#i'm just very puzzled))

[skullsemi]

Thanks to many thoughts, I ended up drawing again about that one concept idea of mine with baby Max and tired Goofy. Which it's about how difficult it was for Goofy at the beginning for a couple of reasons, and that Goofy only managed to occasionally take better care of himself with the help of his friends. Sure he's positive and optimistic in general, but I can't see he managing it all by himself alone.

[zarla-s]

Both Kabu and Larry have resting grump faces but they're misleading! Kabu's very friendly and laughs easily, and Larry is polite (if very tired) and even treats you to a meal after you beat his gym. It's just very cute to me.

[patreon]

[blueskittlesart]

*sigh* thoughts on Nintendo's botw/totk timeline shenanigans and tomfoolery?

tbh. my maybe-unpopular opinion is that the timeline is only important when a game's place on the timeline seriously informs the way their narrative progresses. the problem is that before botw we almost NEVER got games where it didn't matter. it matters for skyward sword because it's the beginning, and it matters for tp/ww/alttp (and their respective sequels) because the choices the hero of time makes explicitly inform the narrative of those games in one way or another. it matters which timeline we're in for those games because these cycles we're seeing are close enough to oot's cycle that they're still feeling the effects of his choices. botw, however, takes place at minimum 10 thousand years after oot, so its place on the timeline actually functionally means nothing. botw is completely divorced from the hero of time & his story, so what he does is a nonissue in the context of botw link and zelda's story. thus, which timeline botw happens in is a nonissue. honestly I kind of liked the idea that it happened in all of them. i think there's a cool idea of inevitability that can be played with there. but the point is that the timeline exists to enhance and fill in the lore of games that need it, and botw/totk don't really need it because the devs finally realized they could make a game without the hero of time in it.

[sh00t4th3m00n]

I just realized something and I need to fume for a second.

Ok so we all remember Mr. Puzzles' dad's reaction when Little Puzzles told him about wanting to own an amusement park:

But then he says this immediately after:

At first I was confused because I thought these two lines sounded contradictory. Like, you just said his dream of owning an amusement park was childish, but wait, now it's suddenly this elite, respectable, super-aspirational thing that's only possible with "CrEaTiVe ViSiOn," which is apparently such a high bar that Little Puzzles will "never have it?" You get what I'm saying?

But then it hit me: he's bullcrapping and 100% aware he's bullcrapping. He doesn't care about "creative vision" or think that highly of it, BUT he knows Little Puzzles DOES care about it. He cares about it a lot. And he uses it to present his shooting down of his dream in a way he knows Little Puzzles will understand and take to heart. Even if he himself doesn't share the mindset that gives it its bite because it's what'll get Little Puzzles to shut up. (And maybe this is me being overanalytical, but I feel like you can even see it in his pose when he says it. Like he's doing the "waving your hands in a sarcastically whimsical way" move, you know the one. That one line just oozes condescension.) Like it wasn't enough to voice his distaste for Puzzles' dream; he had to make him feel bad for even having it just to really cement it. Like he learned to speak Little Puzzles' language just enough to tell him his dreams were stupid.

And it makes me HATE THIS MAN EVEN MORE.

[weepylucifer]

unwound future is just layton, dimitri and don paolo all looking at each other and thinking "wow, these guys are freaks. i'm the only one here coping with the loss of claire in a normal way"

[vaguely-concerned]

I think veilguard might be the one game with an unlimited sprint button that I've nevertheless spent the most time gently jogging and walking through. just to like... look at things. hang out. vibe. the environments in this game are so fucking good

[mering]

even the dogs!

[scimagic]

Oooo I just had a thought. What if instead of probably dying after the fight with the SMG4 crew, what if- hear me out- Puzzles is given the chance to Actually work in the crew with SMG4? An actual redemption arc where he's able to let out his creativity And be a part of a show entertaining people?

He becomes a background character that only appears when needed as he usually just works with SMG4 to help with his videos, kind of like Mario except he's more on the... editing side of things? The behind-the-camera type of deal, an assistant even. SMG4 gets someone to help and Mr. Puzzles gets to live and work on the entertainment business, win-win for all!

I guess this is a bit of a stretch but hey- one can hope. It'd make for a very nice AU if things go south.

[pianokantzart]

Am I crazy or does Luigi's Mansion 2 require more observational thinking than the usual Mario game?

I'm used to the hard part being the reaction time and the hand-eye coordination, but this is that + puzzles.

[finnleyandsillys]

*Insert the audio ‘RICKY WHEN I CATCH YOU RICKY’*

If you wanna see my opinion on anything slow it down ig its all kinda shitty 🤷

Lex when I catch you lex

@lexumpysfunland you are still driving me insane. Summer camp was a lot of me yapping about this.

[benevolenterrancy]

if you're not reading the last book of SVSSS right now do you mind me asking what you are reading? I'm just curious!

Definitely! (though I warn you, I'm fundamentally incapable of reading only one thing at a time)

For physical books, I'm currently reading The Warden by Daniel M. Ford, the novelization of My Neighbour Totoro, and trying to keep up on Dracula Daily (i am failing this)

For audiobooks, I've been relistening to The Series of Unfortunate Events (because I never actually read them all when they were originally coming out) and I juuust finished This Census-Taker by China Miéville and Ogres by Adrian Tchaikovsky this weekend. I'm about to start A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers.

[shirogane-oushirou]

still need to work out how i want to draw him but. first new f/o art! yibbie!!

[pharawee]

It's such a pity because I know the Hidden Moon novel is probably absolutely phenomenal (there's currently no English translation and I'm SO SAD 😭) and the show's productions values are great too but either the direction or the editing (I'm tending towards the direction - with the editing desperately trying to hide and fix things) are just not doing it for me because the continuity is all out of tune.

There's this distinct lack of scene transitions when at the same time the scenes and the dialogue linger on just a bit too long. Why show an overlong montage of everyone running through the forest but not even a second of any of the characters running out of the house first? Or just running. Or just moving. Or just reacting. Anything (even a pause) to signal continuity. They either didn't shoot it, couldn't shoot it, or something happened to the footage. :(

I don't even mind that much because the story and location are so intriguing that want to fall in love with this show.

But at the same time it's kind of strange that they're ignoring the basics of film-making so persistently without it serving any purpose (which is definitely a thing you can do to great effect).

[the-second-moon]

drafting more "younger dorian wrangles with the experience of kirkwall" stuff, now in things-are-getting-real act 2 edition

Hawke says, “Before we do that, I’ve just got to pop down and speak to the Arishok.”

Dorian scoffs. “Right. And I’m meeting the Grand Cleric for tea.”

Hawke just looks at him, oddly devoid of the usual retort.

“…What?” Dorian asks. “Were you not joking?”

“I was not,” Hawke says. “Sorry. Hard to tell with me sometimes. I’m told it’s because I say everything in this particular tone of voice.”

Dorian splutters with disbelief. “You’re meeting with the Arishok? You! Casually!”

“Now, is it really so odd he’d want to spend time with me? I’m extremely fun to be around.”

“I was not given to understand that qunari prioritize the concept of fun.”

“That one was an actual joke,” Hawke says. “No, I got wrapped up in some silly matter involving the qunari and that made the Arishok aware of me. Now he’s begun to ask for me at times. It seems that me keeping him apprised of local happenings makes him slightly less likely to lose his temper and go on a rampage through Docktown—or that is the hope, at least.”

Dorian can hardly process this information; he is still trying to fathom the mere concept. “You deliver information to the qunari,” he repeats. “Hawke, do you not understand who you’re dealing with? Do you realize what they would do to you if they could?”

Hawke furrows his brow. “Make me join the Qun? I doubt that would work out well for anyone… and it's not in my plans. I’m just trying to keep a handle on the situation.”

“You are a mage! Those superstitious barbarians would chain you and sew your mouth shut if they found that out. And you treat with them as if they are rational!”

Hawke laughs easily, though there’s something cold in its rebuff. “Dorian. Try to remember that I didn’t grow up in Tevinter.”

“Yes, that is quite evident. If you had, you’d have seen what bloody invasions the qunari have waged up north. You’d know exactly the kind of violence those brutes would—”

“I meant,” Hawke cuts in, “when it comes to ‘treating with’ people who see me as a dangerous threat, I for one have never had the luxury of doing otherwise.”

This briefly derails Dorian’s tirade. He snaps his mouth shut.

Hawke continues, “As for ‘rational’—well! You’ve met the people around here. How much of an option do you expect that is?”

“It’s different,” Dorian says. “That is quite different.”

“Is it, though?” Hawke asks. “It’s all a matter of survival. Besides, there’s a risk to the whole city if things break down between the Arishok and the Viscount. If I can be a minor obstacle on the way to that seemingly inevitable disaster, then of course I will do it as long as possible. Isn’t that reality more important than any abstract principle?”

“Maker’s sake, Hawke, it is not abstract! The risk to yourself is all too real. The more visible you are, the more of a target you become—you taught me that yourself! And now you would wade into this position of incalculable danger for—for what? A city that would cage you and a people that would destroy you. What would possibly make any part of that your responsibility?”

Hawke shrugs. “Nothing, really. But I don’t see anyone else doing it.”

“Hawke,” Dorian says, now sounding slightly desperate. “You are beginning to worry me.”

Hawke laughs aloud. “Beginning to? Just now? You must not be very observant.”

“I am being serious,” Dorian says. “The number of burdens you have heaped on your plate these last weeks is beginning to border on absurdity. You cannot have them all. There are some things that one single man simply cannot fix.”

The facade briefly drops from Hawke and he gives Dorian one straight look. There is a naked pain in his face, an agonizing level of exhaustion, that nearly makes Dorian take a step back.

“I am well aware of that,” Hawke says.

Dorian struggles with his tongue for a moment. “That was—I only meant—”

“I know what you meant,” Hawke says. “But what choice do I have? I can fight the impossible odds or give up to languish in despair like everyone else. That’s not a choice. I’ve come much too far to give in to despair now. I won’t. There must be some way through all of this, or what in the Maker’s name was any of it for?”

“I understand that,” Dorian says. “Truly, I do. But does that justify taking such risks? Surely there must be some middle ground.”

Hawke laughs again, his voice once more sounding light and easy, though Dorian is still too harrowed by the fleeting glimpse beyond Hawke’s mask to accept any of this as sincere. “Of course there’s no middle ground! You should know that already. That’s a luxury no one has in a place as fucked as this.”

(this is a sure-to-be-edited WIP snippet from a future chapter of bit of a shithole, a "young dorian winds up in kirkwall during da2" fic)

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

I've been replaying Professor Layton and the Curious Village and I had honestly forgotten how fucking funny this game is. None of these villagers are even remotely close to normalcy but Luke and Layton barely comment on it. They get shut off from the outside world and they carry on as if nothing's wrong. They get pursued and almost killed by a Ferris Wheel. Luke has no chill and no mercy and he's here to solve mysteries, not make friends. They don't even get beds in their rooms at the inn. It is hilarious.

[vaguely-concerned]

every time rye hears lucanis really laugh he has such a mortifying '*sick and harrowed with longing to the very depths of his soul* alright :)' moment. I just got the banter where taash talks about stuff their mother told them about crows as a kid and it was a 10 on the soul quaking richter scale event