#i was calling my friend and every time there was a cutscene i was like FUCK I FORGOT TO TAKE THE FACE OFF

[cinnamnt]

btw i accidentally did the whole end of act 4 cutscenes with the crying wolf face camo on so naomi’s death scene kind of just looked like tragic beautiful woman yuri

[wandrinstar-media]

things I love about veilguard

Rook might just be my favorite dragon age player character. I love what a good friend they are. I love being this character, in all their iterations.

emmrich and manfred volkarin, just literally everything about them both

I can be nonbinary??? in favorite game series??? plus many other trans & queer characters along a realistic spectrum of ideologies and identities??? FUCK YEAH

factions brought back the feel of selecting an origin a little for me. I wish there had been more content related to each *but* I do really like what there is. I do feel this was done better here than in Inquisition.

Speaking of: my real gripe about Inquisition was just a lack of anything feeling unsettling or spooky or urgent in any way. For me, I learned that the horror elements of previous games were essential for it to really feel urgent, necessary, heroic, and like a Dragon Age game *to me*. imo, Veilguard brought spooky back, with everything from blighted D'Meta's Crossing to Zara Renata's bath to Isseya's haunted twisted grief and the griffon tomb etc etc etc - I really feel like this game didn't hide the creepy parts in the codex this time, and while nothing will ever quite make my skin crawl like Hespith's poetry in the dark blighted deep roads, this brings back an element I was surprised to find I really missed. And the 2.5-3 Big Bads (depending on how you view Solas ymmv) of this game are far more interesting and intense than Corypheus ever was.

I like finally getting to see parts of other countries we've only previously heard about, and I *love* that those areas are realistically somewhat different than the rumor and speculation about them in previous games and that each has grown in unique ways since their first codex snippets.

I like to see that most interactive NPCs are being less openly racist / otherwise bigoted in a Dragon Age game, and I don't really get the people who complain about *not* being called knife-ear or whatever every other minute. I feel that budding cultural shift has been building in game for a long time, we're in new areas, many of which do things differently, and it's well explained by the efforts of groups like the Shadow Dragons and Lucerni and all of our Wardens and Hawkes and Inquisitors and several of the companions shaping change in the world for in-game decades. It can be realistic for things to improve. I love how openly hopeful this game is, when made in such dark irl times. It inspires me to more action in reality.

I love that Bellara and Taash are both clearly neurodivergent in wildly different ways. I love that characters who read very clearly as autistic/ADHD/AuDHD are continuing to be included in spite of all the vitriol there was about Sera.

Lucanis being demi (and imo as a demisexual person myself, quite accurately portrayed as such) is lovely and his romance scenes are delightful whether with Rook or Neve.

I love the other relationships that begin when companions aren't romance by Rook (Taash/Harding, Neve/Lucanis, and Emmrich/Strife are all really cute and have great cutscenes and banter.

The faction based specializations are cool as fuck imo

This game gives me more of the found family vibe of earlier games, I missed that.

Davrin & Emmrich arguing about different Being A Dad Strategies

I've put in 275 hours and I'm still finding new content with each playthrough???

Vorgoth.

I'll probably add more but. yeah. good game.

[raviolirash]

I think we as a fandom have forgotten what a great game BG3 is just as a game. Every playthrough can be different depending on your level of creativity. I have like a dozen Vėlė playthroughs and while story choices remain the same, I always try to do something drastically different every playthrough when it comes to how I handle encounters. And that's what brings me back to this game honestly. It's an infinite well of challenges and fun if you're creative enough.

Sloppenheimer "put a ton of explosives in a backpack, throw it at Myrkul followed by a fireball" strat my beloved.

I think that's why I get so irked every time people call Larian "Satan' for the tiniest dialogue patches. My friends in christ, there is an actual game you're missing out on. Cast invisibility on Astarion before a cutscene starts, switch to him, and have some gremlin fun.

[starshinesama]

✦ In such a lonely world, how I wished to see you again. ✦

Your pleas were heard.

Authors note: this takes place after any regular sagau fic, (definitely imposter au). Reader is Gender-Neutral but B/N is an implied she/her :]

༄ CW: CHAOS,Fluff episode,cringy red liners

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

- POV: after being so lonely in Tervat, - you meet someone from your world, - stranded, like you.

How odd, you feel like your feeling a sense of deja Vu.. hmm, must just be from rewatching the Liyue lantern rite cutscenes over and over!

previously ...

"O-OH, uhm.. im not really sure how to explain this-"

Your about to explain before you hear a familiar voice behind you-

"Your grace~ there you are! Oh? Who's that friend of yours over there?"

no… please not right now..

ugh, not NOW

“your grace?”

no. you are not dealing with Yae Miko today. you’ve had your fair share of chaos already.

you’d rather escape right now right here than have Yae miko spilling your secret to B/N, you've decided, your going to tell her yourself.

You grab B/N’s hand and book it for the nearest Teleport Waypoint!

.　⁺ . ✦

"hufff huff.." You pant furiously as you finally get teleported somewhere else in inazuma..

Probably somewhere in Chinju forest, considering the glowing flowers and trees everywhere

wow, you hadn’t abused your legs that much since the other timeline!

you don't know why you overreacted really.. you finally catch your breath. But hey! It worked out-

“uhm.. WTF IS HAPPENING?!??? and did she just call you your grace?! What was that about??"

oh right.. you avoid B/Ns gaze as u twiddle ur thumbs for comfort

“well.. uhm, do I really need to explain this?”

…

...You literally bled gold earlier.

...

“YES! yes please, can you explain everything? i have no clue how we even got here! are we dead? is this the afterlife? were we reborn- ARE WE IN HEL-!?"

“Hey! slow down girl, ok I can explain everything..” you sigh, this was gonna take awhile to explain, even you had a tough time coming to terms with the fact you were here now

“you might wanna sit down for this one” B/N still shocked and tired from all the running, lets you sit her down on a nearby rock, and thus you begin to explain

"So I was playing Genshin when.."

˓𓄹 ࣪˖

"-and then I saw you! So that's how we're both technically gods now" :D

You pretty much told her everything, wellll almost everything

You still haven't told her about your.. "welcome"

But you’d rather not think about irrelevant things right now

“woah.."

You gulp and nervously await B/N’s reaction..

“[Name].. that-that is…so…”

here it comes..

*You prepare to comfort a shocked B/N, and when she finally opens her mouth..-!!*

“soo.. AAWESOME!! OH MY GOD SO YOUR SAYING- WE’RE ARCHONS?!? wait no scratch that THE GOD OF ARCHONS?!” ✭

“OK I KNOW THIS IS ALOT BU- WAIT YOUR COOL ABOUT THIS?!?” You say surprised, You almost shouted out your words from shock!

“GIRL HOW COULD I NOT?!? THAT SOUNDS SO FUCKING COOLL, You HAVE. to. tell. me. more.”

“Well.. I do have this theory about our powers"

B/N inched closer hanging on go your every word "come on tell me!"

Her eyes sparkled with excitement they were so bright you were kinda scared you were gonna go blind 😨

You chuckle slightly at B/N's amazed expression and continue.. "well I was thinking that since we're the 6th Descenders that we would have some sort of connection to the elements and Celestia, like the traveler-!"

B/N smiled as you continued to rant about your theorys...

.　⁺ . ✦

“woah, So technically.. we're Indestructible like the traveler now?” she glances at a nearby cliff

"NO!! 😨⊹ ermm first of all the Traveler isn't indestructible, they just respawn- tho I'm not sure if it's the same here.. and I haven’t really tested if I was indestructible so..”

“So.. its not off the table? 😏”

You look towards the nearby cliff, and then look at B/N, she looks back at you.

You both smirk at each other

╭╯. ˚˖ ⁰₊ ⊹ ∘ ⁖⌯

“AAAAAAAAAHHH”

“SHUT UP WERE GONNA DIEEE”

“THIS WAS YOUR IDEA! ITS RIDE OR DIE NOW!”

You and B/N scream incoherently like 2 possums in a cat fight as you both fall down and down getting whiplash in the progress

why did you have to jump off the cliff without testing it first..!?

You shut your eyes tightly as you wait for the pain of hitting the ground…

but it never comes ‧₊˚⊹

“AAAAAÆÆEAA-“

suddenly the screaming stopped.

B/N suddenly goes unusually quite, did she die? Oh wait your still holding on to her

B/N gasped! “[Name] look!”

you hesitantly open your eyes

and… your.. not dead! yay!

instead your 5 feet above the ground floating in thin air-

WAIT YOUR 5 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND?!

“AAAAAAAA” You latch on to B/N tighter in an attempt to not fall

“HEY!! We're actually gonna fall!!"

“Oh, sorry!"

well that was embarrassing *cough

Your eyes widen as the wind in the air swirls around you and B/N ༄

and before you know it your back on the ground ༄ ⊹﹒

You look back at B/N and you both grin

“WE JUST UNLOCKED ANEMO!!”

__

Well that was quick! You sigh in relief

before you knew it, you and B/N were back safely on the ground, sitting next to a glistening Pond

(So after the initial shock, B/N seems to be taking this god powers thing REALLY well)

(like.. concerningly well.)

well, compared to you atleast

But you really didn’t have the most warm welcome to this world

B/N: "Sooo do you think we can unlock every element?!" :D

You bring your hand to your chin as you think "hmm.. probably since we’re both not from this world, how should we test it though?"

You both sit in silence for a moment

till B/N interrupts the silence of 2 braincells brainstorming together with a question 𖥔 ✢ ?

"oh speaking of wich!" "Cant we just ask the traveler about this? since we can just pinpoint wich nation she could be in" B/N points out the waypoint on top of the cliff

you flinch from guilt, but you know Lumine's arm is doing ok.

You look down at the twinkling pond, despite being shallow it has an odd charm to it ˖ ࣪ ִֶָ

You suddenly get an idea!

"hmm.. speaking of collecting all the elements! do you think we could control hydro too? It would be so cool if we could-"

"Trying to dodge the question? 😒"

You gulp a bit

"hahaaha nope! But try to dodge this- HYDRO ATTACK!!"

"WAIT-"

A fucking waterfall crushes B/N

…

Pfttt- wait no-

"OH MY GOD ARE YOU OK???"

"PLEPWLRPEKEOLEOW" the only thing you manage to hear are undistinguishable drowning sounds..

you rush to B/N in a panic (OH NO DID I KILL HER???)

AAAA B/N! BREATH BRO BREATH!!!

The never ending waterfall finally seems to be finished and stops.

B/N starts to cough furiously, phew shes not dead

"sorry.. I didn’t know it was gonna be that strong- wait… B/N!!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!?" a smile creeps up on your face again as B/N finally catches her breath ⊹ ｡ ﾟ

cough "w-what??? SORRY (cough) CANT HEAR YOU SINCE THERES WATER IN MY EARS. DUE TO A CERTAIN SOMEONEE" she managed to say through huffs and coughs ⊹ ｡ ﾟ

SORRYY (your still guilty, how dare you)

_

B/N somehow managed to dry off a bit, you were still feeling guilty so you tried to summon anemo powers to dry her hair.. to no avail :[

"ugh.. i think im having a brain freeze.."

"i dont think thats how that works-"

B/N shoots you a glare you know all too well..

"uhm.." you chuckle nervously

"anyway to what I was saying!! you know what this means right?!?!"

"That you waterboarded me-… WAIT, YOU USED HYDRO?!?" :D B/N's mood finally takes a turn as her ears perk up

"YESSS!!! THAT MEANS WE CAN COLLECT ALL THE ELEMENTS."

B/N gasped "OOOH I HOPE IM NEXT, I need to get my revenge on you" (you gulp, let’s hope she forgets about this…) she evilly laughs at your expression/j

she chuckles “haha, ok ok im just kidding, don’t worry ill go easy on you, so.. this means..!!”

"WE CAN AQUIRE ALL THE ELEMENTS AND BE OVERPOWERED!!!"

You both grin from ear to ear

"I WAS THINKING THAT TOO!!"

"ooh… OKOK so how did you do that?! i wanna try it too!"

well i kinda just-

You make a series of undistinguishable movements with your hands, and you fail at expressing whatever you were trying to say

"hm.. ok i think i’ll just figure it out myself.." B/N sighed

“Fair enough!”

well! my turn~ lemme try >:3

_

after hours of practicing you both figure out how to summon the elements (well, two of them anyway!)

You find out how to summon gusts of anemo like venti, and a Hydro blast like Neuvillettes, only problem is.. You cant tell HOW strong it’ll end up being.

But that'll be a problem for future you!!

For now you and B/N decide to call it a day, after all the Lantern rite festival is tonight! ✧

as you and your best friend touch the waypoint, somebody in the shadows reveals themselves.

They watch as you and B/N disappear in a flash of light

“So there's two of them now.. How annoying.”

𖥔 The balladeer, 6th of the Fatui harbingers. 𖥔

“I guess this mission wont be an entire waste of time after all. Ha, it's time to report back to the Tsarista.”

It's lantern rite time!

_

You and B/N have a wonderful time in liyue.

Thankfully Zhongli was distracted discussing to Baizhu about his back pains so you were able to sneak past him and see Hu tao!! Thank archons she didn't really recognize you..

She decided to come along with you still thinking you were foreigners

The three of you walked around liyue, seeing all of your beloved characters faces light up in person was so touching, along the way you saw Xingqiu and Chongyun dining together at Xianglings restaurant, their smiles lit up the streets till Xiangling offered them a serving of stir fried Hydro slime.. (to wich they politely declined) you chuckle at the sight, soon you see Ganyu and Keqing discussing what seems to be important documents over a nice set of tea, you can imagine Ninguang in her Jade chamber with Beidou and before you know it your back at the funeral parlor just in time to watch the lanterns float up into the sky.. you hear a distant melody in the air, ah you'd recognize Xinyans guitar and Yunjins singing anywhere!

Just then you hear a loud bang from the sky followed with the crackling of other fireworks being lit

Your best friend Holds your hand excitedly ⁖✦ ˖ ⊹ ｡

You smile, This year, everything will be alright.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE 🎉

___

Hewoo

I know this post is kinda late cus I ended up oversleeping, but I hope y'all like it nonetheless! The crossed out inner monologue of the mc is actually something I'm planning to use as foreshadowing for another fic.. but if your not really interested in that feel free to ignore them! Happy new year everyone! :) 🎉

(special thanks to my beta reader <33)

Taglist: @madokamagicaa @vianitry @scarletttcroww

[cherryechogalaxy]

No one's talking about how incredibly BPD coded Insomniac Harry/Venom is so I will. This is also essentially an essay so be prepared

I would also like to preface this by saying that this is based on my experiences with having BPD and the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5

Peter is 100% Harry's favorite person. I mean look at him. The way that he makes every excuse to be around Peter so much so that he practically begged him to work at his company? The passive-aggressive "So you told MJ, but not your best friend?" when he learned that Peter was Spider-Man? And then insists that he work with him as a superhero to kinda push Miles out of the way? The entire high school flashback scene? Not to mention that Harry held Peter in high regard even before he learned that he was Spider-Man.

Also, remember that the symbiote only emphasizes thoughts and emotions that already exist. So when Harry's probably splitting on Peter about the whole Spider-Man thing, the anger is only amplified by Venom.

Now, before y'all say that "all this only happened after Harry got the symbiote," that is simply false. During the final fight with Venom, Peter says that he "came over every single day after school. Even slept over after [his] mom got sick." While yes, Harry not being able to "see her like that" was a component afterward, that doesn't explain Harry's attachment to Peter beforehand. I would also like to comment that Venom says that Harry's mom "always said" that Peter and Harry "make each other better." This is all theoretical, but she might have noticed that Harry's mood or behaviour might have become more outwardly stable or better when around Peter, which from my experience is something that happens when existing around (or even sometimes thinking about) your FP.

Because, at the moment, Harry can only focus on the rage he has toward Peter, he can only think about the bad things, as evidenced by Venom claiming that Peter was there "Until [he] got sick again," which is objectively not true, but BPD alone can exaggerate thoughts to extremes, and the symbiote on top of it makes it worse. Venom continues, "You abandoned us when we were fighting for our lives," and that it didn't feel like Peter was trying to save them when he was. One of the main symptoms of BPD is an intense fear of abandonment, so much so that the person will take extreme measures to make sure that that doesn't happen, such as leaving before they are hurt, or, in this case, hurting the other person first so abandonment seems justified and therefore hurts less.

In the second phase of the fight, Venom declares: "We know what's best for you! For everyone! We gave you everything you ever wanted." This likely has something to do with BPD affecting one's self-image, which may change from 'the most worthless scum of the Earth' to what I like to call 'I can fight God and win.' As Venom, Harry believes that he now has the power to "heal the world" all by himself, enhancing his temporary superiority complex. Only several lines later, however, Harry's unstable self-image flips from 'knowing best for everyone' to 'being a complete failure,' because Venom states, "We've never been good enough for you... or Dad."

Venom goes on to say that Peter "threw [them] away" and then "replaced [them] with Miles. He poisoned [Peter] against [them] even more." Again, this characterizes Harry's intense fear of abandonment, because 'if Peter spends more time with Miles, then he won't have time for him anymore, and therefore matter to him anymore and he'll be left alone.' (These are thoughts I've had on bad days when my FP spent time with other people)

When Peter tries to fight Venom's claims and says that Harry's his best friend, the exaggeration and impulsive thoughts continue, and he says "Then why don't you trust us?" Again, Harry can only think in the negative at the moment, so he fails to see anything good that Peter is doing for him or the emotions that Peter is feeling.

During the cutscene after the second phase, when Peter says that he's "never gonna heal the world with [Harry]," you can see Venom falter, sighing and looking down before the meteorite catches his attention and distracts him.

At last, during the third phase of the fight, Venom turns his attention to Miles, the person who he sees as having caused Peter to 'turn against him' and spend less time with him. He insists that "[his] future doesn't belong to [Miles]," insinuating that Harry should be the one to have a deep and lasting relationship with Peter, not Miles, even though Miles thinks that he's talking about 'healing the world.'

After the third phase when Venom throws Miles aside and buries him under rubble, he tells him and MJ: "Peter doesn't need you anymore... He has us now." because he thinks that he is all Peter needs, when in reality it's Harry that needs Peter, though he might not realize it.

In the fourth phase, he asserts to Miles: "You took him away from us!" Which is strangely familiar to something I said when my FP started spending time with another person.

Another small thing I would like to note, when flying away after the fourth phase, Venom deliberately throws Miles off him, but not Peter. Also, when Miles is falling down with the meteorite in his hands, Venom focuses his attention on grabbing and eating him rather than retrieving the meteorite.

When Peter finally has Venom pinned to the ground and tries to blast the symbiote away from Harry, he claims that he's done and that he can't fight it, then both Harry and Venom state, "You have to KILL us." BPD is also characterized by suicidal ideations or behaviours, and if Harry telling Peter to kill him isn't suicidal behaviour then I don't know what is.

Finally, when Venom is gone and Peter tells Harry that he loves him, Harry smiles what looks like a genuinely content and satisfied smile, like that was the only thing that Harry wanted or needed to hear before he could let himself fall unconscious.

And if that’s not BPD coded I don’t know what is.

[stormypip7]

i just wanna say something: gen 6 was unbalanced. I agree, but think about it from the perspective of a literal child who was given a 3ds and a copy of X or Y.

-pokemon xy were the first mainline 3d pokemon game, so obviously it was never going to be perfect. the way that people immediately decided gen 6 sucked ass was quite dumb. honestly, children playing gen 4 found it difficult and the internet decides that's correct and the only way to view it.

-but gen 6, the game that so many small-ish children started with, isn't given any of the same chances. like on my first run on my old 3ds, im pretty sure i lost to diantha. sure it's easy, but not if you've never played a pokemon game before... that's how every game seemed to a beginner!

-and another thing! the EXP SHARE WAS OPTIONAL. IT WAS NEVER MANDATORY UNTIL LIKE LETS GO. so you can make it harder for yourself if your issue is exp related.

-ALSO there was solid postgame content! most people just assumed there wasn't any because it didn't start on its own. you actually had to play the game! surprising, am i right? there was a looker storyline with xerosic and a girl called emma! there was the whole anistar cutscene that lets you do the rest AND unlocks collecting mega stones at dusk!

-and xy also gave us so many beloved features, whether they stayed or not. the pss! that was the best! you had access to it off the bat! there's also pokemon aime which is where interacting with your pokemon outside of battle comes from! don't forget full customisation! better shiny odds.. friend safari.. PR VIDEOS? hello?

god i could just keep going! whilst almost all of this is partially based on nostalgia every other games popularity is the same.

yknow something else? im getting bored of all the gen 5-version-of-a-genwunners complaining that they don't have pokemon bw3. seriously, let us kalos kids have our turn. you have sequels already. we have nothing.

i know how salty i come off as, but it's honestly my truth and also my opinion. like i know how easy xy are when you know what you're doing. but just remember: we were kids playing pokemon for the first time too. of course the game wasn't going to be difficult; it was, i suppose in some sense, an experiment.

[thetombedspirit]

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - Sky Breaker: WARNING: SPOILERS!!!

1. Getting to run alongside the Zakru on Pa'li was the bomb. My GOD! THEY ARE MASSIVE!!

2. My son has made friends 💙 he's even hanging with Nopsi (a zakru!!!)

Nopsi loves him!!

3. My favourite old ladies are back!! (Love Nafiki calling Anufi darling!): side note, I ship it!

4. Ri'nela really coming into the Storyteller part of being Sarentu!

5. Mokasa's back. And he still has the balls to play victim here. Tried coming at Alma and throwing my mother's name in my face as if he wasn't the reason Alma even knew about them in the first place. Ugh! This bitch!

6. Oh don't mind me, just admiring my giant babies as I make them feel pretty💙

7. It's offical guys. Teylan is our little Anti-Gremlin 💙

(Dammit, no more photos!!)

8. The Games were so fun!! My favorite's the horseback archery challenge! And how does Eetu get to places so quickly!?!🤣

9. Teylan rode a pa'li. The both of them were terrified 😂 don't worry buddy, you'll get there!

10. The RDA are back, they seem to be taking special interest in Anufi and Alma. Guess they're not happy she's back in the driver seat as the Kame'tire's leader.

11. Was not expecting us to be knocked out for several days. Thankfully, it seems the core cast is okay. Mokasa is shooketh over Alma pulling him out of the rubble. Still a dick though.

12. They literally made a Valkyrie crash just to take out as many Na'vi as possible. Assholes.

The poor Zakru were either killed in the blast or fled in the chaos, Nesim is furious (rightfully so) and Harding's back.

13. Anufi and Alma have been kidnapped and Teylan confirmed that the brainscap machine could give someone brain damage and kill em, basically meaning that Spider could have literally died hadn't Quaritch pulled him out.

14. Was freaking out so bad during the NeroSect bit that I only got Alma out by 20 secs. And Harding was drowning Anufi in oxygen!?! WTF!!!

Also, Mokasa came in clutch, saving us at the last minute! But he got shot. Yikes.

15. Okay, maybe I get why people felt Harding's death was lackluster, but it certainly wasn't easy, so I don't know what people were talking about there.

But maybe just a cutscene of her crawling toward us with a pistol to give us that final farewell would be notch.

16. Mokasa finally takes responsibility for his actions toward the Sarentu and the Kame'tire and even has a moment of understanding with Alma. He rests with Eywa now.

17. It's over now. All those that remained of TAP are gone, so all that's left is the Secret of the Spires, DLC. And it makes me wonder who that have planned for the big bad. Surely Nor is gonna make a return, but I doubt he is gonna be the bad guy.

Pros; loved everything.

The new legendary tier weapons and gear, the development of the characters (my baby boy Teylan has grown so much) the colours of the Heartlands animals was stunning (pa'li could have been better) and the upgrade skills bonus was a clever way to spend the points you keep racking up (though that stops when you spend a final 5 points every skill bubble)

Cons; Glitches

There were a lot more glitches this time around. First, one of the Contributions Baskets isn't working and it's ironically the main camp one. I've given it like 20 seeds already and still nothing.

And then there was a tremor machine that was freaking out one of the runaway Zakru, but when I went to hack it to turn it off, nothing happened? Only when I blew it up with a grenade arrow did it work. Or maybe that was just me being a stup 😋

Either way, I loved everything about this DLC, glitches aside and it was a good addition to the Sarentu story and I can't wait to see what happens next.

And I'm almost finished with my Sarentu OC, so stay tuned for that. Buh-bye!!

[thecreaturenewt]

i feel like this is the only website where i can share my honest feelings about nosferatu because every other website has an audience that does not have enough vampire media knowledge to understand where im coming from when i say i was disappointed. SPOILERS AHEAD

i had incredibly high expectations for this film. this is as and enjoyer of the 1922 nosferatu, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and a plethora of other vampire media. The sexuality and lack of will associated with vampires and their hypnotic abilities is something I was expecting to see as well as the hypersexuality imposed on the vampire’s thralls (like the brides of dracula) but the focus of the story not being on nosferatu himself but ellen writhing around, gyrating, and telling her husband he could never fuck as as good as the maggot infested nosferatu who comes to her in her dreams? not compelling to me, especially when there is so much incredible source material to inform any character writing.

in the beginning of the film we can hardly get a good look at our titular character which i understood, we want a ghastly reveal, but i was underwhelmed. there was no big reveal, at first he was blurred and in shadow- then he was there,, again really letting me down. to depict his control over thomas we get skips of time that are meant to feel dizzying but mostly felt lazy,, like they weren’t willing to put the effort into showing us some type of control or hypnosis, and with ellen we get her eyes rolling back and seizing and moaning with her responding to Orlok’a disembodied voice.

While the film was comprised of a great deal of well still shots I couldn’t help but feel there was a great deal of focus on aesthetics opposed to writing a genuinely compelling piece which I was so surprised by because the director, Robert Eggers has blown me away with previous projects! (The Lighthouse, The VVitch, The Northman, etc.) I also noticed a great deal of the scenes felt sort of shoddily mashed together. There would be a scene, a quick transition, and another scene with very little time to comfortably shift,, this may also seem a strange critique but I found a lot of the scenes felt like video game cutscenes.

One thing I think contributed to the was the almost NPC like behavior of some of the characters. The characters were introduced and I immediately knew what role each of them would be filling in the film. Freidrich, the non-believer and the husband, Anna the friend of Ellen and wife of Freidrich, the daughters,, just daughters- no real depth, Ellen the friend of Anna the wife of Thomas- her character was more full as we heard of nightmares she’s suffered from since childhood and a love oof her husband that saved her(?) from this,, again making her a wife and sexual object first and an individual second, and Thomas,, there to sell a house, husband of Ellen, and other than that quite a flat character, even Nosferatu, we didn’t get the classic ‘oh I need her because she looks like one of my wives from years ago!’ Ellen was just ??? lonely??? when she was younger so she called out to a presence and Nosferatu answered?? from Transylvania?? and has been waiting this entire time?? to see her??

I understand wanting to come to the Dracula/Nosferatu mythos with your own twist or some original ending but choosing to have Ellen open herself to be the ‘willing victim’ felt so easy? and thoughtless? and somehow also convoluted? sacrificing the young maiden is really the most boring choice that possibly could’ve been made here, and again I wouldn’t be harping on this so severely if there wasn’t so much incredible source material to work off of.

The most compelling parts of the movie must have occurred in the first 20 minutes because that was when I was most engaged. It was unsettling, it was dark, it was gothic, and from there I was let down. Sure there were good scenes here and there after, and if I had never read Dracula, seen the original Nosferatu, or consumed a great deal of the vampire media I have- I think I would’ve really liked the movie; but I have so I didn’t.

[wanderingmoonflower]

I love Team Star a lot, actually

This is like. a lighthearted mini rant, mainly cuz I am tired of seeing Team Star getting the "they're bad cuz they're not evil" treatment. Honestly remembering the context that ScarVio takes place within a school environment, having an evil team that's just a group of delinquents works perfectly, considering you don't really personally interact with adults plotting to end the world during your school career.

I get that those kinds of evil teams tend to appeal better, but if Team Skull is able to get a lot of love while also being a group of delinquents (albeit influenced by a bigger evil), then what's stopping Team Star from getting the same kind of love?

This does have vague spoilers for Indigo Disk, and obvious spoilers for the main story, so please proceed with caution and read at your own risk.

I went into the Starfall Street storyline without expecting much, I mean, when Cassiopeia came to us asking to help disband Team Star, I didn't think much of it.

"We need to disband a group of delinquents cuz they're causing the school a lot of trouble? Okay, sure, whatever."

But every time we met up with Penny in-between each star base, and she starts putting details into our heads about how everyone in Team star were bullying victims, and this was their way of standing up to their bullies, I saw them in a completely different light.

Bullying is something that's, unfortunately, still frequent in a lot of schools, and I'm a victim of bullying myself. So when all these details came to my attention, I grew extremely fond of all these characters. I grew especially fond of Giacomo, who was alienated from his peers for his strict policies when on the student council.

In all honesty, ScarVio is very down to earth with its story and how it's portrayed, so much so that I forgot I was playing a Pokemon game, since I'm used to these elements of whimsy being present. Team Star at its core is a group of young kids who were bonded together by similar experiences, and use that similarity to lift each other up and support one another. Operation Starfall only came into effect because of threats of expulsion, and Penny cared for them too much to let that happen.

Team Star was built on the basis of love, and while calling them an "Evil Team" after learning all this is a little weird, they initially present themselves as antagonistic, so it still checks that box. That love is still present in a cutscene after finishing the Indigo Disk, where the Team Star bosses take it upon themselves to form a study group so they don't stress Penny out too much.

These characters feel so real, and honestly all the characters do. They're so full of personality and color yet don't feel overly exaggerated. For Team Star, there's bonding with others through your loneliness and alienation, the uncertainty of not know what the future will bring, and treasuring your friends even if they don't know how much you truly care for them at first.

So sure, Team Star isn't evil. But by no means are they bad characters. I've found comfort in them, as I'm sure many others have too. Their experiences are real, and has happened to others. But everyone can have their own opinion, just don't push yours onto others because they don't agree with it.

Shine bright like the starry sky and become who you really want to be, hasta la vistar... ☆

[ungrateful-cyborg-moved]

On Minfilia

When you take Minfilia at face value, she’s honestly a good character. And her writing is consistent enough that I can’t completely say that the way the community reacted to her was due to it but at the same time... it kinda is, in my opinion, and most of the arguments given to “hate on her” by people are mis-attributed griefs with the storytelling itself or the gameplay.

(The way some choose to mis-attribute it speak more of those people than of the story or devs, though.)

To me, Minfilia is a just and kind woman, if a bit politically naive, who tries her hardest to fill in the shoes of Louisoix when it’s very much not what she signed up for in creating the Path of the Twelve. It’s a hell of a role to take on at 22 (time of the Calamity, since she’s 27 in ARR) and she did an admirable job with it. You can understand why those who’ve known her for a long time feel like she’s incredible, given the facts.

But if you’re not a Legacy player, you don’t know those stakes, you don’t know her, and she doesn’t know your character either (she recognizes Legacy WoLs from what I've gathered).

So your actual introduction to Minfilia goes like this: you get told by Momodi that a secret organization is interested in hiring you and to go to Vesper Bay. You go there and speak to Tataru.

A summary in two screenshots:

The named Scion depends on where you started: Thancred for Ul'dah, Y'shtola for Limsa, Yda and Papalymo for Gridania. It's not Minfilia who recruits you, it's them. She just gets to make it official because she's the boss and got the last word.

And not only that but you've traveled to the town, then get to pass three doors (and two loading screens) in total before meeting her: to enter the building, to go to the basement and, finally, to enter her office where she's talking to the main Scions.

Which seems entirely trivial but I feel like it create a pre-existing distance before you even get to meet Minfilia.

In the Solar, she introduces herself, then immediately puts some distance between you and her by walking behind her desk—ironically while telling you that you're amongst friends—and starts her speech about the Scions, the Echo, the Primals and the fact that your Echo is especially strong. A speech she ends with this (notice the crossed arms—distance, again):

The next cutscene is about the perks of the job, settling once and for all that your relationship with her, even though she calls you friend, is transactional and hierarchical.

Which is fine, I'm not complaining. But she's our boss, which sets her apart from every other character in the story, Scions included.

The next hours are literally spent executing her orders, going back and forth between Vesper Bay and wherever she sends you (and we didn't have the aetheryte tickets until patch 5.3) until she gets abducted.

We meet quite a lot of NPCs who tell us that she's a great diplomat (something we didn't get to see so far since she doesn't accompany us on our diplomatic mission to talk to the Sylphs about Ramuh) and talented to bring people together (which is probably true but always happens off screen). We don't get to see it until well after they made her go from our boss to a damsel in distress we need to save.

To quote Erenville: first impressions last.

Especially when the story doesn't give you opportunities to change it for hours of gaming time.

She's not as passive as people tend to remember, but they botched her introduction to non-legacy players, in my opinion.

So I can't say it's entirely fair to pretend there's no reason to dislike her, or at least to not care much about her. There are other characters who play a similar role to her up to a point: the Exarch for example. But the Exarch goes, literally, outside to meet with us. We get to see him deal with Ranjit and the threat of Eulmore. By the time he needs saving, we've seen what he can do, even discounting his help in the first dungeon. I don't think he would have received such a warm reception if he'd just been waiting for us passively in the Ocular for the first half of Shadowbringers.

It's worth mentioning that the writers were working on the 1.X patches at the same time they were writing ARR, though. And to me, it feels like they either forgot or didn't care that new players wouldn't have a pre-existing rapport with Minfilia.

After all, Louisoix tells her in one of the short stories to wait for "one who bears the light". When we meet her in the Solar, we doom her: her role was to serve as a bridge between 1.0 and 2.0. To wait for us.

And we're here now.

(I don't think they meant to keep her around, even without the general disliking of her that players had—and that's probably why the twins were here from the start.)

[starastarship]

Thoughts on Indigo park chapter 1

Spoiler warning under the cut!

Alright guys so today I played Indigo park chapter 1 with my friend @theroseofazrael. And I wanted to give my thoughts on it along the way basically! Warning again spoilers for chapter 1!

Right of the bat I wanna say that this is coming from somone who watched it first and someone who played it after. So you could say I have at least 2 things to go off by

Putting this in multiple parts

Part 1: entrance

So the beginning. first of all intro cutscene was really well made and amazing to look at! Getting right put into the game, meeting Rambly for the first time was nice! (Also fun fact I did the math around the 2920 days guest absents and it's 8 years!) I liked him alot! He is cute and sweet! Love his animations and I hope he doesn't turn out evil (or at least not the AI) So we open the door with a simple puzzle and I am glad it is really just like a kind of walking simulator! Going in we are getting our critter cuff, and I was so sure in the playthrough I watched that there was one of the mascots inside the shop!

with the critter cuff around our wrist we now walk into the park and when I first saw the statue I immediatly thought "Is this a disney reference"! I liked it! going throught the tunnel and it collapses behind us. I would say I actually kinda liked that! I find it sometimes a bit more realistic if something old collapses right behind someone than it already having collapsed! Also the tunnel kinda reminded me a bit of a tunnel from my favorite theme park which I found funny!

also on a side note: I love how Rambly still tries to make this abandoned theme park sound more like that it is under construction. Deniel is a river in egypt!

part 2: The train ride

While it still plays a bit in the tunnel I put it with the train ride! Walking through the que line really helps the feeling of This was really a theme park! And while I didn't see it on my playthrough (at least I think I missed it) on SHB I saw like the tail feathers of Mollie already giving an uneasy feeling but was also a bit foreshadowing in a sense. Anyways when I was in the call with my friend, Rambly told me I would be too old for this ride and I literally said "well fuck you then". This was also still at the time where I did not realize Azra was not watching my stream, because my game crashed at the beginning and I booted it up again but forgot to stream it at the time (I honestly believe it has nothing to do with the game and more about me having too much stuff open at the time!)

Anyways we load up onto the train and off we go on our first ride! This was a very sweet introduction to the cast, and felt natural for a theme park! Meeting Mollie first I loved that introduction. I like her opimistic character as they talked (which I found also really cool that Rambly interacted with the cast during the ride!) What I didn't noticed until a bit later, down there was a door where you could see Mollie "spying" on us! I just saw how the door closed but it gave me the impression that she stalked us during the entire ride or she was like "looking around" and basically found out there is someone!

Then we get to Finleys underwater space and the entire time I was looking around if I could find Mollie somewhere again (I unfortunatley didn't see her anywhere). But then Finley say "you know me for 100 years" and Imma get this right off the bat, Mollie later on says this! I go deeper in this later on!

Then we get to a really destroyed place which thinking about it is weird! Every other place was ok looking, almost in tip top shape but this one was quiet literally ruined! It is open for alot of theories I believe, since this one was probably Salems place! it is up to you guys what this was! So off we go to repair the electricity finding a Mollie animatronic! It says one last thing about Rambly hurt Llloyd! Now this one gives me the impression that Rambly is more evil but also later on with Lloyd there is a scene that plays out. And I believe that there is more to the cuff/ the system in the park than we thought

Anyways we boot up the train again and carrie on! Next and last one is Lloyd. Here we see the first time the total distaste for Lloyd from our Raccoon! now considering how Rambly and Lloyd interact, this might be just his AI programm but throught the game, expecially the collectables, it is more to believe that this dislike isn't really programmed! So maybe that part, wasn't meant to be in a annoyed way? only time will tell! But also I knew this one from tik tok but at the end of this interaction, looking to the left shows Mollie like literally by our side coming from the courtains! I will talk about a thought when we get there!

Going out we are at the gift shop of the ride. And here I noticed that in one of the cameras we can see Molluie running after the train! We see multiple empty trains in those photos and then one in the middle with Mollie running! I believe that would have been our photo! considering all other photos are empty seats, it makes the most sense. And with mollie always popping up during the ride now and then! Now this one is more a theorie but I imagine that this photo was taken during Salems part! Maybe Mollie was chasing us, the train was just faster, and when it broke down and we went out to fix it, maybe she caught up! Then she saw we weren't there and maybe thought we ran ahead? this is really just what I have thought about this than really being a theory! Anyways i was pointing the picture out to Azra and here I noticed how stupid I was

I noticed after they told me, there was no stream, that I forgot to stream it! These entire first minutes, they did not see what I saw while I stupidly pointed out things you can only see! oTL anyways moving on to part 3!

part 3: the central area and Lloyds theater

Putting these 2 together cause I find them rather short in a way! First of going down the stairs and seeing the entire area + working and I believe opperating ferris wheel! I told to Azra that as a kid or even now that I would have gone there! I just hope they also have rollercoaster tbh! I like the adrenalin! I found the fountain actually really funny, being able to rotate like this while spitting water! Noone was save against the water! we also get to the information kiosk and to the collectables! I found it nice that we got more info about them through Rambley and expecially through our protagonist which there is one thing!

At the beginning Rambly tells us that we are a new comer/ are not in the guest data base, but looking at the descriptions it is made very clear we were in this park multiple times! I believe either, children weren't like allowed to be in the guest data base because well they were children! or because we aged and with age faces change, the face recognition didn't pick up on us!

And another thing. As I said before Rambly seems to really dislike Lloyd and with the plushies, expecially the last one we get (and old cartoon version of Lloyd) it says that Lloyd was the most popular one apperantly! or at least the company was more focused on the Lion than the Raccoon! So I believe the resentment shows that Rambly is a bit more sentient than it looks like!

Moving on, Rambly wants to bring us to the Jetstream junction but unfortunatly we need a key! And that key was in Lloyds theater. getting acess to it, we go inside! seeing the theater was really pretty! and on stage we see a sleeping Lloyd who wakes up and running away. now I wanna adress that because I feel like that they aren't really out to hurt us! after the key and getting through the section (where even if I know nothing would happen, I still anticipated it) only then when we tried to go, did he really came close enough to grab us! and that one time in the middle where he was squished under a box! And honestly i think it was also because he was like put into a croner and didn't see another way!

Here is also a funny thing because technically speaking you can get this anytime when you turn around away from the backstage area we see again Mollie! Some had it at the beginning I had it after the area and honestly I feel like it is more impactful when it is after the area!Anyways we got the key and off to Mollies place!

part 4: Jetstream junction

Now this place was really fun! We go up to rooftop racing adn are greeted with rumble having fallen onto the ride destroying it! Now I felt it was unfair we only get to ride one thing so far in the entire park! Anyways we go downstairs again and to the landing pad! or rather we should go there but off to the side is a little drinking area with an arcade machine! We can play it and it is a typical oldschool platformer! This is also where we meet Salem for the first time basically! Many also belive that this has more story relevence than it looks like. Also we get like a pixalated Ramblyberry but I think that is more an easter egg than it being exactly "canon".

Anyways we now enter the landing pad which is like a really REALLY big playground area! and we got a interesting puzzle here! simple to understand. We have blocks and need to figure out the the right combination! Easy to understand thanks to the purple block and the purple star besides it! So power goes out and we walk through the entire playground, finding all shapes and the colors to it! And guess what Mollie is with us! She is often very cose to us but never really attacks us! until after we solved the puzzle! We get our first chase in the game and the only one in chapter 1!

I died only 2 times! first time I was not expecting her to come from the front and second time I didn't knew where to jump! but overall I liked the chase! it was easy to follow and had only one moment that I thought "ARE YOU FUCKING ME?! an it is the collectable during the chase! it's not hard to see but dang I held to step back one time to get it and my adrenaline was so high holy shit!

And the ending was wow. So like I felt like with the head off it felt different than I saw on SHB. Maybe it was becuase of the pure adrenaline but I felt like they fixed the timing of when it happens! Cause with Mike I felt like the timing of the head or the distance of the jump too was weird! but maybe it was always like this. And during all of this me and Azra just went "damn she is bleeding alot" not exactly listening to Rambly saying anything about the park and stuff! But it does make me wonder what happened to the staff and expecially WHY WAS THERE FRESH LOOKING BLOOD ON BOTH MOLLIE AND LLOYD?!

Anyways we leave and soon make our way to Ocean Odyssey and I notice that is Nordic themed ! (loves it!) and after seeing a big Finley coming out there ends chapter 1!

Finally thoughts

I really enjoyed it! I don't play often horror games... actually rewrite that I never played horror games and this was my first time! gameplay wise, there were a few nitpicky things but that was their first game and for that alone this deserves a major Star because it is really good! and story wise, it got me hooked! we got enough information for anticipation withouthaving all to much said, only leaving us wondering!

Anyways can't wait for chapter 2 and see ya!

[vykker]

Oddworld Headcanon 6/?: Vykker Families

I was looking at concept art of the Vykkers, my beloved perfect science boys who have never done anything wrong, when I read this line:

"Headley, the Vykkers' auctioneer, is a rare case among the species. Most Vykkers are consumed by the surgical and pharmaceutical industry, but some, like Headley, work on the fringe of the family business." - The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants, Page 222.

Hearing it described as a "family business" was interesting, but I assumed it was more of a metaphor for their species in general. Not literal. But then, I saw this image:

"Humphrey and Irwin Vykkers knew that together they could bring experimentation to the forefront of modern science, as long as they stuck together."

Wait- is Vykkers a surname?

I think everyone and their dad headcanons Humprey and Irwin as being a vicious married couple. Even when I played MO for the first time as a little kid, I thought Irwin was Humphrey's comically shrill wife. They even flirt at the end of the first cutscene where we meet them, with Irwin calling Humphrey a genius and Humphrey rolling his eyes playfully like he's not loving it. So lets assume these twisted old fruits got Vykker-Married and started a thriving business empire. What does "family" look like to a vykker?

One piece of lore that I've always found hilariously fitting is that a vykker's greatest love is always for themselves. Vykkers are a unisex species and breed via self-insemination, which is often seen in snails, but even occurs in reptiles. I loved the idea of Vykkers being so self-absorbed, they don't even want to breed with other Vykkers. Now, some irl lizards perform what's called pseudocopulation, wherein the ritual of breeding triggers ovulation, but no actual breeding occurs. Not saying vykkers do this. Stop thinking about it. I said stop thinking about it! What I'm saying is, there are examples of animals not requiring another of their species to breed, but still mimicking the ritual of it, either as instincts left over from their non-hermaphroditic ancestors, or for other reasons we haven't confirmed yet.

What I'm saying is, vykkers could have the framework in place to experience romantic feelings even if it's not strictly necessary for their species' survival. Alternatively, two vykkers may pair off just for the societal benefits. I imagine two vykkers who are friends, have the same shitty values, and want to live the same lifestyles might choose to get hitched. Benefits would include a dual income lifestyle, having someone you can rely on to help you, certain legal protections and benefits, someone to manage your estate if you die, and not being lonely at home by yourself.

But also- they can raise their kids together. The vykker parenting style is something I've put a lot of thought into because there's so many interesting and funny possibilities.

First off though- how many kids do vykkers have? I always pictured them as laying a single egg once per lifetime or something. But then I noticed in this official, rendered art... Humphrey has NIPPLES!

He has FOUR nipples. At first, I thought only his bottom pecs had them, but then I saw this concept art, where its clear that vykkers are meant to have four:

Interns don't have nipples. Mudokons don't have nipples. Their chests are completely smooth. From what I can tell, the mudokon, slig, and glukkon queens- who are covered in boobs- are the only other individuals to have them. Maybe it was just added to be a creepy design element? But then again... vykkers ALSO have belly buttons. It does not appear that interns or mudokons have belly buttons, but it's a little hard to tell. Their skin is so texturized, it's possible they do have them and it's just not noticeable.

So why do vykkers have four nipples AND belly buttons?* I hate this line of questioning. I was a lot happier imaging them just laying an egg every once and a while. However, I'm not sure about that now. I think... vykkers might be livebearers. They might have 4 offspring at a time.

*Egg-laying reptiles actually DO have belly buttons but they don't look the same as mammalian belly buttons. It's more of a line. Google "corn snake bellybuttons". Theyre very cute!

Consider the following: imagine if Humphrey and Irwin had kids. Our inventions are doing well, lets get some inheritors going so they can hoard our family wealth and never share it. The two of them would have at LEAST 4 offspring but maybe 8. How do you do science and keep EIGHT babies alive? There's no way either half of this couple is going to stay home to care for them! So they invent Baby Chow. Baby Chow makes babies grow at an extreme rate- don't need to pay the babysitter as long- AND it frees up your arms so you don't have to breastfeed.

Remember when Vykkers Labs was described above as a "family business"? Imagine if Humphrey and Irwin had 4 kids each, then their 8 children got married and each of the 16 vykkers had 4 more baby vykkers.... I failed algebra in high school but:

16 x 4 = 64 vykkers!!! And that's just if three generations of vykkers had one litter each! There could be a LOT more, assuming they can be pregnant more than once, AND assuming we are looking at like, 4 or 5 generations of vykkers at this point, considering how they love to artificially extend their lifespans through surgery and treatments. And how they might just hand their kids off to the nearest intern to serve as a nanny while they immediately get back to work, thus minimizing any repercussions that might stop someone from having a ton of kids.

So when they say Vykkers Labs is a family... I think its literal. I think a lot of the vykkers we see in Munch's Oddysee are direct descendants of Humphrey and Irwin- their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and etcetera- or are outside hires hoping to marry in to their wealthy family business. I think our boys' genetics are alllll over Vykkers Labs, their laboratory that they own, and would never want to share with anyone BUT their clone-offspring.

On a related note: childrearing-wise, I picture vykkers as the worst kind of PTO moms. You know how vykkers can only truly love themselves? Well, since they reproduce asexually, that would mean that each child is a literal clone of their parent. It stands to reason that vykkers would be overly and obnoxiously consumed with making sure their clone-child has the best of everything. Not exactly love, more like control and possessiveness. More like wanting to give them everything you never had as a kid.

Can't you imagine a vykker parent, with that awful shrill voice, shrieking at some poor school counselor because their little Timmy would NEVER lobotomize the class pet, how dare you accuse him of such a thing? Or, how DARE you not let little Timmy join the Dissection Team- I have friends in the Magog Cartel, you know!!! The entitlement level would be off the charts. Every School Board Meeting would end with someone getting stabbed.

I could also see Humphrey and Irwin being like "we will raise our children communally so we never know who made who :)" then immediately getting paternity tests behind the others' back, lol

Anyway what are your thoughts? Writing this made me want to write some horrible vykker OC's who are Humphrey and Irwin's shitty entitled grandchildren.

[lulu2992]

Deleted dialog from Far Cry 3’s main story

In this series of posts, I’m sharing all the unreleased content (minus a few duplicates) I found in the oasisstrings text file, even when it wasn’t very interesting, so we have a comprehensive list of the lines that were cut in each Far Cry 3 story mission.

On a side note, the document never says which character is speaking, so every time you see names, it’s either because the corresponding audio files were available and I know who the speaker is, or because the context made it easy to guess their identity.

Part 2: The Social Club

In oasisstrings, this mission is the second one. Maybe it’s a coincidence, or maybe Jason was going to relive this moment after losing consciousness and before waking up in Amanaki.

The beginning of the mission is identical to what we see in the game, but there used to be a few more lines here and there. For example, here’s a longer version of the moment Jason is at the bar to get drinks. The deleted lines are bolded:

Fuck beer. What's the drink here in Bangkok?

The Mai Tai!

Forget it. Let's do sambuca shots!

[mumbled]…five, six… seven!

Girlfriend troubles?

She told you?

You know, Jason, Liza is a keeper.

I have shots!

Now that, right there, is what I'm talking about!

Let's have those shots. Hey baby.

Hang on, hang on. Hang… on.

Here we go! Lady!

Watch it, watch it, watch it, don't spill it, don't spill it!

That's my girl, Liza!

Take it, take it.

To what? To what? To what?

Uh, to my brother Riley for getting his pilot's license! Where the hell is that motherfucker?

Where the hell is that motherfucker?

To my father's black card and my black card. Whoooo!

That's what I'm talking about!

[laughing] Yeah!

God, I haven't done sambuca since I was twenty years old!

I'll get them.

While looking for Riley, it seems Jason was going to overhear this interaction:

Hi baby.

Hey. What you got for me?

Sit down.

Niiiice.

Wanna continue?

I wish. But not tonight.

See you again soon.

He would also make this comment about his girlfriend...

Man, I hope Liza gets here soon. She's always working.

...as well as come across an inaccessible area of the club, I assume:

Private section.

Go away.

You can't go in.

Turn around. Members only.

After speaking with Doug and finally finding Riley (and Keith), the friends go dancing, but a fight breaks out and they run to the elevator. This scene used to be longer too, and all the unreleased lines are bolded below:

[cheering on the DJ] Woo, woo, woo, DJ, c'mon!

Whoa, look at the lights!

Hot music, huh babe.

Did you see that?!

[PAIN]What the fuck?

Jason! No! Let me go, let me go!

Hey, hey, hey!

No, Riley!

Fine, fine, it's fine!

You like that? This is my kinda club! Hahaha!

Come on, let's go!

Everybody's gotta go. I called the cops.

Jason, back door!

Eat that!

Guys, we gotta bail!

We gotta bail!

This way! Let's go!

The cops are coming. We better get out of here!

Come on Jason!

Open up!

We'll get you!

These guys won't give up!

Yeah!

Room service!

Dead hooker in room 11.

Call it, call it, call it!

Come on!

Come on, come on, come on, hold the door!

Yo Jason, get in, get in!

Riley, stay close!

Watch out, Riley!

Yes, I know, I know!

Close! Close! Close!

The conversation between Doug and the friends in the elevator is identical to the in-game version. However, probably after this, there were a few lines from Liza:

Jason, let's go!

We're going to get arrested!

We've got to get out of here!

What're you doing? Come on!

You can listen to them here.

Then, we have what looks like the group’s arrival on the Rook Islands. We see glimpses of this in the introduction and the video in Hoyt’s compound (mission “All In”), but it appears it could have been a cutscene:

I'm king of the world.

Oh please, pfff.

Hmm, no reception here.

Uh yeah, cause we're in the middle of the ocean.

Hey Liza, get me one with pepperoni!

Hey, check this out! Looks like somebody's house!

They don't care about keeping shit clean around here. Before he died, he probably prayed for a satellite dish.

Let's check it out.

Let's go!

Hey! Check this out! Watch this.

Yeah, he's not coming to my pilot ceremony next month. Shocker, right?

Dude, you know your brother's always doing his own shit, right? Don't worry about it.

Ahahaha, yeah!

Nice!

Yeah baby!

No coconut for you.

Noo. No coconut for you!

Hey, hey I thought Doug said there weren't people on the island. Guys.

There they are, get them!

Everybody run!

Help!

Let go of me!

Get them in the truck!

Fuck you!

Then, in the document, there are the lines from the in-game video, but since each line in oasisstrings is linked to a sound file, it means all the dialog listed above is indeed from a different and longer version of the scene, which was cut.

[youraveragedeltafan]

Zoe Was Done Dirty by The Narrative

Honestly the biggest problem with Zoe's story is that the player character is forced to be friends with her due to the narrative (which, I repeat, isn't her fault). During each journey, your crosser has the chance to call Jarod crazy, clown on Stan and Mitch all day, or just arguably be a jerk to even John in some scenarios, but you can NEVER turn Zoe down. The only ones where you can (and the one I feel flows the most naturally loosely alongside No Concession) is Fire Starter, where the player can deny Zoe, and later tell her off OR forgive her if they so choose.

In almost every encounter (disregarding fire starter), YOU as the player have to either follow her lead, or be super interested in her presence and plight no matter what. This isn't a bad thing on its own, as almost all of the encounters have you forced to go through with whatever character's scheme anyway, but with Zoe, there REALLY needed to be a better excuse. If you refuse Jarod, he kills you (literally almost every encounter), if you refuse Stan and Mitch, they ignore and or threaten you (Wild boys, Thieves, etc.) if you deny Fanny, she will arrest you (Infinity), you are stuck hitchhiking for most of John and Alex's encounters, but Alex admittedly does have this problem too, to a lesser extent. With Zoe, you don't get any option to deny her in most cases, or a valid excuse--especially with her Road 96 encounter, where if you say no to going with her, she just laughs at you. At that point, just don't give us the option and bring light to it??????? It turns the situation into a 'oh, my character has a way out with Zoe and is set on it, cool' to a 'my character is being forced to cross with Zoe' for NO REASON. It could have been avoided.

I feel as if (disregarding the crazy blatant haters who dislike her for the crime of being a teenage girl who does immature impulsive teenage things. The horror.) this, along with her encounters being the slowest and most drawn out, makes others who were otherwise on the fence resent her, and gives blatant ill willed haters an excuse. Another problem I'd like to quickly touch on is the fact that you will always get her encounters in the same order no matter what. While this is needed for her story work, it makes her encounters get old extremely quickly for avid players (this isn't a problem for those who play it once, mind you). She was in desperate need for more SHORT encounters that weren't locked to happen at the same time every run, like the rest of the characters. Even one or two would do variety and justice for her character.

The thing is, most of this is a problem of plot and game design, not the character herself. Zoe isn't a bad character in the slightest, but I think that the fixation on her being important and well liked had the opposite effect for some people.

Her being a martyr and essentially the main character of a game about kids who are purposely faceless to fit the theme (and mile 0 as a whole) is a whole other beast, but that's more of a personal opinion on my part rather than clunky writing, and I respect the dev's choices and goals with her character. But for being a very important character, her story is undermined and done dirty by only being shown in cutscenes and the game telling the player how to feel about her.

[catboygirljoker]

What were your thoughts about KHearts before you got into it vs Now having been into it? Also late welcome to the community hope you've had fun!

thankyou :D!! i have had fun, sitting in my little crevice and exporting my xigbar images and xigbar posts. im happy that people have connected with it in some way :]

thoughts about KH before i got into it:

for some reason i was under the impression that the games were about a boy who has dreams about disney worlds. and he has regular size feet in the real world and only has big feet in the dream world. i also think he traveled with mickey and not donald or goofy

also for some reason i was under the impression that ventus was sora's dad. it was not until i actually watched the cutscenes in birth by sleep and saw lea and isa that i realized OH. this is NOT as far back on the timeline as i thought it was

images of a spiky red boy and a spiky blond boy and a black haired depressed girl eating ice cream together with lots&lots of people sobbing in the replies. (REALLY emphasized the slow creeping emotional dread of that game for me. like golly i sure hope i dont get emotionally destroyed like all those other people! and then i , was)

when i was in middle/high school i had friends who were super into it, but i was never able to play it because my parents had a policy of No Consoles. we were allowed to have handhelds, though, because my family took frequent road trips, so when i found out that there was a KH game for DS i said to a friend "oh, cool! dyou think id be able to play it without playing the other games?" and she looked at me, and looked at her copy of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and said "........no"

only ~15 years later do i realize how funny of a question that was

thoughts about KH as i was getting into it:

too numerous to count. i shall attempt to keep it moderately brief

last year my husband listened to a podcast called "lore dump" where people explain the lore of different media to each other, and they did an episode/series on kingdom hearts, and i heard some pretty WaCkY sTuFf (i specifically remember them explaining what the recusant's sigil is, in the context of xigbar explaining that they'd been tracking sora and riku through the story of DDD)

found a vod of one of my favorite streamers streaming 1 and 2 to benefit abortion rights in texas, and i was like, well, here's my chance, heh, im gonna understand all of the WaCkY LoRe

i start up the stream. within the first 15 minutes i Get it. like it feels very dated in a lot of ways but i instantly understood what made people connect so strongly with this series. even as someone who didn't grow up with any attachment to it, and was a little put off of it even by how into it my friends were, to me kh1 is just pure high octane nostalgia. the tone is so specific and warm and bittersweet. i cried multiple times during the ending. it just really got to me! i was hooked!

when i fixate on a media property i like to have a hot person to chew on. i really. really thought it was gonna be axel. he is exactly the kind of character i would've fixated on when i was younger, when i had friends who were into KH. older mentor figure character who takes younger characters under his wing. associated with fire. projects brash confidence. k,ills people. he's a really good character! i love him a lot! every time he appears on screen i get on all fours and start barking! and there's all this fanart and merch and...then i got distracted......

hey blake in early 2023. it's me, blake in late 2024. have you heard of kingdom hearts. yeah. yeah youre gonna get really into it. yeah youre gonna have the longest running blorbo since you mega-fixated on the tenth doctor when you were 14. yeah. yeah um. you know the clip where the guy says "me? i'm already half xehanort!" and sora says "that's..nuts!"? yeah that guy? yeah. yeah. that guy. the half xehanort guy. yeah youre gonna make a fool of yourself online for that guy.

[kelbunny]

Got the Princess Ending in Tactics Ogre Reborn!

My usual nonsense is below

Get trapped idiot. Guy wasn't even a mage either so he was just stuck on that ledge until I killed him lol

I <3 bringing Ozma to Dark Knight fights. Call them out girlypop. She didn't speak though during the Barbas and Martym fight though rip 😔

However-

Inside every Law!Vyce is a little bit of Chaos!Vyce wanting to kill. And he shall be allowed to kill. Aka I finally switched Vyce over to Buccaneer bc Speedstar.

Sass 'em Queen

Anyways...

The princess ending cutscene... where we talk to all our allies... man

Vyce get his own reminisce scene...

Siblings........

Canopus being Canopus and Zenobian Knight....

Ravness! I like how her and Catiua become friends

And Azelstan pulling on my heartstrings one more time auuuuughhhh

Basically Father and Daughter and the lovers....

I really like Xapan. I didn't see much of his better side during Chaos, but he's a pretty funny guy.

And I forgot Donnalto exists bc my main healers are Olyvia and a generic Birdman haha

What y'all up to 👀

Anyways, I'll probably do CODA 1, and then go and do Neutral, as well as grab Cressida before doing the rest.

I did finally make Denam and Catiua Dark and Light though haha!