the random stuff you did. here it kinda feels like they only have much to say when it's to do with their personal quest and if you just do some other side quest they'll be quiet. feels less dynamic and alive :(

[youssefguedira]

majora's mask is so fun it's like. ah yes how should we follow up our popular fantasy adventure game with only vague dark undertones. i know. how about we bring back our child protagonist (who in the previous game was put in a magical coma for 7 years without warning and woke up in a 17 year old's body even though he was still only 10 and then had to save the entire world that had changed so much while he was sleeping and then at the end was sent BACK to the past so he could live out his childhood despite the fact that he has already seen far too much for a 10 year old boy) and send him into another (parallel? hallucination? who knows) land whose population is largely made up of people with the faces of those he already encountered in the first game but now completely different. then we'll add in a time limit of three days before the world ends, which he has to repeat again and again by using time travel to return to the start of the first day. he cannot break this cycle until he succeeds. none of the others know he is repeating the cycle. some know they're doomed, others try and fail to escape before the world ends, others refuse to believe it. our other central mechanic is his collection of masks, some of which canonically contain the souls of dead creatures and forcibly transform him into them when he puts the mask on, which is heavily implied to be painful. it is also suggested he is searching for his companion from the first game who left him without warning at the end when this all starts. perfect

[glitterhoof]

finding out tales of the pizzaplex and fazbear frights is canon