#i'll revisit them and take better screenshots

[paintedscales]

[whiteraven90]

hello, I hope you're having a good day <33 I saw your recent post on my dash and I was STUNNED at the animated scene! It's insane to me I get to see your characters animated. Feeling blessed to be alive to see it, I am not exaggerating. You know, one of these times where you wake up and things are a little bumpy in your life but there's one thing that shines brightly you didn't know it could give you so much excitement? Yeah, that kind of thing ((:

I took my time for the past hour to reminisce over your blog again. It is one of the places I really love scrolling through and reading your writing. I had a question, if you don't mind me. The way you have improved is truly admirable. I know this might not be an easy ask to say "hey, how did you learn how to paint", so I'll ask this instead: I don't know how long you've been working full-time in art, but when do you make time for studies / drawing for fun? If it's not too much to respond to, how do *you* study? I remembered your posts with your redlines and wanted to ask how do you go about those, or if you switch your routines based on your needs (sketches vs speed painting backgrounds etc). The notes there were very interesting, seeing the mental exercise.

Pretty sure you have a fKTON of stuff on your plate, so please don't feel obligated to respond quickly or even at all. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my message and for all the time you take to respond in general. Love reading your responses <3

Take care, ok? <3

I'm glad the animation made you feel better! I'll put the answer under the Keep Reading thingy.

I'm not entirely sure... I think I don't study as much as I should/could. I mostly learn as I go. Standalone studies are helpful, I'm just drawn to doing things that are more fun/satisfying to me or things that actively progress my creative goals. Imperfect illustrations for my stories, and incomplete research for worldbuilding! Many people learn faster than I, and those people do a lot more studies than I, but I have no info on whether they have more fun than I. Dopamine is rocket fuel, so it's important. :)

I'm always on the lookout for reference pictures, but I study almost only when I have a practical goal in mind, I guess. Studying is part of my job too, I think? As an indie concept artist I'm supposed to build a hoard of references and pull several new/sensible things out of them, and I think part of this process is understanding the material, and revisiting even what I already know. Illustration is similar. If I'm commissioned to draw an anthro alligator, it's time to study gators. It's not separate from work.

I mean, straightforward version: I wake up at 03:30, make coffee, and start working for myself until the paying work starts, lol. Brain is fresh before noon, and tired late in the evening just like everyone else's. It also helps that the city more or less shuts up at 4am.

The studies with the redlines... I do them when I fancy drawing characters or creatures but feel out of shape. I can get discouraged, feel like I forgot how to draw. I sketch if I plan to sketch, and paint if I plan to paint or want to study colors Drawing live models helps. Studying videos of people and things in motion. Hopping down rabbit holes about how/why things work (e.g. flintlock, Davy lamp, mansard roof). Drawing from refs. Hoarding refs. Trying different mediums (e.g. charcoal, 3D, etching). Small screenshot of one of my ref boards for the animation; I'd say I studied it a lot. How clothes move, what are good clothes, how do good clothes move, lion/tiger + human + eagle anatomy (from specific angles during specific motions if/when possible), how to dive roll, proper sprinting form, how to survive falling from a great height, spearfighting, pole vaulting, poledancing, lighting, colors, environment, kicked-up sand in motion, spear types, emu/cassowary/griffon vulture feet, etc. I didn't draw studies, unless you count the animation itself (I would).

[parkerlyn]

July 2023

Play The Nameless | Patreon | Discord

Hi all!

This is mainly a so-help-me-we-are-gonna-get-back-on-track-and-continue-this-story update. I've been able to map out the rest of Chapter 4 more concretely and broken things down to help my lizard brain parse things out and not feel so overwhelmed by it all. Yay for self improvements! 🤞

I won't lie, it didn't help that with my (lack of) version control and writing in multiple apps, I ended up losing about...5k of the Magesmith's Ch 4 path which was a real kick in the teeth. But I'm feeling better now (and have transitioned through all the stages of grief lmao), and I'm ready to push forward.

So yeah!!! Friendly reminder!! Take this as a sign!!! Make sure you're keeping track of where you write and maintain version control with backups!!

So with that said, I've been slowly working my way back into writing after hiatus and trying to dust off those skills with revisiting the Sage POV for when you first meet them. Currently it's a 3k Patreon special, and that will post later this month on July 19!

I'll also be changing up my approach to bonus art on Patreon, with one large piece of artwork each month and opening ideas for that through the High Sheevra and Sanctin tiers, with voting including the Sheevra tier once I have a couple suggestions. This month will be the completed "Game Night" special with the Healer, Magesmith, Eila, and the Alchemist, and I'm open for any suggestions for the future! More information on that here soon. I'll also try to be less embarrassed about messy sketches so you can expect more of that on Patreon too, with some art eventually posted here on tumblr.

For bonus Patreon writing, I'll slowly be working through the first meeting POVs for each RO before polling for ideas again.

July Patreon Schedule

July 5 - Progress Update | Call for August Art ideas (HS + Sa)

July 12 - Monthly Preview Screenshot

July 19 -  Bonus Writing: Sage POV, meeting the MC for the first time

July 26 -  Bonus Art: Game Night | 18+ Art: Sage Sketches

ICYMI

Art: Not gone but resting featuring an RO cuddle pile.

Donation Screenshots

Lastly, accountability screenshots for my donations are below. Differing amounts are to cover individual processing fees. For the donations at the beginning of June the amounts differ from earnings since I was on hiatus and very offline for April/May, so I decided in honor of Pride Month to give $100 to each organization.

Thank you again for all your support and stay safe out there <3

xoxo Parker 🧡

Play The Nameless | Patreon | Discord

[doubleedgemode]

that post u made about A.B.A regarding her classic GG quotes is so interesting I had no idea she said that! I haven’t played the earlier games, would u happen to have screenshots of where she says that or where I might be able to see some of her classic/unused quotes ? I just like having that stuff on hand lol. Thank you!

Thanks to you, anon, for making me revisit the screenshots, and sure thing! I'm gonna link the page, keep in mind it's super meaty and covers a lot of characters so ctrl F search will be your best friend to find specific character/quotes :)

I found them in this big quote compilation in guiltygear.ru, click the sentence to go there. (Kudos to @/solradguy's big gg neo.cities archival efforts making me find the page)... BUT before anything, important DISCLAIMERS❗:

1. Some of the quotes in general can get kind of explicit or with double entendres so uh keep that in mind.

2. Something I just learnt after going to find you the translations, it's to keep in mind their author: See, this is better explained in the aforementioned ne.ocities archival, but a lot of the site's translations were made by someone who, without going too much into detail, is... a controversial member of the community, who is known for putting a good bunch of misconceptions and mistakes into their translations. (Also they have, in my opinion, unsavory and even problematic takes about the franchise. Don't try to argue with them, just block, per proper net etiquette) I don't know japanese so I don't know if this quote index suffers from that so in the end, we'll have to take all this quote info with a huge grain of salt.

Keeping all this in mind, this is already probably a wordier answer than you expected BUT since we are at it, I'll ramble about some A.B.A quotes (in no order) that I found interesting about the topic under the cut, if you want to read that.

First and third quotes in this picture are pretty self explanatory about this part of her character. The vs Faust intro... Man, that looks straight out of her strive song. Dunno if they pulled inspiration from that, but it seems even in the classic days they had a pretty clear idea of part of A.B.A's story being existing and thriving in her own unique way.. Which makes me kind of emotional for some reason ;_;

These were NOT unused as far as I can tell, but obviously do correct me if wrong!

I find it fascinating how much of clear glimpses these are are into her law obsession (more on that specific one later) and believing herself to be a high class person and looking above "lower classes" shoulders.

Some of these aren't exclusively about the aforementioned topics but they mention her cooking god knows what creatures (like in that one infamous xxac ending) and just.. being a scared, pathetic individual at heart. Sigh.

There are probably more examples of all this but this post needs to end sometime today.😭 So, returning to her law thing being an obsession in capital letters, look at her ingame overdrives:

But before that, the elephant in the room: People's observations of her instakill looking pretty taxing to her to perform and even making a berserk Paracelsus look like even he thinks this goes too far are not far from the truth. "I might not recover this time... Dying!!!" What else can I say, that's just sad.. and very interesting lorewise about the toll of this kind of summonings. Yeah, people noticed that in strive, she can summon the same exact door as in her insta with no struggle (or at least not the same level for sure) indicates her power or skill have improved which is so so fascinating.. Anyways. Back to the law thing. We've always had a huge sign under our noses: Her saying Evidence in her overdrives. While sure it can be evidence in a more general meaning, like proving facts or something, it does call to LEGAL evidence, too

...Maybe that was super obvious for everybodh but I'm afraid to admit I didn't connect the dots til now haha 😅

I cannot access my xxacp copy right now to see if her saying shouko during her overdrives is correct, but were we to take this as truth and also trust a japanese language study site as solid because. Again I have zero knowledge of japanese... According to Nihongoclassroom..

It can be used in a legal setting.

And with this we can neatly wrap this up... Tdlr I guess she's living up to her creator being a mansion owner (which isn't precisely cheap) and it gets so interesting and double edged (HAH) if you believe her classic games was as self aware while doing this and fooling herself as strive A.B.A is.

AND she has or had a HUGE interest in law (and if u allow me to reach mayyybe morality too?). While probably not as core to her as her key thing, she sure has told the audience almost as much as it.

[doyou000me]

I just finished Unknown.

[SPOILER FREE]

I was going to show restraint. I was going to watch it weekly even if I had access to the final 3 episodes. That was the plan.

That did not happen.

Now I am walking around the apartment, lost. I pick things up, put them down again. I stare at a wall for a moment. Stare out the window for a bit. I am litterally shaking (my asthma meds sure are adding to the experience). I want to go right back to the beginning and rewatch it again. For my sanity, I think it might be better if I never watch it again. I want to take screenshots and post them. I want to write meta and reflections and list sweet descriptions of my favourite scenes. I want to write fanfics. I want to pick it apart and dig into it and learn from how they put it together. I want to leave it untouched, pristine, unchanged. I wish I had millions laying untouched in some bank account so that I could donate it to the actors and creators and all the people who brought this series to life.

This might be the best series I've ever seen.

I'll have to revisit that statement when I've got some distance to the series and can look back on it with a more sober mind, but in this moment... I can't think of a better one.

[untilteddocument]

After-Action Archive Caves of Qud - The Warmonger Revisited

Welcome again, one and all, to the After-Action Archive! Unfortunately, circumstances have caught up to this series. The UI update has rendered my previous save incompatible, and honestly that's on me. My in-progress report about the Tomb of the Eaters is now in limbo, and I will have to work my way back to where I was.

'Course, going back through the start of the game and seeing what's new has an appeal of its own, especially seeing how much better Joppa is as a way to introduce the player to the world. I'll be re-exploring the world with gusto, and I will share any further highlights as usual. With that in mind, it's time to revisit old troubles.

The work put into Joppa is mostly in the writing, and while appealing, is minor enough that I didn't pay it enough mind to take screenshots. Suffice it to say, Mehmet, Argyve, and Irudad get a lot more characterization and are able to establish pieces of the world well. I get the quests as before, to investigate Red Rock, visit the Six-Day Stilt, and assist Argyve with what becomes the pivotal series of quests in the game.

Much of it goes similarly enough to before; I decide to let Red Rock be for the time being, fearing the baboons that gather near the surface. Instead, I gather strength by pursuing Argyve's requests and defending myself against snapjaw attacks. I gain a fair amount of ability from these tasks, which I put into much the same as I did before. I intend to specialize in shield and axe as far as weapons go, but primarily focus on tinkering. With enough levels under my belt, I decide that it's time to approach Red Rock, though in this case I will do so through the secret passage that the watervine nibblers in question use to get to Joppa: the Waterlogged Tunnel.

Even with some decent equipment, it's not a walk in the park. The glowmoths in particular are dangerous, requiring me to dodge behind cover and ambush them from close enough that sprinting can get me to them before they shoot me down. Even the stronger snapjaws can be a match for me if I fight more than one. I move cautiously, though increasingly confidently as I feel more at ease with the challenges...

oh...

uh oh

WELL it looks like my first notable encounter is, once again, with the Putus Templar. They should be familiar to anyone who's followed this series for enough time, but in short, they're genocidal cyber-fascists who look even upon fellow True Kin with disdain at best. Lacking the mutations their victims possess, they compensate with weaponry and technology that imposes normality on their targets. The metaphor is hardly subtle.

And their leader...

ATOR PROY, WARMONGER AMONGST THE TRUE

Being a proper Knight Templar compared to her companion squires, she's much more dangerous than the previous Warmonger I had faced, and I wasted no time...

...running for cover, of course!

Luckily, they didn't pursue me, perhaps more preoccupied with purging the various snapjaws and centipedes in their area. I wasn't fleeing in a panic, though, no. I needed space to prepare.

Tinkering, as I said, is my primary skill, and even at this early stage, I had some options. With the few bits in my possession, I tinkered together a brace of high explosive grenades. I was unsure if it would be enough, but I was not going to give ground to them without good reason. Besides, with them down here, that meant far worse for the residents of Joppa than some nibbled watervine.

After waiting, I cautiously crept back into their region, hoping I didn't happen upon them at an unfavorable time. With luck, I might even run into one of them isolated, and be able to pick them apart one by one. This approach would only be bolstered by my fortuitous find of an Issachar rifle in one of the snapjaw chests in the area, which proved immediately useful against a lone squire.

This buoyed my confidence, but I knew I would eventually have to deal with their leader, and she wouldn't be likely to go down nearly as easily. More sneaking, more shooting, their ranks thinned, I took time to tinker up some ammo, and eventually I once more caught sight of her.

The squire wasn't a problem, but...well, of course. On the plus side, I was pleasantly surprised that the tinkering recipe for lead slugs yielded fifty rounds. That meant that I could actually use something I'd been keeping back out of fear of using too much ammo.

I found this carbine during my travels to help Argyve, where it had sat in my inventory due to the aforementioned ammo worries, but with over a hundred tinkered rounds in my pack, it was a viable option, though not my first option.

That would be the grenades, which I threw with ruthless progression, running when she drew too close before wheeling about and letting another fly. After every throw, I looked at her status, grimacing at how little 20-odd damage seemed to be against her, and carbine bursts weren't proving better.

WHY

WON'T

YOU

DIE???

There was some relief at seeing her brought down to Injured, but that was pretty much all I had, and it would take only one hit for her to put me down...

...so once again, I ran.

It wouldn't be out of the question for me to be admitting defeat at this point, the situation being as precarious as it is. However, there is one option I have left.

I run my way back up each staircase, making sure to stay just out of Ator Proy's reach, peppering her with lead and staying close enough for her to think she's got a chance to catch me. In all honesty, she's a bit too slow for that, but I don't want to have to evade her. She's too much of a problem.

'Course, there has to be something I'm aiming for. If I want her to follow me, she has to be following me somewhere, right? Now, hear me out...

Wasn't I just saying that the Templar would be trouble for the villagers? It's true, they would be. Ator Proy, however, is by her lonesome right now, and while a group would be too much to handle, me leading her here is my attempt to lure her to a bigger fish.

Sure, she's less kitted-out than Ator Proy, but she should be tough and strong enough to take her down. Seeing me fighting my running battle, she leaps to assist. Unfortunately, her assistance means the end of my contribution to the fight. Being that she's neutral to me, any stray shot would risk attracting her ire, and going in close would likely lead me to a quick grave.

As luck would have it, however, I did still have a part to play.

I keep running, and Ator Proy is so focused on me that she doesn't spare much if any consideration for Yrame, meaning that her Staggering Block skill, especially opposed by Yrame's Shake It Off skill, mostly serves to delay the inevitable.

I don't get any XP, since the killing blow was not struck by me or anyone on my side, but I'll take survival (and loot!) over glory any day. Her fullerite gear is worth a lot at this point of the game, and the cybernetics I'm able to get from her body are worth more. Most importantly, there is the stuff that every legendary Templar carries around.

Eaters' Nectar is a boon, and I will definitely take advantage of it when I can. For now, though, I need to get back to Red Rock.

[thedinanshiral]

Playing The Veilguard - Update

For now, as first impressions after roughly 20 hours of game (first 3 spent on CC) i can confidently say:

Combat on DA has never been better. I'm playing mage and now that i'm more familiar with the controls it's the best mage combat in the series.

Dialogues are not bad so far, just a bit awkward in places, totally understandable as it's the beginning of the game and everyone is still in "introductions mode".

Narrative felt a bit rushed in places for me but i also understand they had to set certain events quickly to really start the game.

Graphics look really good. Bright areas are clear and beautifully crafted, blighted areas are really blighted, muddy, bloody disgusting. For anyone complaining the series no longer has any darkness or gore, just know i took screenshots i can't share without flagging them. DAO blight feels like cheap Halloween decor by comparison.

New darkspawn looked silly sometimes if you paused the trailers at the right frame but while playing??? You're gonna run, fadestep, sprint, roll and jump away for dear life.

Less? bloat. The Crossroads have many blocked paths and every time you find one it gets added to your quest log but some even state "this won't unlock until later" so they'll just sit there clogging your quest log until "later" arrives, whenever that may be. Also if you're not careful some companions quests will pile up with everything else. Loot you pick up is mostly tagged as "valuable item" , you can check descriptions for more worldbuilding but you either keep them for no reason or sell them, that's all they're there for. Because you can sell them to factions to increase your reputation with them/add to their power, if you have many valuables i suggest not selling them all in one go and try to split them more evenly between whatever factions are available to you then.

The game is certainly more linear, but the different areas do open up new paths as you progress so if a path is blocked when you're around busy with a quest, trust it'll open up later, be sure to revisit locations after you finished whatever you were doing there the first time around.

Equipment progression is done simply by finding/buying the same item again, multiple times, or at the Caretaker's workshop, and it's always the same item, same stats with increasing numbers, while in DAI one could use the same schematic to craft three different staves, each with different elements and stats depending on the materials used. I miss that, but i get a simple progression system like DAV's keeps you more focused on the game progression as a whole instead of distracting you with picking elfroot everywhere or tracking the right creature to get this or that leather because you want a robe that looks blue.

The UI is gorgeous, maybe it's me being partial to all that purple and gold, but it really looks amazing and simple to use. Although it did take me 10 hours of gameplay to realize there's a local map and a world map because i didn't see the option on screen but that was just me being too "in the zone" to notice.

Companions are good so far. Bellara is nice, Lucanis is the love of my life. Each have a unique ability that Rook can ask them to use on the field (Neve can activate certain magical artifacts, for example and thats the only example i can give without majorly spoiling some things) and this helps with reaching places and opening doors. Once Rook gets the lyrium dagger they can also do an extra thing or two.

The Lighthouse not only offers accomodations for you and your party, it also has a puzzle here and there to keep you busy, and the bit of decor Rook can arrange in their room is also nice; you can find or purchase decor items and decide where to put them, choosing from some alotted surfaces.

I'd like to keep typing but i want to keep playing! I'll be posting more in detail about my current playthough on my personal tmblr so as to not spam this one.

Overall, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is not disappointing, on the contrary it's giving and giving and this is just starting, i can't even imagine how good it'll keep on getting.

As some content creators and fans have suggested, don't rush it. Explore everything, read everything, try as much as possible from what The Veilguard has to offer. We waited ten years for this, better make it last ten more.

And don't forget to read the codices! There's some interesting things in there like for instance, Evanuris correspondence.

[piastrinorris]

as always, i'm not addressing the anonymous bullshit i've been getting in my inbox individually, if you want attention that bad then come up here and say it with your whole "face". but i will say as a blanket statement:

there is a difference between policing what people post vs asking them to be sensitive of common triggers. in asking people to tag any hoard content, i'm not at all shaming anybody for being into that sort of dynamic. i know it exists as a kink - everything exists as a kink if you make it so. but as much as they deserve to be able to imagine this fictional character as they so please, i too deserve to not get triggered by a character that hits a little too close to home for my liking, portrayed by my favourite actor.

i'm not even sure on whose behalf you lot are even getting mad on, lmao. as far as i've seen on my dash, all my mutuals have been tagging their stuff a lot more, which again, is insanely appreciated bc they don't have to by any means. but i've asked, and they've responded, bc they're good people and we all deserve to be able to curate + share our own internet experiences. the only thing that occasionally goes by is the occasional screenshot/gif of people thirsting over jq's physicality rather than anything to do with his character, and honestly i'll take that as a compromise.

and, since i've said it in a reply and in tags but not yet a full text post - i could be very wrong about what actually happens in that film. i haven't seen it yet. none of us have. but like i said, the clip just brought me back to a time i never want to revisit if i can help it, personally, which is why i'm doing what i can to avoid it. and my community that i've built here are helping me. so if you're going to try and fight me in my ask box over me supposedly trying to "force" everyone to "conform" for "my comfort" - who are you saying this in defence of? who is it that's so offended by my asking? i can't see any evidence of anyone being that way. i've not lost any mutuals since i asked. i promise you, there are far, far better things you could be doing with your time than making up arguments that don't even exist.

[cherry-bombbomb]

Hi. I'm rebranding myself

Maybe rebranding isn't the perfect word for this. More of like, reintroducing myself to the community. Or for those who stumbled upon this blog and since they got nothing better to do with their time, they decided to read this not-so-important (re)introduction of myself. To that person, hi!

Been a Tumblr user since I was in 9th grade (just graduated from college recently) to solely collecting GIFs of my 13 sweethearts, Seventeen (this still continues, only I changed group now hehe but Seventeen still holds a special place in my heart). In recent years, however, I stumbled upon some screenshots of shitposts from Tumblr in Pinterest (yes you read that right) and decided I want to experience first-hand this train wreck of a website. But sadly, Tumblr became one of those short-lived hyperfixations, which resulted in me just spending an ungodly amount of time here at the beginning and gradually lose my interest.

So, I decided that today is going to be the day I want to revisit (and hopefully revitalize) this blog and making it my own.

I've always have problem with my anxiety and self-esteem, although I've never got them profesionally consulted because therapy is expensive and I'm just a mere middle-class working fresh graduate. And this blog will also be an attempt to "cure" my too low self-esteem. The (huge) mistake I made when I started here is I wanted to create a shitpost so good it'll make me Tumblr famous and trust me, I've had some banger ideas myself but my stupid anxiety has infected my self-esteem so bad that I didn't dare to take the wheel to the clown car. Everytime I wanted to post something, the same thoughts would run through my mind:

"Would it be funny enough?"

Like holy shit, I should'nt be this overthinking over posting some shitposts, right?? But I am and it's soooo stupiiiddddd, like I'd be overthinking about posting anything to the point I'd caught myself doubting whether I could make a coherent post in English (I'm not a native English speaker but I sure as heck know that I could speak like one) and in that process, ruined the post.

Like, it's dumb. Having anxiety is dumb.

So from now on, I'm going to flip a finger on my anxiety and I'm going to post anything my poor humor desires. Starting from this post.

And hey, I'm open for new friends! I like books, K-Pop, and video games. Heck, I'll even discuss about heavy topics.

To any of you who read this far, I thank you for your time and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day <3

[sevenmothz]

Finally finished The Veilguard! Probably would have gotten it done earlier, but with how things went with the election, safe to say I lost some drive to keep playing for a little bit haha.

Overall thoughts, good and bad, beneath the cut. Spoilers ahead if you haven't finished the game yet.

The Good:

Combat: Super fun! I might be tempted to try this game on higher difficulties. I never felt like I was getting bogged down by random fights like I have in past Dragon Age games (Origins is probably the worst offender of the four games, but Inquisition is up there too). Playing a mage was fantastic and I'm so glad they finally aren't just standing around waving their staffs around lmao.

Lore: DWARF LOOOORRRREEEE!!!! That's probably the part I got most hype about haha. Also thoroughly enjoyed playing a Watcher and learning more about the Necropolis through Rook and Emmrich. I don't think any of the other factions can top the Mourn Watch for me, tbh. The elf shit was engaging enough to continue on with the story, but I'm not a big Solas girly and the elven history of Dragon Age has never been something I've been super invested in. Definitely side-eyeing the little tidbit we got from finishing Taash's personal quests though! If Dragon Age survives to see another game, I'm super into finding out more about qunari and their origins.

Characters: Really enjoyed the companions and their stories overall, and I'm glad they involved so many one-on-one quests with (some) of them. Also really loved meeting so many characters I've seen in the books and comics over the years. Getting to take screenshots of my Inquisitor in a new graphic style was also a plus.

Art: I know a lot of people really dislike the style the game is in--hell, I was iffy on it too when all I had was to watch the promotional videos--but as soon as I started the game myself, I really loved it! I don't know if they updated some things since dropping promo videos or what, but it just looks so much better in person on my gaming system. I hope they'll take a similar stylistic approach for any future Dragon Age games they maybe might do since I'm pretty burnt out on hyper-realistic looking games.

Maps: Blessedly linear, but expansive enough to feel good with revisiting areas to check out spots that were blocked previously. It made me think a lot of God of War's reboot games as well as the Jedi games, which I also really enjoyed playing. Inquisition had vast wastelands with practically nothing but enemies populating their maps and it just made me want to get from point A to B as fast as possible. While I overused the fast travel in this first playthrough since I wanted to get through the whole story, I'll definitely be using them less in future playthroughs so I can enjoy not only banter, but also what NPCs are saying throughout the areas.

Armors: Ooooh gorl so many armors I liked in the game! For most of the game my Rook was wearing that white/purple get-up with the big cap and UNF! Loved it. Switched off to a rogue-looking armor set in the Shadow Dragon colors that looked pretty bitching too. That one unique set from the Crows with the golden arms too? AAAHHHH!

Bugs/Tech: Other than characters getting stuck once in a blue moon or Rook being goofy as shit while doing the ol' parkour, I didn't really encounter much on the bugginess side of things. Nothing that was noticeable anyway.

Animation: Bioware finally figured it out after all these decades haha. Love it when characters aren't standing around stiffly like dolls being played with or walking around like they got a giant popsicle stick stuck up their asses.

The endgame was pretty epic. So glad all our companions get roles in the final rush like in Origins and 2. Inquisition completely dropped the ball in that regard (both when you're going after Coryface at the end of the main game, as well as Solas in Trespasser).

Emmrich: Best boy. ALSO HE DATES STRIFE IF YOU DON'T ROMANCE HIM FJDKALFDJAL. GET IT, OLD MEN!

Solas: Still a dumb egg man. Wouldn't have him any other way. Glad he's gone lmao.

Dorian: Still serving cunt and outlasted Solas. Stay winning, King Archon.

The Bad:

Varric: What a complete waste of time lmao. I honestly wasn't super hype about him being in another DA game (outside of him serving DILF looks, which WOOF GOTDAMN), and what they wound up doing with his character was dumb as shit. It was the Hawke vs Warden decision all over again from Inquisition where the story is Telling me to give a shit about these characters, but not Showing me a reason for my Inquisitor to care much about who they pick to stay in the Fade. If we'd gotten to see Rook adventure with Varric more at the beginning of the game, this whole mentor dying routine would have hit harder. Writers shat the bed and rolled in it.

Romance: So I'm going to have to look up a video online of how the other romances play out, but the Lucanis one was...disappointing. Had a really good start with the almost kiss scene, but then there was no follow up for that. Why doesn't he want to kiss Rook in that moment? Why isn't he physically affectionate with them at all until near endgame?? Meta-wise, I can take a guess, but the point of a story is to...tell it. I've heard Kirby isn't big on writing romances, so...idk, did that have something to do with it? Was it not fully written before she was fired? It straight up feels incomplete! I've heard from looking online that he even keeps flirting with Neve even when you're locked into a romance with him. Like...HUH?

Cont'd: Even outside of romances, it seemed like he just didn't have much more going on outside of his main storyline. Davrin, Bellara, Taash, and Lace all invite you out multiple times for one-on-one time (even get to go to the garden in the Necropolis with Emmrich, which was super cool), but Lucanis just...doesn't have that. Neve also seemed to be lacking a little in that regard too. Is it simply because they have parts of their stories as part of the main questline or what?

Cont'd 2: Also hilarious that if you harden Lucanis, he refuses to get involved with Rook, even a Shadow Dragon one that has reason to save Minrathous over Treviso, but he's happy to get into a relationship with Neve, who was also not there to help at Treviso haha. RIP to y'all that made that mistake on your Lucanis runs.

Music: Forgettable. I think the only track I truly liked was the ambient music for the Hossberg Wetlands (goddamn does that shit set the tone for that area) and maybe some of the boss fight songs. Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe, you dun goofed. It's telling when the only times I perked up at the sound of the music was when it was an Inquisition track, which had an absolutely baller line-up of songs. I wish they'd have gotten Inon Zur or Trevor Morris to return for Veilguard. Or, I don't know, poked Zimmer with a cattle prod or something to wake him up, since I know that bitch can make some amazing music (no idea what Balfe is usually capable of).

Animation: When it's good, it's REALLY good, but then you randomly get scenes where the characters are just standing around looking at each other lmao. Like in one of the Lucanis romance-y scenes during their second coffee date, he just stands next to Rook and makes weird faces at them. Like damn dude, clearly someone didn't get paid to animate that day.

Davrin can die what the fuck. I'm guessing it's Lace if you pick her to lead the other group? UGH THE WORST! ASSAN EVEN GOES DOWN WITH HIM??? T A T At least his death felt worthy, unlike fucking Varric getting prison shanked by Solas within the first hour or two of playing.

Y'all really couldn't think of a better way to sell Varric being around and Rook not knowing? Good lawrd, embarrassing. Look what they did to my boy. I'm gonna be a salty bitch about Varric's treatment for years to come. Was really holding out for Inquisition!Varric being a fluke.

While I did like that the companions weren't at each other's throats in dumb ways, yeah, they probably could have used a bit more bite. Or like...have their problems with each other not be solved within one cutscene.

Taash's storyline is probably still my least favorite since the queer side of it is too formulaic and felt clunky now and then. Can see those story beats coming from a mile away. Was honestly more interested in their struggle with their qunari and rivaini backgrounds.

Lace also seemed to suffer a bit with a predictable storyline, but that may be because I'm also like her and struggle to accept needing help and not always being okay and putting on a front to not bother others bahaha.

Can't believe we only got to visit Kal-Sharok once jfdksalfda.

Casual clothes: Would have been nice to have more options. And also just to have them organized a bit better so it's easier to check through what will and will not cause clipping issues and whatnot haha.

Shadow Dragons: Hilarious that a group that's trying to be an underground rebel force all color code their outfits lmao.

The Kal-Sharok armor. GOD! It's so bad!

Can't believe I had to choose between Manfred and Lichdom. Ugh so rude. Hardest choice in the whole game.

Overall:

Even with my complaints, I still had a great time and definitely want to playthrough Veilguard more, and likely will once I've had a break from Dragon Age for a while. I got a fanfiction (not related) to finish writing, podcasts to catch up on, and doll stuff to get to. I also have that playthrough of DA2 to finish as well that I put on pause to get Inquisition done with before Veilguard released.

I do really hope Dragon Age will continue (considering the after-credits scene, it definitely seems like they're interested in continuing the series) since I still absolutely love this world Bioware has created and added to over the years, even if the stories don't always pan out how I'd hoped (sometimes due to EA and Bioware's management being dumb as bricks).

Honestly, me being "meh" about a Dragon Age main quest is pretty normal for me lmao. DA2 was the only game I enjoyed the story for from beginning to end, and I think a lot of that is because it isn't a story about gathering followers to fight against a big bad and save the world, but instead about a group of assholes out for themselves that find a family in each other and are just trying to live out their lives one day at a time.

Considering the after-credits scene, I imagine we won't be getting another story like DA2 anytime soon from Bioware, which is disappointing, but hardly surprising. Most people tend to want the big epics over the more zoomed in stories.

[2dplatformerterm1-fe]

LEVEL DESIGN: Making my own tile maps

To begin with, I opened up my game and took a screenshot of my level from afar.

I then added some vague sketches/ideas of what I wanted the levels to look like.

before: I don't like the little patterns in them, I think that they are ugly.

after: This is the final result of what my grass will be. I like the mono-colored dirt because it adds a sense of simplicity to the game which I enjoy, because that's the type of vibe I wanted for my game. It also makes my life a lot easier when connecting the tiles together in my games

When making trees, I couldn't really decide on a color pallet to use. I thought it would be fun to make the trees more vibrant, so that the level looked less boring. And then I also thought that it would be cool to make it so that the trees were how a dog would see them. However, dogs can only really see three colors- that being blue, yellow and gray. I didn't like the idea of making a solely using those three colors though, because I thought it wouldn't make my game look interesting enough.

At first, I made a regular looking tree.

I didn't like it, I felt like it didn't match the vibe for what I wanted my game to feel like- a fun adventure game about a dog. And, I was worried my character would blend in too much with the bark of the tree.

So i decided to revisit my previous idea of using dogs colorblindness to make a color scheme.

I like these much better!

At first, I made 2 just to compare and see which ones I liked better. But I honestly really like them both. I think I'll use the darker one on the left to be a background tree, and then the lighter tree on the left will be used more so in the foreground, so that it gives an illusion of depth to my game.

I made some different variations of the tree, just to make my game more visually interesting.

I was advised to try and add some depth to my trees, because apparently the colours I chose for the trees make it feel like its leaning away from the screen. I chose not to change my trees in the end for two main reasons:

I didn't like the way they looked. I prefer the solid colours, I feel like they fit the vibe that I'm trying to create with my game.

My game is supposed to be pretty simple looking. In my eyes, it's from the perspective of a dog. A dog wouldn't really take in enough detail from the world around it.

I will say, finding a balance of what is too complex and what is too simple has been probably one of the hardest parts about designing my level. I don't want to go crazy with detail, because then I wouldn't be sticking to what I think is right for my game and what my creative processes are. But at the same time, I don't want my game to be too simple, and therefore visually unappealing.

I hope I'm able to find a balance. It has been interesting trying to get into the mind of a dog, and trying to see things from a whole other perspective entirely.

[cf56]

Hi, I'm cf56!

I like Animaniacs a healthy and normal amount. Here you can find my original Animaniacs fanfiction, long Animaniacs theory/lore/analysis posts, Animaniacs screenshots/gifs, and random memes I think of from time to time. I also run the @animaniacsartmuseum, a project which aims to catalogue all Animaniacs art on Tumblr from years past.

💙💙Profile pic by @cringetownusa 🧡🧡

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF ALL MY FANFICS ON AO3

If you read any of my fics and have anything you want to say afterwards, positive or negative, please don't hesitate to leave a comment. I may not respond to them all, as I often don't know what to say, but I love receiving them and cherish each and every one.

If you want to create any art or fan content based on my fics, you have my permission and total endorsement. If you make art, please tag me in the post or make me aware somehow so I can fawn over it for the next ten years. If you make a fic based on one of mine, please clarify that it is not officially approved by me, unless it is (which you would need to ask specifically about).

Overanalyzing the Warners:

Part 1: The Strange Progression of Dr. Scratchansniff's Character

Part 2: Wakko's Guilt

Part 3: Could the Warners have been Dezanitized?

Part 4: Revisiting the Scratchansniff-Warners Relationship, Part 1

Part 4: Revisiting the Scratchansniff-Warners Relationship, Part 2

All my original content is tagged with #cfposts

Other posts I would like you to see:

Memes

Screenshots

Asks

About Me: 23-year-old he/him, bi, cis, American

Other social media: Twitter, Instagram, Ao3

I barely use Twitter and Instagram, but they exist.

I'm also a mod of Yakko's Ball Pit, an Animaniacs Discord server. Currently invite-only.

Asks

My ask box is always open! I'm always happy to talk about Animaniacs. You can ask me about anything, even if it's not Animaniacs related. I won't guarantee that I'll answer all of them, though.

I am not currently taking requests.

What I encourage you to ask about:

-Anything related to Animaniacs (especially the Warners)

-Animaniacs lore or theories

-Animaniacs fanfiction

-Animaniacs behind-the-scenes

-My fanfiction: I would be overjoyed if anyone wanted to talk about behind-the-scenes stuff, the process of writing, my WIPs, or anything related to my work. If you have any comments or criticisms, generally or about a specific fic, please send them in. I posted a full list of my current WIPs a bit ago, but it was at the bottom of a really long reblog chain, so I know most of you never saw it. I will repost that list at the bottom of this post and keep it updated. Please feel free to ask about any of them.

-Stuff about writing in general. I don't consider myself to be some guru of writing, I think my writing is fairly basic actually, but if you do want to know more about the writing process or want advice from me, I will provide it.

-Any of my posts here on Tumblr

What I encourage you not to ask about: (If you violate these guidelines, I probably won't respond)

-Your OCs or heavily-OC-related content. I have no problem with OCs, but I'm just not very interested in researching specific original characters that I'm probably not familiar with for the purpose of an ask. If I wouldn't be able to understand the context of an ask without being knowledgeable about your OCs, please don't send it.

-Asks that are really just submissions. I don't accept submissions to this blog. If it would work better as a post on your own account, please consider not sending it here.

-NSFW

-Disguised NSFW. I've been on the internet a long time. Don't think you're slick sending your barely-disguised f*tishes to my ask box. I won't respond to them.

-NSFW-adjacent topics, including W*rnercest. I've already stated my views on W*rnercest, and I won't touch the topic further.

-Weird original ships. Weird ships that are widely accepted, like Yax, are fine to ask about. But don't be pestering me with your Minerva Mink x Dr. Scratchansniff headcanons.

-Just don't be weird, please.

Believe it or not, I do have interests other than Animaniacs. I don't plan to ever cover them here, but you can ask about them if you want. If you ask something related to a fandom I'm not familiar with, I probably won't respond. Here is an incomplete list of other things I'm a fan of, followed by my list of WIPs:

My other fandoms:

-Star Wars

-Marvel, especially Spider-Man

-DC, especially Batman

-Vinesauce

-Elder Scrolls and Fallout

-Outer Wilds (not Worlds, though I have played both)

-Hollow Knight

-The Stanley Parable

-Portal

-Gears of War

-Mario (especially Mario & Luigi series and Super Paper Mario)

-Paradox Interactive Games

-History in general

-Indiana Jones

-Pirates of the Caribbean

-American football, especially college

-Other major American sports

-Professional Wrestling (WWE, AEW)

-Spongebob

-Chowder

-Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

-Misadventures of Flapjack

-Amazing World of Gumball

-Fairly Oddparents

-Courage the Cowardly Dog

-Codename: KND

-Regular Show

-Rick and Morty

-Smiling Friends

-Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

WIPs:

-Christmas 2021

-Coffee

-Highly Classified

-S&S

-Alternate

-Calm

-Coma

-Depression

-Going Back

-Lockdown*

-Morning

-Mother's Day

-Opening the Door

-Past the End

-Stargazing

-Found in Plain Sight

-One More Meeting

-One More Meeting Chapter 2

-Totally Insaney

-Totally Insaney Chapter 2

-Burglar

-Talk

-Goodbye

-Misophonia

-Nightmare

The ones marked with an asterisk are the ones I 100% don't plan to ever release.

[ratcandy]

Bursts in through the door. Mafia town related rant incoming based on a realization I had/some discoveries I (re)made

So. We know that the Mafia took over the island, right? Right.

When Hat Kid arrives in Mafia Town, all we see of those that originally lived on the island are a few old men, Mustache Girl, and Cooking Cat. The latter two of which are hiding, and the former of which are frequently getting beaten up by the Mafia.

That island is far too big to have only been occupied by about five people before the Mafia showed up. So what happened to the rest of the natives?

Well. I've been running with two possible theories so far, one of which being a lot better than the other, but. With revisiting Mafia Town and coming to notice something specifically, I'm. Left a lil unsettled because I realize my darker assumption could be either right or just worse than I thought

What's the better theory? The natives all took off when the Mafia arrived. Packed all their shit, got on boats, and Headed Out. Gone. Issues I have with this theory: - ??Mustache girl 's ?? pArents ?? Did they leave her there, then? Was it an accident? Did they get separated and Mu was left behind? Did they abandon her intentionally? Or were they long gone before the Mafia even showed up? - Why did so few stay? I'm assuming people would stay either in hopes of the Mafia leaving, for cultural purposes/family reasons, or for business (though I doubt the Mafia would allow for competition). Especially since we see elderly as remainders. But still. that's only like. What. Three? Are there 3 old men I can't remember exactly, but. Very few. Suspiciously few

I'm sure a good few could have done this, but all of them?... Seems unlikely.

What's the worse theory that now I have more potential evidence for and I'm not happy about this with how the game treats the Mafia later?

Dead as hell, and the Mafia are to blame for it.

Before anyone comes after me saying "that seems a little dark for funny kid game" I'm going to direct your attention towards The Forgotten Children and put my hands on my hips and go "hmm??" all obnoxiously. So don't even try me

But. Listen. I said it once before and I'll say it again.

The Mafia are already shown in-game to beat children, elderly, and seagulls, for some reason. Mustache Girl looked like absolute hell in her storybook, so we can only imagine what she went through. So with this in mind, what would stop me from claiming that they could have killed full-on adults? Literally three of them beat up an old man at once, and one admits to throwing Mu into the ocean (I know I bring that line up a lot but it makes me SO angry I have to). Those actions alone could have killed people: a CHILD and OLD MEN. So. I mean. i'm just

But what specific thing today has set me off on this? well. Here's some screenshots.

These. Boarded up houses and shops

This implies one of two things:

- The Mafia boarded these up for whatever reason (which wouldn't make a lot of sense, as one Mafia outside the the bottom left home is wondering how to get in) or - The original inhabitants of the island boarded these up.

And if it's the second option, well. The fact that these places have now been broken into, are falling apart, and/or seem relatively abandoned besides whatever Mafia is sleeping inside now... ...doesn't leave the happiest picture of what happened to the natives. Especially since they're nowhere to be found.

SOME places, like the compound/residential homes or apartments, are still boarded up, and the windows aren't broken to show signs of entry... So those people might still be inside there. But that's also worrying, because one Mafia claims that only the Mafia eat all the food the Mafia makes.

So. There's the possibility that people are boarded up inside their own homes, living off rations as they're unable to leave, and even if they were able to leave, the Mafia refuses to provide food for them. And I doubt the Mafia would take too kindly to their food being stolen if people were to try fishing. AKA, that's a lot of people potentially starving to death

and. and. also. in my searches around for these areas because my memory and sense of direction are both awful so it took me a while. I was talking with some mafia to get some ideas/more info. and. well.

GFB i have a question why are the mafia redeemed at the end why are they on the side of the good guys why why why why why

anyways the natives are all dead or are currently starving to death. this makes me livid and full of malice because the mafia gets literally no repercussions by the end of the game and are instead one'a the characters helping hat kid and telling her not to leave. Enraged

and also one more piece of dialogue i refound and barked and growled and snarled over

line before this was something along the lines of "Mafia is not cruel, Mafia find replacement home for family..."

[autistic-shaiapouf]

have you ever seen youtuber Aleczandxr’s video about pouf?

youtube com watch?v=UzAkIuGlpsQ

(his interpretation seems pretty similar to yours so i was wondering what you think of it and if your opinion differs in any way.)

also i can be pretty dumb about these things but i don’t understand why people say pouf is loud? is it because of him having nervous breakdowns? idgi actually 🙈

also thank you very much for indulging my asks with your very interesting and thoughtful replies. 🤍

[Image I.D.: screenshot of an ask. It reads:

"side note but i don't fully agree with a lot of Aleczandxr's h x h takes but i always thought his shaiapouf gif(?) was one of his better ones ... too bad it's practically the only video you can find with an analysis of pouf's character smh.

End I.D.]

This was in my inbox for a lot longer than I wanted it to be, but the short answer is yes! I have seen it - over a year ago, so I revisited it specifically for this ask. I'll go into a few specifics, but overall, it really did hit a LOT of the points I was addressing! I was so glad to hear him address the duality he's got, selfish/selfless, loyal/disloyal, because that's one of the most interesting parts of his character to me! It really is amazing to see the inner workings of everything he thinks and does when a lot of people tend to gloss over those in favor of just calling him annoying.

I was also a little surprised to also hear him call pouf "loud", which on my end, wasn't really the clearest wording, so don't feel bad about not understanding what I meant (+ thank you for asking for clarification!). The context I used it under is in reference to how much attention his character grabs, between design, the emotionality, the violin, the literal screaming, he's very hard to ignore! Even with all the dislike, you have to at least admit that it's difficult to just push him aside when he keeps moving himself into a spotlight.

Before really delving into a couple things, I at least wanna present the top comment on the video because it made me laugh:

I wanna talk about his sense of empathy + his emotions, which is something I've actually talked about before in a post that actually is where I drew my url from, which went from "he's neurodivergent bc I am and I say so" to "oh wait, there's actually substance to this". It's a post I plan to rewrite with general neurodivergence in mind as opposed to just adhd, but I digress!

Empathy is a huge theme in the caa and it's something that gets a spotlight with all the guards + meruem. Pitou's learning of empathy is fairly explicit; youpi's is a bit more subtle but he also learns that he should care about other people; meruem also achieves this via komugi.

Pouf is once more a special case and the way I see it, he either has very low empathy, or none at all. The spiritual message ability literally lets him read emotions in a textbook fashion, down to neat exact ratios, and that's used in both an offensive and defensive manner, which is to predict an opponent's next move. When he's not actively using that, he has a very difficult time understanding the emotions of others and can't really connect with them. He can't understand what meruem sees in komugi, he can't understand why pitou heals her, he even directly says to them something to the degree of "I don't understand". Personally speaking as a person with (often) low empathy, that's not a character flaw - he could've taken time to learn about the actual feelings etc that everyone around him has, but he didn't.

This is actually something that's also made explicit, and I saw that in a line that a lot of people laughed off. I don't remember the context around it, but it was the "soldiers don't need memories or emotions" line. Memories of course being a nod to how pouf himself streamlined the soldier making process that involved wiping away memories, but the bit about emotions is what pulls me in. Yes it's ironic to hear that from the most emotionally volatile man in the arc, but it's very revealing in regards to how pouf thinks.

We know he likely views himself both as the most loyal guard (his actions being the most "logical" vs the other two guards continuing to develop), as well as the most unworthy guard (which is just his own self loathing, also seen multiple times over the arc). But that line? That's not only a giveaway that he sees himself as meruem's perfect soldier, but also that pouf has a difficult time processing his own emotions. It's clear even to pitou and youpi that pouf is volatile to say the least, but in that line, we can see that pouf likely doesn't see himself that way. The implication I'm reading into is that he doesn't consider his emotions to be anything out of the ordinary, and that his (re)actions involving those emotions are in proportion.

I also wanna get into the duality of his mind a bit more! The note on how he's actually quite clever and book smart whilst simultaneously unable to conceive of things outside his ultimate view of what his purpose is is something that I also find fascinating. This was actually another point I bring up that makes me believe he's neurodivergent - he's very academically gifted and able to think quickly, but really lags in social situations. His conversations center around meruem and he doesn't really engage with anyone else unless he has no choice, on top of not really being able to perceive emotions in any kind of empathetic manner. There's definitely more to be said on both neurodivergence and the general duality of thinking, but I'll leave the big ideas right here for the time being.

I wanna make a small comment on his character that's a bit fueled by the thoughts of someone else I talked to, with her focus on him being his utilitarian streak - if it wasn't for meruem's benefit, if it didn't have meaning overall, it should be eliminated. This is mostly seen in his fixation over komugi, but it's also present in that "soldiers don't need memories or emotions" line as well; it's one of his biggest driving attitudes as seen in all his "for the king" repetition, as well as in his being willing to die if he can't serve well enough.

This on its own presents an interesting clash with pouf's overall aesthetics; the man is an art piece. If things should be cut out, what use does he have for his violin? Why bother with the eloquence, the books, the mental leaps and jumps? The very method of his existence is a contradiction to his own ideals, and I do enjoy it very very much. (I actually did wanna write a character essay on his contradictions and duality as well, and now I think I may have enough to write about!)

[retphienix]

Phasmophobia maps ranked (totally objective, no opinions here, super srs, psyche gottem it's all opinions)

Brownstone High School

I won't sugar coat it, I didn't even bother going inside for a screenshot for this entry because I hate high school.

Now to be fair, I'm down to play high school whenever, I want to get better at it and I believe that should speed things up a bit and make it more fun.

And HS is the map I think of when I think of running a full 4 man!

But beyond a full 4 man HS is too big, too boring, and too annoying to solve.

It's long hallway with a million rooms after long hallway with a million rooms after small reprieve of finding a science lab or gym followed by long hallway with a million rooms followed by going upstairs to do it all over again.

THERE ARE TOO MANY CLASSROOMS AND I KNOW THAT'S THE POINT

But when the gameplay revolves around finding the room where the ghost is hanging around having these many rooms AND hallways can really drag things out.

Now to be honest, when you have the room on lockdown it's a fun map to maneuver and solve!

So if you walk in the front door and hear something fall over in a specific direction it immediately becomes more playable!

But if you walk in and the ghost is being a quiet asshole then you're in for the least fun you can have in phasmo in my opinion.

Just a bunch of "PLEASE DO SOMETHING" shouting and holding your EMF or thermo practically begging for something to happen.

Bottom tier, worst map, don't like it.

It doesn't even have unique collectibles to make up for the fact that it's a big map so you won't find the bone!

Hardly necessary (though I argue all maps need those) but definitely worth dropping a mention on top of being hallway simulator.

Too many rooms and boring hallways out of 9

Edgefield Street House

Edge honestly doesn't deserve to be next to HS but someone had to be and Edge gets the dishonor purely because it's the most middling map in the game.

Edge is fine.

Edge is passable.

Edge is simple and clean.

Edge isn't exciting is the problem, but it is still a fun one.

The houses aren't renown for being the most interesting; Their job is to be middling and accessible and they get the job done just fine. Edge just happens to be the most middling.

With a first floor that's underutilized, I mean the ghost is in the kitchen if they are here at all let's be real.

Garage is meh, living room is a rare spot for anything to happen, there's a weird back exit area that is never used ever for anything?

First floor is clearly an afterthought for the ghost but it gets the job done.

I actually really dig the basement layout, but I've never once seen a ghost spawn there lol. It's mostly just a place to turn on the power and hide in the locker and that's fine.

The 'star' of Edge is the upstairs which has roughly 9 billion rooms and locations for you to hide, scientists are still counting the exact amount.

You want the blunt end of that?

It's entirely playable- it's safe as hell even since there's a closet every 3 inches- but it's not the most interesting thing for an entire map to be "Go upstairs, look at the 15 doors because one is probably about to open for you and that's the ghost room"

Runs of Edge are a bit too 'samey' since so much of the real-estate is upstairs and it's so dense.

Edge is fine. The most 'passable' map in rotation that I won't complain about but I'm never stoked to head to.

Passable out of 9

Asylum

I'll be honest and say I'm not being thorough with asylum.

It's among my least played, but that doesn't mean my least enjoyed.

It's got a really fun reverb on voices, it's genuinely fun to wander through, but it just feels some strange level of 'too big' while still being... not that?

I dunno how to say it.

But the 1st floor is annoying to clear out with its layout and sure that's inexperience talking-

While the bottom floor is fun due to the aesthetic but it's in a weird place of being overly simplistic.

The bottom floor is just a big hallway with rooms on either side.

That's not the most interesting layout- though it is fun to hide down there, with bathrooms and other makeshift spots to hide behind in most rooms which makes the hallway less threatening.

Asylum is weird, the layout goes between annoying and overly simple between the two floors and it feels too 'wide' for what it has to offer.

AND YET

I like aslyum.

I never play it, but I like it.

Shweppsi out of 9

Tanglewood Street House

Tangle we all know it and what's there to say.

A little bit, to be honest :)

It's the smallest map around and it's a great first map to learn the ropes.

Tangle's strongest feature is its layout- it's both interesting and fun to experience in multiple runs.

I love the little trio of rooms (and bathrooms/closet space) on the left side of the house, the way it's a little mini hallway for two of them (and a bathroom), then deeper in to the left of the living room is the master bedroom, I dig that.

I dig the garage too, the way it's connected to a laundry room feels really nice, but let's be honest every ghost ever in Tangle is in the kitchen.

Sure that's not literally true and I've had a ton in the first room on the left or the bathroom on the left, but that kitchen is where every run on Tangle ends up- with everyone hanging out asking for the ghost to show themselves.

Also the basement is lame, nothing ever happens there and there's no real hiding from what I can tell, just run upstairs to one of the closets.

All said, you take the good design with the bad of being so small every run feels about the same and you end up with Tangle.

I really like Tangle as a beginner map and to revisit for the layout, but I won't lie, kitchen ghosts here are lame and common.

Still not bad enough to outweigh the good, Tangle is a winner.

Tutorial out of 9

Grafton Farmhouse

Once upon a time Grafton was my favorite farmhouse but, well, it's here and the other hasn't been mentioned yet.

Grafton is one of those maps with few "locker" style hiding spots, but unlike a lot of the other maps that emphasize hiding behind things I just never feel comfortable hiding on Grafton- and not in a tense way, in a "The AI is gonna ignore this and walk around and peer out the window for no reason which will prompt it to see me anyway, won't it?" kind of way.

There are some lockers in the storage upstairs now which is nice because the ghost spawns there like 80% of the time.

First floor : Left is dining/kitchen/and a back room. Between those the kitchen is pretty popular for the ghost but also is a spot where orb ghosts can be assholes who hide their orbs for no reason.

Right side is a living room, two bedrooms, and a laundry room, these are some pretty nice spots for the ghost to be because there ARE hiding spots, but their accessibility kinda depends on where in any of these rooms the ghost decides to spawn, making the hunts pretty fun.

Genuinely this right side of the first floor is a win, I dig this area and when the ghost hangs out here.

Upstairs has a shitty terrible awful room where you die (far left), a bathroom where nothing ever happens, and a room with an attached back room/storage that the ghost LOVES to be in to an obscene degree.

Grafton is fine all around, a good hunt location, but really it's where the hiding spots are and where the ghost likes to be that make it just less fun for me.

It's almost always "Upstairs back room / Kitchen / Left Bedroom on first floor" and the repetition of my luck makes it less fun. (though, again, that bedroom is fine because that cluster of rooms is a fun one).

At least there's voodoo dolls out of 9

Ridgeview Road House

Ridge is cool!

It's easy as hell but it's just nicely divvied up, it's one of those maps that benefits from having a very nice layout that leads to games feeling very different depending on the ghost room.

I like the basement, but nothing ever happens there I swear.

The first floor as a whole has some nice spots, anything on the left can be hidden away in the garage lockers (which are at the far end which makes it a little tense which is nice!)

Anything on the right is a little less safe feeling because that back room is terrible, honestly safer to run upstairs to a closet.

And finally anything upstairs is standard house affair- a ton of hiding closets and a good amount of rooms but not 9 billion rooms like Edge.

Ridge is nice. It's small, easy, and well spaced.

Strong layout out of 9

Willow Street House

Willow really is small as sin, but I dig the look a lot.

I also like how hiding is a 'behind furniture' affair unlike a lot of the other houses with their plentiful closets.

My favorite area is the basement, which sadly makes for a less than stellar photo, but I love the multiple rooms in the basement and the lighting in those rooms.

Upstairs has a very different feel from the other houses which does a lot for making it feel fresh as well, definitely the most immediate thing most will notice when playing it since Tange/Ridge/Edge all feel the same due to the aesthetic they carry.

All in all it's my favorite house right now, but I'm curious on its lasting power for that.

It definitely helps that the map is built around hiding spots instead of hiding closets because it's a lot more fun crouching behind a dryer or cutting corners to get behind a dresser than it is to just hold a door shut and know you're effectively immortal as long as you don't talk.

Between the aesthetic and the unique layout it's come this high on my list WHILE being a bit buggy from being brand new, so that says something at least.

A joy to hunt on out of 9

Bleasdale Farmhouse

One of the two farmhouses and for a while my lesser fave, but it's grown on me the more I've played it.

Bleas doesn't emphasize lockers as much as hiding behind changing 'curtain' deals and after giving it a shot, it grew on me a lot- probably my favorite form of hiding spot because you can often still see the ghost as they come right up to you and walk away.

The highlights of Bleas will always be the immensely safe back room where the breaker can spawn- there are lockers here and it makes a fairly safe cut away for most events on the first floor because most events on the first floor are in the kitchen/dining area anyway with the rest of the first floor mostly being dormant in my runs.

The terrible terrible terrible attic which I hate and love at the same time.

it has hiding spots but whenever I have to use them it's highly unlikely I make it to them in time.

It's just a terrible place to be.

And the second floor is a pretty great one tbh! Mostly because there's a nice central hiding spot and the entire area is divided up pretty nicely for ghost stuff- unless you get hallway, fuck when it's hallway. It's the WHOLE hallway as far as I can tell and that's just stupid!

Bleas is a winner for sure, definitely beats the likes of Edge with ease, there's never a dull time hiding behind the privacy curtains- oh and this map has voodoo dolls! I firmly believe all the maps need more collectibles so this one having some is a boon for sure

"We got fingerprints on all the windows in the kitchen!!!" out of 9

Prison

TIME FOR THE BEST BOY!

PRISON!!!!

How to explain it.

When I started Phasmo my least favorite maps were the bigger ones, I hated feeling lost and like the ghost took too long to find all while the houses were fast and easy to understand.

But then I tried Prison and everything changed.

Talk about a beautifully laid out big map!

The sounds, the various hotspots, the fact that it's somehow big as hell without ever feeling too big and empty- I love prison.

Gushing aside, Prison is basically split up into 3 segments.

Main building, A block, B block.

And the unfortunate truth of prison is that the Main building is where most action seems to happen... doubled down with the truth that if the ghost IS in either block then they are significantly more dangerous to occasionally unfair degrees.

Yet despite that it consistently ends up being the most fun map for me to play through!

It all comes down to layout. The main building has a lot of little 'segments' which encourage you to run during a hunt differently, and the blocks are intimidating in their own way because going upstairs in them feels like signing your will.

I'd love to say more, but it's just the most fun one, so that's that.

Best map out of 9... I heard a cell door open, let's get towards A block.

I know it's just a random post of mine and all but hey, what's your take on the maps?

I'd like to hear what some arguments for other faves might be- especially if someone is a die hard HS fan, lol.