#in my next playthrough i should try to use the other characters more

[kimmkitsuragi]

i just realized another fun aspect about wyllachstarion is that astarion being son-in-law from hell (metaphorical) 🤝 karlach being daughter-in-law from hell (literal)

[starflungwaddledee]

Hello hello!! I absolutely adore Starstruck Dee, she’s a darling!!

I hope it doesn’t sound too strange to ask, but I finished playing through Forgotten Land’s main and postgame stories, and between that and seeing all these wonderful ocs and everything… where can I learn more about the Kirby lore/timeline? Where would I even start with it?

Is it the sorta thing where the base concepts from canon are the same but everyone has their own interpretations of it?

Are Kirby and Bandee kids?? Younger adults? Is it a Rayman situation where they grow up over the course of their games?

I know I sound very uneducated but I really really want to learn!

hi there! thank you so so much! 🥺 i'm so happy that you like her!

this isn't strange to ask at all, and you don't sound uneducated! i'm thrilled to answer for you and if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to reach out!

i'm popping all of this under a read more just because it got very long!

topics covered: the joys of 30+ years of breadcrumb lore delivery, the diverse headcanons of a very creative community, and recommendations on where to step off from if Forgotten Land was your first kirby experience

to be honest kirby "lore" is enormous and sprawling and has been spread out in tiny little crumbs across multiple platforms and medias for over three decades. if you're poking around in tumblr fandom as a starting point, one of the reasons it can be so hard to figure out what's what is because a lot of folks pick one aspect (early game dynamics, ancient anime lore, the mirror world, niche subgames, etc etc) and hyper-focus to their hearts content!

one of the nicest parts about kirby is that the lore, while comprehensive and really cool, is very very open for interpretation. the fandom is very creative, and build all their own niches and headcanons based on the bare bones that we were given in canon, and it's wonderful to see!

for this reason though, i would actually recommend (and this was my personal experience, though only incidentally) you stay outside of the fandom for a bit and formulate all your own preferred headcanons and thoughts, rather than being influenced by others right out the gate. then you can come into fandom and see brand new takes that might surprise you, and hopefully find some folks who have come to the same niche conclusions as you!

a good starting point is Wikirby, and for games specifically their series list is very helpful. it shows you the mainline games, considered 'game canon', and the smaller titles in chronological order. this is often used by folks as a sort of "timeline" for the lore, though again it's totally flexible

forgotten land in particular was an unforgettable (ha!), incredibly beautiful and cinematic game, as well as the series' first foray into 3D gameplay rather than side scrolling platformer.

if you're looking for an active suggestion for which game to play next and you want a similar experience with familiar characters, (and you don't want to do a full chronological playthrough-- this would take you a long time; i should know, i've been working on mine for months!), i would recommend that you try Return To Dream Land Deluxe.

RTDLDX is a scene-for-scene remake of an older chronological game from the modern era of storytelling with a whole additional storyline, so it's a good place to start, and it's also available for the switch which i'm guessing you must have! you'll find familiar characters in there (Kirby, Bandee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight), multiplayer mode, recognisable copy abilities, and an engaging story-- read as little ahead of time if you haven't already so that it can surprise and delight you!

Star Allies is the other mainline game available for the switch, and it was made as a kind of love letter to the series up until that point. it honours dozens of characters who appeared in previous games and is chock full of nostalgia and uncharacteristically blatant lore drops, but in my opinion you'll enjoy it much more if you have at least a passing idea of who all the allies are!

if you're looking for something other than games, i highly recommend this tumblr masterlist for translations of the light novels! other medias you can check out are the anime and the various mangas. all three of these are quite different to the games, and can be considered to have their own separate canons; some folks prefer one over the other, or will mix and match elements from all medias! some even like to bring in "lore" from the real life kirby cafes!

kirby as a creative playground is diverse and really beautiful; it's the only franchise i have ever created for and fandom i have participated in actually, because i've not seen another quite like it. if you're interested in being creative yourself, i do strongly recommend that you play around in your own sandbox (or with one or two friends who are also discovering kirby) for a little while first to get a feel for what you like!

i hope you'll have a fun time interacting with the franchise, and if you play any of the other games i really hope you love them!! if you want any other suggestions, feel free to reach out!

as for the question of ages, you'll find this question in particular gets western fandom a little more riled up than most. none of the characters have any canonically stated ages, and in japanese remarkably few have genders. kirby himself is specifically intended to be projected on by the player! technically, that could make kirby your age, and your gender, if you so wish!

japanese fandom generally focuses on a very wide range of characters and interconnected relationships, even including a lot of common enemy characters, and considers most of the characters to be of comparable ages; either all teens or all adults. western fandom focuses quite a lot on the much beloved meta knight and dedede partnership, and subsequently-- as romance centric fandoms do-- likes to play around with the idea of kirby and bandee as their kids or wards.

fandom will offer you everything in this regard; far future AUs, baby adoption AUs, even AUs where meta knight and dedede are children while kirby and bandee are adults! it's really entirely up to you, and my number one suggestion is to always be respectful and kind towards everyone's creative headcanons, even if they do not align with your own.

for me, i naturally project onto player characters, and so i always saw kirby and bandee as similar in age to myself. as such, because i'm an adult, they've always been adults to me, and i do like to imagine that they have grown from young adults to full adults over the course of the series! i actually was quite shocked to learn that a lot of tumblr folks thought of them as kids, but that's the fun of joining fandom the way i did, and why i recommend it! bake your own cake, and then hop online and find a million others of all different flavours you can try!

[moltensmusings]

I follow some people who talk about baldurs gate 3, and the way the fandom almost largely goes out of its way to babygirl everything astarion does while refusing to give the same leniency to the far less evil characters is baffling.

I feel like Gale, Wyll, and Lae'zel are the ones who often make this the most clear. Under the cut.

Whether it's because of the glitch pre console release or just a general refusal to engage with his story, people like to paint this picture of Gale being some Narcissistic abuser who is only ever power hungry. I've seen people try and justify mystra's actions. Now even if Gale was a young adult when Mystra came to him, Mystra is his goddess. She's in charge of the weave. She had so much more power over him, student/teacher and boss/underling relationships are so looked down upon because of that inherent power imbalance. And I think there's also an implication that this is relatively normal for all versions of mystra to do to younger men.

Elminster isn't free of criticism because he actively brought a young Gale to be groomed into becoming a pawn for Mystra. Gale gets discarded by mystra for his seeming ambition and wants to move on, but is also still desperate to please her in anyway he can, and she tells him to kill himself. I don't understand how people go through his plotline and see him believing the only way he's useful is dead and then just assume he's just power hungry. Is he a bit full if himself? Yes. He's a wizard. They're like that. But he's not the worst person in the world, and he's definitely not the one people should claim as the abuser in his relationship with Mystra.

People call Wyll boring, some paint this idea of him being holier than thou/looking down on everyone around him. Since he was 17 Wyll has given his whole life to protecting people and trying to be a hero. He's self sacrificial, thrown out by his father for making a pact he only made to save the city he adores. Wyll talks so much about baldurs gate. He wants to return.

Wyll has his body altered unwillingly for doing the right thing and yet he never once regrets it. He's made into a devil, the creatures so many of the npcs and companions loathe, for his kindness. He's constantly tricked and mocked by Mizora who we know from the game was sent by Zariel to corrupt a good hearted person. Even still, Wyll is a kind and honest man. He's charming and a bit cheesy but that's fine. Wyll can be incredibly self sacrificial and stubborn in his morals, but if you're running around doing mean things to impress Astarion, you can't blame Wyll for not liking your character and judging you. He's a hero of the people, of course he'd stand with them. We also need to remember he got so heavily redone that he has barely 6 hours of in-game content now. Which is abysmal compared to everyone else.

Lae'zel was raised by a cult, a cult that spans all her people where they're taught to bow and serve a lich queen who promises them glory if they're good enough. She can be harsh and unfriendly, but we need to remember she's the one most aware of what the tadpole can do and with that in mind we know she's very desperate to get things done and cure herself. Next to astarion she's the most evil aligned origins companion, and even still so much of that is due to being brainwashed into a certain belief.

Lae'zel in canon is the youngest companion, very early 20s and it often shows. She's a skilled warrior who doesn't see the need for statements that are already obvious. She's been beaten into shape and filled with ideas that unless she's perfect as the creche commands then she is worthless. She's scared and alone in act 1 with people who most likely don't care about it the same way she does. Lae'zel is imperfect like all the other companions, but if you're willing to accept that astarion is soft under all his bluster, why can't you do the same for Lae'zel?

I don't hate Astarion, I liked him a lot my first playthrough, he was my main romance. But the way the fandom ignores that he's definitely evil in act 1 and 2 because "I just don't see him that way", how people act like he's the only character in the cast who was abused when abuse and the cycles of it are the main theme of the game, how people willfully misunderstand his ascension ending and paint it as his good one when the writers state repeatedly it's not, the way the fandom will insult and demean other characters for jabbing at astarion's trauma but applaud him when he does the same exact thing, when they ignored his racism towards gnomes and gur (which is anti Romani racism repackaged). There's also a chance that in his time, Astarion was a corrupt politician, something making his death more complicated but also adding interest to it that a lot of his fans want to ignore to make him pure.

Astarion isn't perfect, none of the companions are. And they're not supposed to be. But his special treatment by fans is becoming so incredibly tiresome to see.

[rinski]

SH2R Review

I don't usually do this, but we live in extraordinary times and I have Opinions.

So here is my review of the new Silent Hill 2 Remake. (tl;dr: when it's not bad it's... good? kinda?)

If you go into this game holding up the original and looking for all the ways the remake falls short, like that Bobvids reaction video, you will have no shortage of material to work with. The remake is inconsistent and I legitimately do not understand what they were attempting to achieve with some of the changes they made. This game is incredibly easy to make into something profoundly disappointing if that’s what you want to do. Like Bobvids points out, almost all of the most iconic or emotionally-powerful scenes from the original were fumbled. Not like “they tried to do something different and it didn’t quite work,” no no, no: They were fumbled. They dropped the ball and it shattered like glass upon impact. It's ironic: The game has what it calls "Glimpses of the Past," which are little shrines to iconic scenes and objects from the original game, with their own bespoke camera angle and a little jingle, but then they somehow manage to fail at preserving the scenes people care about most.

If you're reading this, we have both probably been passionate about this game and franchise for a huge chunk (if not the majority) of our lives on this dumb planet, and seeing someone botch something we’ve managed to hold precious for so long can be very painful to watch. 

But there’s also a lot to legitimately like about this game that using that lens will obfuscate. And I’m generally of the mind that we should try to scavenge for whatever joy we can find, wherever and whenever we can, because the world fucking sucks in general. And besides, it’s not like we haven’t had to endure other SH games over the years that ran the gamut from “aggressively mid” to “well at least it’s funny in a bad b-movie kinda way.” I think the best way to enjoy this game is to go in with the assumption that basically everything you care deeply about is going to be butchered in some way, so that you won't be hyper-focusing on those mistakes when the game actually manages to do something good. By all means jeer and throw popcorn at the screen whenever they mess something up—that's a lot of fun too!—but don't let the bad completely shadow the good, especially if it's only bumming you out.

To be clear: I'm not arguing that anyone should buy the game. Other people already have, and their playthroughs are free to watch.

The game is overly long, which leads to some pacing problems. They fill up some of the extra space with places and story beats that feel on point, but a lot of it is filler with only the faintest, somewhat-sour Silent Hill flavor. They do some interesting new things with the combat and enemy AI, but that also gets old quickly because combat is more mandatory, more frequent, and there's only like 3 different enemies in total.

The characters are all different enough that I think comparing them to the originals is just going to make everyone sad. I do not love most of the new takes on the characters. But I also do not hate most of them. At times, they’re even surprisingly good. 

I like the new James most of the time. He's different, sure, but he feels more like a pathetic worm man hiding behind a facade that he's only barely able to maintain. His voice cracks with exertion and desperation as he kicks downed enemies, and after he hears a spooky noise he asks a wavering, "hello?" There are times where his facial acting is incredibly well done and there are times where he basically doesn't react at all, like his "k bye" exit from Angela's final scene that's worse than if they'd just teleported you to the next room with no transition.

The first two Eddie encounters made me roll my eyes, because he feels like a caricature of the original. They made him look and act a lot grosser in the remake, like they imported the original into a character creator and pushed all the middle sliders to one extreme or another. But despite nothing about his design or initial characterization saying “this was made by someone who appreciates subtlety and nuance” he still managed to have some legitimately subtle and nuanced character moments that are their own thing, separate from the original version. When James asks him, "You're gonna go out there alone?" and he gives that slight smile and a distant, barely audible "yeh"? That's good shit.

I think my hottest take is that the new Angela is Good, Actually. I love the original Angela. I think she was perfect. This is not her. Trying to draw any comparisons between the two is a shortcut to feeling depressed and disappointed. There are several interactions with her that actually hewed too close to the original version, which didn’t work *specifically* due to these changes. And her finale is nowhere near as good. Despite all that, I like the new take. She stands on her own as a different (but obviously similar) character. I like her new VA, I like her new scenes, and the new Abstract Daddy boss fight is, I think, the absolute highest point the remake manages to hit. 

Maria is the one character where I legitimately don’t understand what they were going for. Even putting the original aside and letting the new Maria be her own thing… what… *is* that thing, exactly? To start, she’s barely in the game at all—she's absent during many of the scenes she was present for in the original. When she does interact with James, she’s so inconsistent that I can’t get a sense of what they intended her character to be. Hot, cold, charming, socially awkward—in any case it definitely doesn’t seem like they intended her to be “the Mary James fantasized about,” so then… what *is* she? James and new Maria’s overall vibe is “people who only barely tolerate each other because they have a shared friend group." In fact, one of the better interactions between Maria and James is the lead ring scene, where instead of being flirtatious, James dejectedly accepts the ring with a flat, “Oh… thanks...” like she just spat in his hand. So ok fine, they don't like each other this time around. But in the finale she still claims to be able to provide James with everything Mary couldn't, which... no? I don't get what she's attempting to provide, but whatever it is, James certainly doesn't seem into it.

Overall, the environments and music were amazing and on-point, but there were also times where neither was true. The non-otherworld hospital in particular struck me as generic to the point where I’d believe it was made from asset store prefabs. And the newer version of Promise (Reprise) that plays after the video tape is… weirdly up-tempo? Like, to the point where it undermines the tone of the scene (don't worry, it wasn't great anyway). 

Look: being a SH fan has been tough for *multiple decades* now. And I have no love for Bloober Team. They most certainly did not stick the landing here, and even if they did, I would be reluctant to give them credit for it.

I understand feeling passionate about the original. *I* feel passionate about the original. I understand how someone could experience this remake while hating every second of it. I believe I understand how Bobvids feels too, because he’s objectively correct: The remake does not treat any of your most precious memories with care.

And that’s why I wanted to write this. Because it’s very easy to view this game through a lens where it sucks shit, is disappointing, ruins your enjoyment of the original, and spells doom for the future. This game provides a scenic vista full of eye-catching trash fires where all the famous landmarks should be. But if you choose to look elsewhere, away from all the hot garbage, there’s a lot to see that’s perfectly fine or even beautiful. And it makes me sad to imagine all that going ignored because the trash fires burn too brightly.

And also: trash fires can be fun too, right? When they're not bumming you out, at least. Given the choice between "mid" and "trash fire," I'd choose the latter every time.

Silent Hill 2 came out in 2001. Since then we’ve had SH3 in 2003, SH4 in 2004, Origins in 2007, Homecoming in 2008, Shattered Memories in 2009, Downpour in 2012, PT in 2014, and, most recently, Short Message and Ascension. 

We have been scrounging for food and sustaining ourselves on dumpster crumbs for a very, very long time. So let’s not throw away this opportunity to eat a bite or two just because the chef is a piece of shit and the food is partially spoiled: A lot of what’s on offer is perfectly edible. It’s not the best food, no, but we're already used to picking through garbage for a few savory morsels. And within that context, SH2R is a smorgasbord for anyone willing to eat around the moldy bits. 

I recommend we eat what we can, while we can, because we're not likely to get a better meal any time soon.

[alicelufenia]

Bagging the Hag's Hair: the Trickster Hero's Way

Auntie Ethel's hair: one of the best permanent buffs in the game, but aside from it being a dicey get on Honor mode, it can be a hard sell to roleplayers who don't want their upstanding hero to make a deal with one of the most evil funniest antagonists in the game. Sure, you can save Mayrina and force her to give you the hair, but what about all the other captives in her lair? With the hag still alive, trying to save them is more likely to kill them in the process.

But with a bit of finesse (and maybe putting the Ethel fight off to AFTER level 4 at least, especially in honor mode) you can not only convince Ethel to give up the hair and Mayrina, but literally backstab her immediately after, leaving her foiled by her tendency to monologue. It's a heist worthy of even the most Good-aligned characters. I could easily see Wyll using this trick, pulling a fast one on the fae, proving himself both moral AND cunning. (Plus, it's a nice palette cleanser if you just got done wiping out the grove while managing to keep the two good-aligned companions with you).

This one's for you, Karlach!

First of all, I assume you're doing your best to pass either the Intimidation or Deception check to convince Ethel to surrender Mayrina. Otherwise why are you even bothering with this?

Anyway, you want to reach this dialogue and then STOP.

Then, switch to the party member you kept out of combat with the hag.

This is important, as if they're entered into combat, they'll be confined to this cutscene along with everyone else (notice the speech bubbles next to the rest of the party). This is the trickiest part, as without a party limit extender mod, it's a big ask to go into the hag fight with just 3 characters (why I recommend taking her on a little later, but you can totally do it before getting into act 2).

If they're not in combat, upon swapping to them, you'll get the Reward Select screen for the hair, but everyone else will still be in the cutscene. If you want a guaranteed way to keep them out of the fight should it get dicey (with lots of Ethel clones everywhere taking up potential hiding space with their vision cones) you can try keeping the one party member outside the arena, at the top of the trap hill past the waterfall, and then just use Feather Fall (any source of it) to jump past all the traps down to the fight arena.

This is important (and a good reason to get her hp as low as possible, not just beneath the threshold of 30 needed to trigger her bargaining). You have to reduce her hp to 0 in one shot. That means the damage has to be dealt all at once (no pause for reactions like sneak attack or divine smite, you want to use those sort of moves directly from the hotbar rather than triggered on reaction). If you don't kill her in one shot, that character will be pulled into the cutscene as well, and your chance will pass.

If you succeed though, she will disappear and the cutscene will immediately proceed (I missed the chance to get a screenshot of the damage dealt, but it was over 25 so more than enough). There won't be a body to loot.

But, because she's been flagged as dead, all the hag's living prisoners can be freed (also shoutout to act 1 Minthara. Sorry you got the wrong impression of me with the whole killing the grove thing, this is also who I am. I contain multitudes).

Other than the mask bearers, I think I feel the sorriest for this guy, tormented by the worst visions of the future for "he's-an-elf-so-could-have-been-centuries" time. Unfortunately I killed all the mask bearers in my run, but if you can knock them out, and the game isn't bullshit about it, they should be safe to remove the masks without them dying.

One lice-ridden hair clump and suspicious potion later (thanks Astarion! Your role in the playthrough is now done!) and I have 20 strength with no ASIs. Perfect :D

Tricking the Hag to give up her hair and still killing her anyway = success!

[neoyi-backstreetback]

Thankfully, there hasn't been any drastic changes in the new introduction. It is exactly as Sabotage Studio said: the flashback portion is cut, so instead of starting off as current Zale and Valere in the mountain trail, it immediately opens up with them as children in their hide out. Some other mild changes I noticed:

Zale and Valere have already decided what kind of weapons they want to use, as seen when they practice with Garl. I feel this adds a bit more context when Brugaves hands the two their training weapons later on since he knows why these kids specifically picked a sword and staff respectively.

Naturally, Resh'an's dialogue at the start changes just a tad to accommodate this. Honestly, you could make an arguable in-game justification that he's just altering his words because this verse is slightly different from the other verse. ;D

You can skip the ENTIRE Forbidden Cave and training montage sequence once you exit their hideout even on a brand new game play (so, it's not, like, game plus exclusive or anything.)

The only change I recall if you still play it normally is that Zale, Valere, and Garl feebly try to fight the snail monsters in the cave. Garl uses a coffee mug for a weapon! ;_;

There's a small piece of new dialogue shortly after Erlina trains Zale and Valere, one I feel adds a lot of weight:

The Erlina dialogue above was always in the original, but the text Valere says below is, as far as I'm concerned, new (I had to check an older YT playthrough just to confirm), one where Erlina warns the two that they will "regret entering this place", a foreboding thing to tell these children...

Naturally, with the mountain trail no longer being the first thing you see, you do not fight any of the beasts there prior to Garl joining. Least, I didn't encounter any (I took the left trail path.)

DIALOGUE IS IMMEDIATELY SKIPPABLE HOLY SHIT THANK YOU. Look, man, if you're replaying a fucking RPG for the third time, I will take the button that can move on to the next dang part of the game!

Basically, my biggest fear was that the new introduction would alter the red herring. When SoS first introduces the Acolytes, neither Zale or Valere had reunited with Garl yet. They reminiscence and wonder if he's doing alright before the game cuts to the main baddies scheming, giving the illusion that perhaps Garl had gone to the dark side, only for the game to fake us out and show, no, he's totally a cool person. But that scene is still there left is, as it should.

Speaking of Acolytes, their theme song has been replaced by the Clockwork Castle theme for some reason during that scene.

Co-op Stuff

While each player controls a specific character, they can be interchangeable if, say, Player 1 wanted to play as Zale while Player 2 previously was.

Battle mode, however, is not relegated to the character you individually picked. Each player takes turn in combat and they can control any of the characters onscreen provided they are not grayed out.

You cannot save, open locks and doors/pull levers, or rest in campfire unless you have everyone's consent. I think that's a smart move; that way you're not wandering around until someone interrupts by cooking or something like that.

That's all I've dug through with the new update so far. More coming as I play and mess around.

[dors-ee]

Veilguard spoilers. Again lots of details. Lots to say too so a long read. (I finished the game).

SO. I finished. And I am having mixed feelings. Lots of what I said still stand about the disappointment with unexplored things like the titans and the blight. The forgotten ones etc.

also... mixed feelings about the veil staying up. It could have been very interesting to see it falls and now it poses the question... what's next?

There's in the codex something about pple being unable to explore outside of thedas. There's also the Qunaaris and the devouring storm and devour also appearing with the elves and like there are things to explore so idk. Maybe that.

And things in the whole final part of the game, from the island to the end, where... pretty good. Like I'll give them that, it was freaking good. The last confrontation of Rook vs Elgar'nan thoooooo. (Also well I picked Helping get Solas redeemed, so that on me. But the last him and Rook with this choice was a bit meh. Maybe the other choices are better. Guess I'll never know cause I'm not gonna pick something else. But yeah big build up Rook Elgar'Nan and it wasn't that exploited for me in the end.)

BUT as I said as a whole it still feels a bit... empty. Things land flat a little, I did feel emotions but also not... idk. I thing it should have been longer, have a bit more with the characters, the relationships, the build up. It should have had more build up. Have more with the whole solas thing like him confronting things too.

Because his sudden change at the last moment? Kind of comes out of nowhere -for him. We the player know more and all. But him in context.-. Even Mythal got more development than him with the whole conversation and Morrigan. And like yes we Rook got his memories and all but... idk.

Some stuff weren't explored. And actually in general with the game I have this feeling of things not explored, not deeply enough. Lots feel like good ideas that weren't well executed. A bit too polished, too superficial. Too fast too.

As I said I felt emotions but not thaaat deep. Or tbh I felt more for some NPC... (Antoine and Evka!❤).

I think just a bit longer for things to really grow, whether it's that feeling of the gods being monsters, more talks with Solas maybe really speaking of him using people and his memories I don't know.

I don't know. Like really. I am really having mixed emotions here. I loved this final part but also not. Like the rest of the game there's a feeling of lacking. Of surface and superficiality... of rushing a bit maybe?

And as much as I could get planting seeds for maybe future games, with the necropolis, etc. The whole titan and blight... that it wasn't exploited??? I thought the game would shift to that, to idk give them their dreams again or do something. And maybe not that, maybe it wss asking for too much. But the alternative was... nothing.

Not... just kill the gods. And yes it was magistral to have us pick which character does what... and at times who will die or not. (I killed Harding without meaning too :(. and I used Bellara for the door, being kidnapped by Elgar'nan. I was romancing Neve, no way was I sacrificing her.)

but talking of romance... I will I think do a one or two more playthroughs, to try a few others choices (one of them with a dwarf, see if it gives more for the titans and blight) including romances but also... idk. They also feel pretty superficial. And short. Too short. I can't help but compare from what I saw of the previous games the romances for ie. How lacking veilguard's is compared to DA2 and Inquisition, there. (haven't watched about the first game.).

So idk. Maybe it bc I built up my expectations, or played a bit too fast -not even that fast objectively compared to other people-... But I can't shake this unease and feeling discontented .... unsatisfied. Conflicted.

I also don't want to imagine the pple that played all the games and waited. are you satisfied? Maybe it does make everything feel like idk there's more payoff. On certain things for sure.

But on others? Building up all through the three games, getting in the universe, the lore the story, the blight, the gods...

for that resolution? That for Varric? and like the reveal and the fade moment were magistral... but still. The blight being the titans was again, so great. reveals on the elf, great too.

Like the ideas were GREAT. But then... idk. How it finishes... Imagining all this build up witj the elf lore ... and idk. It falls flat. Again.

I find myself asking again "so uh that's it? That's only that?". Like yeah I think they needed and wanted to bring closure, and technically the ideas were great again. But how it was executed... leaves me conflicated.

Some of the scenes were good it wasn't all bad. I liked when they spoke around the table after solas' memories and the banters.

And the facing off of Harding/Titan if rook is an elf... chilling. Damn. What she says, how she says it... (I picked embrace the anger). The voice acting was so great in the whole game! Loved my Rook!

But also yeah. Idk. The story needed an end and maybe that's why I feel like that. Because it's done. Because all the exciting interesting stuff is... done. Closure. There's a definite end and explanation.

I think for the bloghf and titan this is why I keep bringing it up. It has an end and nothing will be done now. I mean, the veil is in place, so it won't be unleashed, no dreams given back to the titans... I suppose this chapter is closed then? No more elven gods so no more blight titans thing. And I am... disappointed and sad because I wanted more and wanted this great idea to be explored. And nor all just come down to Harding ... needing to learm to be angry. Which don't get me wrong is a great quest. I loved her development but was so disappinted the whole titan thing ended being just that. But yeah. It's done, over, finished.

Like I really don't know, those are raw emotions. And I haven't played the previous games.

Also I guess fanfiction is there for the holes and unexplored. And I suppose we'll see if there's a next game.

Also : yes they were stupid enough to show parts of the actual ending in the trailer.

oh yeah more build up with Elgar'Nan would have been nice. Ghilan'nain got a lot. Elgar'Nan less. we are told he is awful, told again and again but not shown thaaat much.

Also why did Ghilain'nain end up like that? who knows.

I come back to some thoughts I've been having. How many shows, books, games, etc. do we have where we think "great ideas, great potential, not great execution"?

plenty. And I am tired of it tbh. Maybe we need to expect less... or give more time?

I know that despite the 10 years, veilguard didn't actually develop over 10 years.

Idk. Hades 2 they took their time and it's fucking great. Things have impact, there's pay off, it doesn't feel superficial. It builds up, buts by bits, like the pacing is good -for now-.

I liked veilguard and I will replay it. But do I consider it a good game? I'm very conflicted. Disappointed. I will let it and my thoughts sit for a while, I also need to decide for my next Rook haha. Factions, race, all mage if not dwarfs that I can say. (I want a mounr watched, wanted a dwarf, for the idea of the baby found in a crypt nut dwarf can't be mage so will need to also make an elf mage mourn watcher. Which ok, but I also had an idea for an elf mage shadow dragon. and 4 Rooks... yeah nah, idk if I'll be able to replay the game that much. I also need to try the other choice in Treviso/Minrathous. (yeah, Neve, romance, so helped Minrathous.)

It's still a cool game. It's still enjoyable to play in itself. I will give it that. For me it's kind of a miss in terms of story and lore. But it's still enjoyable to play.

But I keep thinking of the not exploted things... The blight changing not explored, what it means, why the song is changing. I remember the qurst with this and the ending and I was like wtf? It's just a big blight eruption? I thought it was going to be linked to the titans or something.... and argh. Yeah I can't let it go. I need to take a step back. Such a good idea, not well executed.... or not executed at all.

But as we are on the grey warden topic, I think them too, they were built up over the games and all and I think... some stuff with them fall very flat too. Maybe? Like great ideas to explore, again, but not that well executed.

I think i am just repeating myself haha. Feels empty lacking and superficial in terms of story, romances, characters, etc. And feels really too.... pretty at rime. Too polished. Not that I liked gnarly and all, but... again. Comparing.

I'll end my rambles here haha. Will go back to read solavellan fanfics (or write...? I wanna explore Solas fucking mind.) and I will lift the tags filter in a few days I think. See what other people thought and if my feelings are shared or not and everyone is so very happy with it.

(I did have the thought that by being someone not that into video games maaaaybe I just can't appreciate depth in video games. But then, bc I was aware of that, I compared to other DA games as I mentioned, just videos, not even playing myself. And yeah. Still stand by my thoughts and feelings...

But maybe by stepping back and digesting I'll change my mind. Maybe I am being ridiculous here and seasoned players or pple used to video games might laughs at my feelings and opinions. Myself I'll find me ridiculous for it... We'll see.

I do miss my Rook already... Might replay with her, just.... change a few things.

edit : ok apparently there's a secret ending?? With something that I thiiink might be the same "????" that speak creepy shit when you kill the dragon in the Necropolis (and my theory is maaybe linked to the echo)?. Nice. Still stand by everything else, but nice and ... kind of confirmed it'd be for a future game then? I wasn't stupid to think there was more to that?

BUT THE BLIGHT AND TITANS THEEEEEEN?

[star-gazer101]

Pet Names

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Pairing: Idia Shroud x Reader

Characters: Idia Shroud and Ortho Shroud

Warnings: GN reader, Slight OOC, Uses of the nickname ‘Darling’ despite gender-neutral reader

AN: Just a fun side story, before anything serious happens.

-

Today was just an typically ordinary day. 

An ordinary day to do nothing but laze about in Idia’s dorm.

Ortho paused his current playthrough of farming dancing blobs to gaze at the “potential couple” doing their own thing.

His brother was currently raiding online with his online companion Crimson Muscle, while you were busy playing on a handheld console. You had said something about wanting to help solve puzzles with a “Gentleman traveler and his apprentice” before the new game comes out sometime this year.

Maybe he should be more concerned about his brother’s personality rubbing off on you than the other way around.

On the other hand, you both were now comfortable enough to do whatever, he guess?

Perhaps you missed a step after skipping the confession?  He really doesn’t know.

What exactly comes next?

Please don’t let it be another session of feeding his brother peeled apple slices when he last got sick…

Thankfully, you broke the silence. “Hey, Idia?”

Idia only grunted in response, his eyes fully fixated on his game. However, he was listening.

“I know we’ve been friends for quite a while, well, more than that, but…I was wondering…Would you…Would you be okay with taking our relationship to the next level?”

That…Was so sudden! You really do have no shame! Idia is choking on his drink and everything!

Better calm him down before it gets worse!

“S-sorry if that was too sudden Player 1,” You apologized as you patted his back. “I should’ve waited until you were done drinking.”

“Yeah, you should have!” Idia gasped. “What’s with the sudden sneak attack? Are you trying to send me to an early grave?!”

“Maybe?” You gave a teasing smile and then awkwardly giggled when he glared. “It’s just that…I’ve seen things where the best of friends use special names for each other. Not that I’m against our current nicknames: Player 1 and Player 2. I just want something a little more…intimate y’know?” 

At this Idia groaned as he quietly muttered things like “typical normie stuff”, but the pink in his hair never faded. “I knew I should have never let you watch late-night shojo anime…Too many unrealistic expectations…”

“He’s just shy,” Ortho whispered on the other side, finally giving his two cents on the topic, causing you to giggle.

“We don’t have to, if it’s too much.”

“I-I never said that! And Ortho, stop enabling them!”

“No promises, big bro!”

“You are so cute when you’re flustered, Idia~”

You two were going to be the death of him!

-

It only had been half an hour and Idia has crossed out pages worth of random names. Most of them were just you messing around and coming up with the cringiest of nicknames that even made Ortho flinch with how sugary sweet some of the names were.

Seriously, how can anyone call their friend ‘Schmoopsy Poo’ and keep a straight face?

“I’m sorry, Prefect, but I can’t agree with any of these. And what’s the deal with ‘Smashy-smashy Eggman’? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“Sorry. Had a favorite movie back from my world on the brain and just couldn’t help but quote it at least once while I’m here. I’ll tell you all about it after we’re done with all of this.”

Idia sighed. “How about something simple? What kind of name would you want to go by?”

You paused mid-scribble as you pondered on what he suggested. It took about a few minutes before your face burned an alarming red.

‘Quite the reaction there, Prefect. Mind sharing with the rest of us?’

“Well…There is one that I kinda want to try…”

“Oh? What is it, big sib?”

“Idia…Do you remember that one horror game with the little girl and her black cat?”

Ortho had an idea where this was going, but let you continue much to his brother’s embarrassment.

“I…would like to be called one of those names of endearment that the cat called her. I would like to be called ‘darling’ and for you to be called ‘dearest’. Is that okay with you?”

“D-d-darling…D-d-dearest…”

…

“Idia?”

“Brother, are you okay?”

-

“Again, sorry for overheating your brother, Ortho. Didn’t mean to overdue it this time.”

“Don’t worry about it, big sib. He lasted longer than his previous record which is 10% less.”

“That’s quite an achievement. Is there anything I can do?”

“Don’t worry about it too much. I’ll just put some gamer stuff under his nose and he’ll be back up. For now, just head on back to Ramshackle.”

“Alright…thanks again Ortho, for humoring me.”

With you finally out of the room, the younger Shroud could only shake his head as he stared at how pathetic his brother was being. All of that because of a simple pet name…

“They wanted me to call them darling…and me dearest…how cringworthy can they get…how lame..”

“Idia, I can’t take you seriously with that dumb look on your face.”

Only in the Ignihyde dorm would that count as progress. Best of luck to you, Prefect.

[thedevilinherself]

So I finished the BG3 after doing every side mission I could find. And.... I have feelings

So I played with the poly mod, so I romanced everyone but Lae'zel and Shadowheart who I couldn't get the romance to start for. I also had the mod that lets me have all the companions with me, so I don't know how or if that changes the ending cut scenes.

But first off, the endings were way too short. I heavily dislike endings that have you fight the final battle, give you a cut scene, then end. Give us a little something after to come down from the high of the victory and see the happiness of the ending we fought so hard for.

Speaking of happiness; I can't say I'm happy with anyone's endings. I told Lae'zel she should go back to her people cause I know that's what she's wanted this whole time, so she left to free her people. This was in my opinion the happiest companion ending I got, even though it's still bitter sweet and doesn't feel like theirs closure cause she still has to fight to free her people with no time to rest.

Astarion just started to burn in the sun and ran off, then Shadowheart was like "poor guy, no more sun for him" then I never saw him again. Kinda shitty considering everything he fought for and the fact I was in a relationship with him. And it's not like the ending just picked one of my love interests to give the ending for, since all my other partners acknowledged me as their partner in their cut scenes (more on that in a moment).

Gale just stood at the edge of the doc and was like "the crown fell into the water. Guess I gotta find it" and then talked about his ex some more before saying we'll do it together. Didn't like that his arch was left open ended as well with him still afflicted with the orb AND wanting to return to Mystra who is terrible for so many reasons.

I got nothing for Shadowheart, and I don't know if Wyll can have his own scene, but his was lumped in with Karlach's for mine. Karlach is dying, her engine burning up, and she says she loves me and is glad we could be together. Wyll was really upset and yells "my love, we have to get her back to avernus! It's the only way to save her". Karlach didn't want to go back, but we convinced her and tell her we will be there with her and will protect her till we find a way to cure her. The three of us go to avernus and it ends with us about to fight imps and I guess I'm in a poly with the two of them, which I didn't know was an option, but them both referring to me as their love in that cut scene was a scripted thing so I don't think it was cause of the mod. Either way, I hated that at the end of the game, we haven't cured Karlach and now she's back in avernus. All her endings seem to suck as, spoiler, she either dies, returns to avernus, or becomes a mind flayer and has to live in hiding. So all of her endings suck.

I hated how none of the characters felt like they got a good resolution or much closure. There wasn't a sense of happiness or real victory. That kinda thing can work in DND cause the campaign can keep going, but in a video game, where there is no way to move forward, it seriously sucks. I put 300+ hours into this game, made so many choices to ensure my companions were safe and happy, tried to get them each the best ending I could without looking up too many spoilers, and in the end, they each get 3-5 minute cut scenes where their main character quest is unfinished and left in limbo? That just feels really crushing and disheartening as a gamer. In my next playthrough, why bother trying to help Karlach? She'll still be uncured by the end. Gale's just going to go back to his abusive god or maybe still blow up. Who knows. Astarion will still be hiding in the shadows, stuck as a spawn forever.

Over all, it just kinda sucked that not one of them felt like their arch got wrapped up/resolved.

[micalpixel]

May Flowers Game - June 2024 Progress Report

Another month has passed, so here’s another update on my gamedev journey. The goal is to create my first video game using the Godot game engine.

(Prior Updates: May, Initial)

Research

The main goal for June was research. Play other character/exploration-focused games with no farming or combat elements and see what they do to keep things fun. Here’s what I played (or watched others play)

A Short Hike: A game about a penguin climbing a mountain. Finding new people, new areas, and moving/gliding were very enjoyable. The game’s 3D environment with pixelated graphics was also a new experience for me. A very nice cozy game.

Rakuen: I love this game. You play as a kid stuck in a hospital, trying to help other sick patients, while also exploring a fantasy world described in a book. Lots of exploration, puzzles, and focus on characters. Catchy music too. Kind of exactly what I was looking for. I think Undertale fans would enjoy this one.

The Stanley Parable: A choose-your-own-adventure game. No NPCs, just movement and a very entertaining and well-crafted narrator.

Potion Permit: You play as a chemist who just moved into a town, and must make a living brewing potions while getting to know the town, its people, and the wilderness. The first life-sim game I’ve actually beaten. The lack of time limits was greatly appreciated.

Shenmue (Watched not Played): An important piece of gaming history. I watched a playthrough of this one, just so I could see this game at its best, and not miss any important events.

Freddi Fish 2 (Watched not Played): A point-and-click adventure for children??!… What’s this doing here?!?! Well, this one wasn’t on my original list, but I realized the point-and-click game genre had many similarities with the walk/talk/trade-items gameplay I originally envisioned. Plus this one had no game-overs and no frustrating trial-and-error like many do. Studying how a different genre handled that kind of gameplay, while making it very accessible and entertaining, was a good learning experience.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits (WIP): I started this one, more for fun than research, but haven’t finished it yet. Beautiful game. As others have noted, it’s like playing a Pixar movie.

OneShot (Not Started Yet): Ran out of time. 😒 Next month. Really looking forward to this one.

All in all, I took 10 pages of notes. Things I noticed, liked, disliked, wanted to think about.

Prototype

On June 20, I began work on an actual prototype (“Prototype 1”). Code from my earlier Godot projects was collected, combined, and improved. The goal is to implement every important mechanic in the game. Everything the player should be able to DO in the game, the prototype should have at least ONE place where the player can do it. In a very condensed environment that's easy to test. Physics and graphics can be fine-tuned later. This prototype is all about functionality. For example:

Walk in 8 directions.

Talk to an NPC.

Choose an answer when the NPC asks a question which triggers different outcomes.

Walk to the edge of a room and appear in an adjacent room.

And overall, things have gone very well! I have a page-long checklist of everything I want to implement in this prototype, and it’s about half-done. :D

Except menus.

And except puzzles.

Puzzle mechanics aren’t added yet. I realized the mechanics I was planning did not have much synergy and were very simple. I also want to review the notes I took during research and study puzzles in general. So, back to the drawing board, for now. Puzzles are the next major step. And I think I have a pretty good idea how I want to change them.

Audio

I made a text-blip sound effect (hear it in the video above) and a placeholder “song” of 6 notes to use for testing music. Since this game’s art style is based on the Game Boy, I did some research on the Game Boy’s sound capabilities.

It has four “instruments” that can play sounds simultaneously, aka “channels”:

Channel 1 and 2: Pulse Channel. Each can emit a quadrangular wave

Channel 3: “Wave” channel with user-definable waveform

Channel 4: A noise wave (think static)

Channel 3 is the most fascinating imo. You can define your own timbre of the sound to be played. If you ever played a Game Boy game that had a unique-sounding song that, chances are it was a custom waveform via this channel. (Also, if you ever played Mother 3, the movie theater part with the retro-sounding music did in fact use the original Game Boy audio capabilities in the Game Boy Advance, and also includes these sounds.)

There is software that can reproduce the capabilities described above in order to create Game Boy-sounding music on a PC. I’d like to experiment with that in the coming weeks. The Game Boy was capable of some really good music. Limiting my scope to its capabilities for the same of my own sanity, plus the flexibility of that wave channel to create custom sounds, seems like it can produce some really nice results, which is very appealing to me.

Graphics

I made a font! It only includes English letters, for now, but it works! I used it in the “Save Pointy” art earlier this week and the prototype video above, and intend to use it for everything going forward.

Closing

And that’s June! Have a nice July, everyone!

[adozentothedawn]

My friends, enemies, frenemies, foes, buddies, fuddies, and everyone else, let me tell you a tale of a wild adventure I just went on. It involves unspeakable violence, daring rescues, shocking conspiracy twists, and the state of the world. And most importantly, a very, very, very bugged, Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough attempt. Strap yourselves’s in folks, it’s gonna get wild.

Our story starts with me deciding to ditch my current playthrough for a bit to start designing my next character. I threw on the game, clicked on New Game and watched as the cutscene started playing. And then I committed a grave sin. I got impatient cause I didn't want to sit through the cutscene and just get to the character creator. I spammed space a few times which didn't do anything. And then. I pressed esc. The screen went black. But instead of being able to build my character, I was suddenly here:

Ya. Just a group of naked guys and the default Dark Urge. Who is the only one to get clothes. So naturally I had to start exploring what the fuck this is and what I could here. The what the fuck question is probably answered with some technical details about developer stuff that I don't know about. As for what I could do...

Mostly just kill the other dudes. Who are called Dummy. So I kinda just did that.

You can do this by either punching them to death with your 1 damage attacks (also when you crit, the damage does not get higher), or you can use your weapons in your inventory! For example by throwing them, which is what I did cause I forgot you could just equip them. You can though.

You can't move the character though, the speed is set to 0 and jumping is turned off cause you're immobilized. The game is lying btw, despite the character icon, there are no clothes anywhere on this map, except on the Dragonborn. Who is btw the only one with more than 1 hp, specifically with 26. More fun facts, only the black guys have penises. The white guys only have Ken crotches. No not vaginas, I did check, Ken crotches.

They all have same stats of 10 on everything, have the race Human and the class None. Only I got weapons though. It was one of like 8 types, but I threw them all so only see that cleaver here. The rest are on the floor.

Fun fact also: When entering turnbased the game still registers the dead guys from your assigned party.

They are also still in your party. Still naked. But now dead on the ground. They also got the xp I got from killing everyone!

This map also allows for a day night cycle, which is influenced by how close to the character the camera is. It's night when you're close, when you get away from them the shadows move until it's day.

As for the excellent question of where this map even is: It is the character creation map! It's not just a background it's a full on map you can scroll around on! The corner is cut off as you can see, but north and east you can just scroll until the character leash is tight. Look it's the bird statue and the platform!

And now the most shocking of all reveals: That landscape from the dreams you can see in the background here? The pavillion and floating rocks? Yeah it’s fake. It’s a giant movie screen in space.

Yeah so that was my adventure in the bugged character creation. xD I have one last surprise! If you have any suggestions on what I should try doing there, you can give them to me! Cause I have a working save that loads directly there. Still bugged. Still very funny.

[lalunameli]

Tiger & Bunny Hero's Day for PSP:

Yuri's Route Part 2:

Continued from Part 1, Yuri's Route (main story only) from Hero's Day for PSP. Screenshots and videos provided by @tempkiriri who was playing the game earlier today.

Legend:

Bold: Original Japanese dialogue

Blue: English Translation

(Text): Yuri's Inside Voice (Will follow above format for language used)

Green Italics: Translators Notes and general game notes

Yuri questions a Flower Shop Owner who may have a connection to the captured "Red" criminals...

花屋の店主 実は、“ブラッドレッド”も”ストロベリーレッド”も私の息子がいた芝居の登場人物なんで

Flower Shop Owner: "Blood Red" and "Strawberry Red" are both characters in my son's play.

ユーリ(！・・・確かに犯人が着ていたスーツと同じデザインのヒーローが描かれている）

Yuri: (The Hero Suits in this drawing are the same designs as the ones the arrested criminals were wearing.)

ユーリ これが・・・現在捕まっている犯人達の顔写真です

Yuri: This is a picture of the criminals who have been currently arrested.

花屋の店主 お願いです一刻も早く息子を、シュライ・ステイラーを探し出してください

Flower Shop Owner: Please find my son, Shurai (Shrai?) Stayler as soon as possible.

ユーリ（芝居を中止させるべきという私の忠告を劇場側も答察幹部もまともに取り合おうとしなかった・・・）

Yuri: (My advice is that this play should be cancelled. Neither the theatre company or Management dealt with each other properly...)

ユーリ（痛い目を見ないと現実を直視できないとは・・・患かな奴らだ）

Yuri: (If you don't look at pain straight in the eyes, you can't face reality ... they're the ones who are sick.)

虎徹 なあ、もっとスピード出せねえの？

Kotetsu: Can't you speed up more?

バーナビー 事件でもないのに、これ以上のスピードは出せません。黙って座っていてください

Barnaby: I can't go faster! It's not an incident. Please sit silently.

マリオ おおっと！遅刻ギリギリで劇場に向かうタイガー＆バーナビー！おやおやまた喧嘩しているようですね

Marocchio: Oops! I'm getting to the theatre just before I'm late. Tiger & Barnaby! Oh my, it looks like they're fighting again.

ユーリ 製場には彼らがいる・・・さて、お手並み拝見といこうか

Yuri: They are manufacturing this ... Well, let's take a look at your hands.

(TN: Implying he'll catch them red-handed)

Timesheet:

シアダー・イーリス前

劇場に駆けつけたタイガー＆バーナビー。喧嘩をしている彼らに他のヒーロ一達は

In front of Cedar Eris

Tiger & Barnaby rush to the theatre. The other heroes join them in the fight.

Player Score Categories:

ブルーローズの報告を受けた: Received a report from Blue Rose.

????????? (To be unlocked)

バーナビーの報告を受けた: Received a report from Barnaby

バーナビーの本音に呆れた: Stunned by Barnaby's true intentions

シグナルレッドに話を聞いた: Talked to Signal Red

ロックバイソンの報告を受けた: Recieved a report from Rock Bison

Notes:

Yuri's Route is the shortest in the game and only has half the maximum points that can be achieved compared to the other characters.

Completing Yuri's Route triggers the end game (Climax)

Each character gets to do a "Next Episode" Preview. Here is Luna's. Yusa has to speak in Bunninglish for the English Episode Title (as does everyone else).

His version of "See ya!" is "THANATOS NO KOE WO KIKOE" (naturally).

More Extras:

Kiriri went back to try for different results in Yuri's Route. Apparently denying Barnaby's request for points does NOT max out that stat (Stunned by Barnaby's True Intentions).

If you speak harshly to Signal Red:

ユーリ（子供と言えど罪人には変わりない・・・）

Yuri:  (Even if this is a child, it doesn't change the fact that they're a sinner.)

ユーリ君は自分が犯した罪の重さを自覚しているのです

Yuri: Are you aware of the weight of the crime you committed?

Lunatic's Bad End Screen

Each character in this game has an early Game Over screen.  Here is Lunatic's:

ルナティック バッドエンド

Lunatic Bad Ending

慣れぬ事をした罰

Punished for doing something unfamiliar

本業に戻るユーリだが、コーヒーカップが割れスーツを汚してしまう。

皆察署の前にいた女性に声をかけていれば、何か違う展開があったかもしれない。

Yuri returns to his main duties, but his coffee cup breaks and stains his suit.

If he had approached the woman in front of the police station, there might have been a different outcome.

Thank you again for letting me tagalong while you played @tempkiriri . This was immensely fun. Shall have to play it sometime myself.

@tempkiriri has now uploaded a playthrough of Yuri's full route on Youtube! Check it out here.

[fearandhatred]

ok idk if my brain is just a different shape but do y'all ever have like half-in half-out dreams?? where you're in the dream itself but also somewhere along the way the perspective switches and you're watching the dream as an outsider like a movie/show/video game. because that's like 98% of my dreams and they're always insanely strange. a lot of times i wake up and can't even tell whether i can consider it a nightmare or not

gonna put the dream i had under the cut because what the hell was that lol

okay so there's this big white room with two women in it and they're locked in. gonna say now that the two perspectives in this dream are:

i'm on youtube watching a playthrough (it's markiplier) of this game where you play as a third character

i am the third character itself

the room just has a table in the centre with various things on it, AND a door. but the door is fake. the hinges are attached to a wall and then there's just a piece of paper with a painting of a white door pasted onto the wall where an entrance should be.

woman A stands against this wall as she's talking to woman B and just for fun, woman B closes the door on her, obviously not expecting anything to happen because. it's a wall.

but surprise the door closes all the way. woman B is like what the hell??? and reopens the door but now there's muffled shouts and knocking from inside the wall where woman A is now trapped.

woman B starts trying to get her out, throwing her body against the wall etc. but nothing works. and then very quickly like the flip of a switch woman A just goes batshit insane. like screaming her head off, growling, yowling, the most nasty animalistic noises you've ever heard basically.

then woman A (what's left of her anyway) manages to get a chunk out of the wall that looks like one of those envelope slots but slightly bigger. let's just say big enough for an adult to barely squeeze through after breaking some bones. if you see what i'm getting at

woman A's hand (it's a slightly decayed claw now) reaches through the hole and grabs B and starts pulling her through the hole and you can kind of hear some bones breaking. and once woman B is fully inside woman A breaks more of her bones and kills her.

now this is where the perspective switching comes in. so miraculously i'm there (in the video game that whole thing was a cutscene and now you can play) and woman A sees me, grabs me to haul herself out of the hole and her whole body contorts and disfigures in a really nasty way. by the time she's fully out she's like a really thick long ribbon (don't question it, she still has her limbs though just elongated) that wraps herself around you and tries to kill you and you have to fight her off

so one second i'm watching markiplier play this game on youtube where HE'S trting to get her off his character. and when i say i'm watching him on youtube i really mean that in the dream i'm sitting in bed and having his video play while i scroll through other videos on my home page. and the next second i'll actually be the character itself

anyway i woke up soon after that but after a while another enemy is introduced to the game in the form of a Black Hair Tie which used to be a man. and i remember the hair tie was around the ribbon (woman A) on one end, and i had grabbed the other end and was just slamming them into the table lmao

ok! bye

[cidthesquid]

My Debut! - MODEL Debut 3 #nicola

Trying a New fashion game today! Also, Happy Valentine's Day! If you don't have someone special to spend it with, try to at least do something fun for yourself! I'm going to be spending my day trying a new fashion game!

I've seen a few clips of this, And heard it's "the best fashion game on switch!", (Released around the same time as 'Fashion Dreamer') With the only drawback being it's only available in Japanese. So We probably won't be sticking with this too long, but let's get started! ---- Alright, it looks like we just passed our audition, and we're trying to decide what to do next... and wow.. Google Translate is really struggling with this game...

That's fine, fashion is an international language,

Ok, time to create my usual character...and..oh...

Is that really the darkest skin tone? I know this game is made for japan, but really? Style Savvy Ds had more options, and so did Fab Style on the DS/3ds They have a million eye designs, and a full RGB slider for hair colors, But for skin, all you get is a very mild tan :-/

Oh well, hmm this is interesting, they have a dedicated eye size/positioning section.

Three presets for each, eyebrow height, eye height, eye size, and pupal size. It may feel a little limiting, but that's a bit more control than style savvy/fashion dreamer, without overwelmming the player,.

Here's my final character design: (I hope they let me edit it later)

Okay outfit time!

Wow, this game has full layering, bags, and lets you equip multiple accessories! Even though the starting options are limited, the fact that you can (as silly as it sounds) wear a neckless under a scarf. Means you have more freedom than the older style savvy games! (even if I still prefer the outfit designs in SS)

wow there is a lot of dialogue in this game...

umm, I just wanted to have fun making outfits, what is all of this?

Ok, so I guess this is the SS 'Photo studio' equant:

You can't move the camera, but you can adjust the pose, expression and background. (real backgrounds in a game like this look pretty weird. You'll also have added controls for head position and gaze direction:

Anyways, with our first photo shoot out of the way, we now get to see the world map:

our only option is to go to the studio, so lets start there: And once we arrive, we're given a few jobs to choose from:

I really don't know what any of these mean, so we'll go with the 'Cherry blossom viewing coordination' as I think that may just mean "style using pink", maybe?

Nope, it looks like they want me to dress in a casual top for work, Luckily everything is labeled here, so you can just scroll over an item and check the tags.

I'm not sure if all items need to match or we just need something that fits the theme, so let's try this:

This is cute, but apparently dresses don't count for the 'casual top' category, (I should have guessed.)

Let's Try again...

Nope, They're still complaining about the "illustration, I'll need to look that up..." ok, I found a fantastic video from the youtuber "HamsterButtocks", and watched the start of her playthrough. Turns out, you need both tags shown to mach the item in question, so, we'll use the search function to find a top that matches both requirements.

And here we go!

Next up is posing and framing and we're done!

Once you complete the job you get points to 'rank up' as a model, and you get little NPC comments on your post.

And it looks like once we get further in, we'll eventually unlock some fashion show type event:

So very interesting, I should have guessed from the game's title, But unlike Style Savvy and Fashion Dreamer, this game seems to be exclusively about modeling, and dressing up your own character, rather than helping others find their own sense of style. That's fine, and it's a neat idea, Style Savvy Fashion Forward ad a similar event, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about sticking with a full game based around that. I'm still super early on, and I'm sure tons more options will unlock as I go, but this seems to be the core gameplay loop. I had fun trying it out, and I may go back later, But for now, I have to work on the new fashion dreamer event that just went live, and I still have to finish Style Savvy: trendsetters, so I got plenty of stuff to do! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed another entry in my weird fashion game blog!

[nikatyler]

Zeph 1.0

in other news we continue clowning for Astarion and letting him drink from us

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Right so I don't know what or who to believe anymore in this goddamn game

I say goddamn but I still love it don't get me wrong

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mum come pick me up i'm scared

now tell me why tf did i rush here with no spell slots left

yeah we're fucked, reload 💀

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i may be a monster

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I'm starting to get a headache but I wanna keep playing 🥴

Hyperfocus this, hyperfocus that, what about "I'm fully aware I should be doing something else or else I will suffer greatly but I can't stop and it's worth the pain" kinda focus

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*You notice the blood's source* *Astarion approves* okay thanks??? 😂

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"Can you imagine dressing entirely in red?" I'm not saving your ass when I create Ross for my next playthrough smh

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I felt really really really bad about this and thought I was making a big mistake (I probably was 💀) but seeing only 7 % of players unlocked this? Yeah that's cool. Or maybe not. Idk I feel bad 💀

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Trying to take down the bitch evil vampire again

Am I struggling? Mayhaps

We are Fucked™ lmao (that's a lmao of big pain not lmao of this is hilarious)

Alright let's try again

How do y'all not get attached and just play and stay cool because it's just a game. I'm 👌 this close to ugly rage crying lol stop being mean to my boy leave him alone stay away from him get a job

Not now duo dammit

...fuck

Yeah no I'm reloading and I'm just gonna fuck around the city a bit, I can't do this rn 💀

Okay so the strategy of 1) just go there 2) try not to die is not working too well in the big fights in act 3 for me 💀 oh well I'll try harder I guess

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they need a pair of glasses smh

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So I'm seriously considering throwing 2 weeks of gameplay in the trash just to get a better shot at a romance but…now I'm thinking about some tedious parts and ehhh 🫠

Is he worth it? He is worth it. Right?

Lmao I don't remember the last time a fictional character had a grasp on me like that. It's rather embarrassing really 💀 I'm too old to act like this aren't I 💀

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Actually considering how bad today has been, reloading that far will probably Fix Me™ so I'm doing that right after a little afterwork nap

And if it turns out to be pointless or a bad idea I can always just switch back to the furthest point in the storyline I got, I won't overwrite that save

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Sacrificing about 42 hours of gameplay 🫡 it's been an honor but I need the vampire's love more than oxygen. Reloading now 🫡

And I'm making sure to actually finish some quests I didn't the first time *cough* the shadow curse *cough*

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I put him in Karlach's clothes...for science

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HELP I'VE BEEN LAUGHING AT THIS FOR FIVE MINUTES NOW

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I need to pickpocket people more. In the game I mean. Every time I succeed, I get a good giggle out of it 🤭

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organ rearranger you say...can i...can i say something...

Okay we're all adults here right I can say it. Minors look away this isn't a safe space for you

Well let's just say I stole this for someone and he can rearrange my organs anytime okay byeeeeeeee

Well technically he stole it himself I just giggled with my finger ready on f8 in case things go badly 🤭

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Okay so I just found that one reason why some things weren't going well for me was simply because I don't long rest enough in the game 💀

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Me when I first started playing bg3: I hope there's a way to avoid a lot of combat, I hope I'll be able to just talk my way through Me now: woooo slaughter!! 😗

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Nooo I was like "wooo yeah cutscene finally!!! is it happening?? are we so back???? we're so back amirite" and it's this guy 😭😭 (with all due respect i was hoping for something else 💀)

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and it's only gonna get worse

let's goooooo

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Does this game hate me or what

It's so joever it's so joever I'm just not getting any cutscenes in the camp lmao

My negative rizz is so strong not even videogame characters want me

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You know what? I get her

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WAIT HOLD WE ARE SO BACK

I USED TO PRAY FOR TIMES LIKE THIS *incoherent screaming*

I truly am the embodiment of this meme

I'm not even trying to scream anymore my voice is dead

I can't believe this actually happened so now I'm pretty much spamming the kiss, ignoring everything else

"I play for the plot" she said 🤭

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my game crashed, good thing I save every five seconds otherwise I'd think about jumping off of very tall somethings

okay i actually lost like zero progress, jfc blessed day

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Zeph you're standing way too close lol

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"I'm gonna speedrun the parts I've been through about a week ago," she said, failing to realize she's not a good runner

There's no such thing as speedrunning this game lol. I just want to do everything always. Fight everything and open every crate and loot everyone 🤭

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back to act 3 we go now that i've righted my wrongs 😌😌

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wise words from daddy, wise words indeed

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buddy you have one job

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...okay?

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"watch out for anyone acting STRANGELY" said by the guy who tries to suck your blood on like the first night of camping together but ok love whatever you say 💀

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[aliquistis]

Hi! ♥ I hope you're having a wonderful time wherever you are!! I am here to sing your praises and ask some questions about your writing process! First of all, Witch Ways is such a great piece of writing. Every 5 minutes I'm like [origin character name here] would totally do this! or that's so [origin character], and twirling my hair, giggling like a 13yo with a crush. I can't help but be endlessly amazed at how well you write each character: the way you depict actions, feelings, analogies, etc., like you're aware of what's going on all the time and direct our attention toward the important stuff. It's all very cinematographic and painterly. And that awareness guiding our attention feels like you're shaping scenes with just enough detail, or broad enough strokes, that reading becomes really pleasurable, and not dense at all or like everything is up in the air. It's a perfect balance. Gale, as written by you, is *chef's kiss*. Also, an honorable mention goes to Astarion; your portrayal of him is so on point I'd jump at the opportunity to read anything you write with him in it. Chapter 11 has Astarion pull some emotional 3D chess stuff on Gale to make him open up about his relationship with Echo, and I think that is so ingenious! Another thing I've noticed is that you're really good at knowing when a relationship/character has had enough time in the spotlight and it's time to let other relationships/characters into the picture - all in a very natural and reader-friendly manner. And I'm a baby writer, but I know our characters/plotlines can only be as developed as we are experienced/well-read, in a way. Naturally, I've got some questions and they are as follows: 1) What are some of the things/techniques/approaches that help you with characterization/keeping characters effectively in character? I just feel like, you're so good at reading characters and knowing what they'd do next. Developing that skill probably took you time and effort!!! So, any words of wisdom, book, webpage, or anything to help guide me a bit through the process of acquiring the skill? 2) is there anything that's helped you become a better writer? Especially in terms of developing and maintaining this 360° awareness when you write (they should be doing that with their hands, they should be feeling this but also a bit of that, this is the right amount of [character/relationship], this explanation/description is ok and if I add more to it I risk being insecure/overly preachy, etc.) Thank you so much for sharing your writing!!! ♥

Thank you so much for your kind words! I really am having a great time writing this story and I'm very happy that people are enjoying it. The best general writing advice I can give is simply to stick to it. Don't get hung up on comparing yourself to other people. It can take a long time to find your own voice and it took me personally a long time to realize there isn't one "right" way to write. Writing is hard and you have to try and be kind to yourself. Don't be afraid to make mistakes or to get crit. I cannot tell you how much time I wasted being terrified of showing anyone my writing, when I could have been using that time to grow as a writer.

Specific answers under a cut bc I babbled on for awhile!

1) So for characterization, just play through every possible conversation you can have with a companion/npc. I look up videos for choices that I can't make (like late game evil playthroughs) and I have like a million saves before conversations, events, and areas that I might need to revisit. When I'm looking for a certain reaction (like how does Wyll talk to you if you're mean to him? If you're nice to him?) This is probably why I'm so comfortable writing Astarion, since I romanced him on my first playthrough and I got to see a lot of content for him.

So I load up a conversation with the emotion I'm looking for, and really pay attention to their speech patterns. Then, during writing, I do two passes: the first time I write out what I need from the conversation, then the second time (during editing) I read the conversations out loud and try to see if I can hear it in the character's voice. During this second pass, I change a lot of wording and inflection to better fit how a certain character speaks. Reading dialogue out loud in general is a great idea bc it helps you make sure you're writing in a way that people actually talk.

2) Workshopping helps so much. I majored in English so I had to take a lot of writing classes and just getting another set of eyes on your writing who can tell you "hey this doesn't make sense" or "hey I had to read this twice so it's probably not flowing how you want it to" can really, really help. Since having a ready workshop isn't always possible, writing fanfiction can help in the same way! Really anything that keeps you writing and practicing will keep you developing.

More specifically for picturing scenes, a lot of times I will have to physically do the things I'm writing so I can better see how to describe it. For emotions, I listen to music that evokes the same feeling I'm trying to write out. It sounds weird to say it, but study fiction and the stories you like. Think about why story beats landed how they did or what you'd do differently to flesh something out that you liked, but could have hit better if some things had changed. (I feel like we have all been watching a movie and gone "Why didn't they say/do [this] instead!") Editing is so important, so hard, and so (imo) boring but it is integral to getting the feeling in a scene right. You really can't tell if something is coming off right until you've gone back over it and cut down/filled out the parts you need.

Doing a warm up can help too, especially when the words aren't coming to you right away. Pick a prompt or think of a scene that you're really excited to write and give yourself fifteen minutes to just hammer away at that. In my writing classes, we always did a warm up for the first fifteen minutes of class and it can really help put your brain in the right condition for creating. Another exercise we did in writing class (which might help with the scene awareness) was taking a scene from a movie and writing it out in prose. It can help you pay attention to what movements need to be narrated and how to describe expressions/inflection.

I hope some of this helps! Unsurprisingly, it also helps to write stuff you have fun writing. Even if you think it's a trope or cliche or whatever, who cares! Write what you like. I started both of my big fanfics simply because I couldn't find the ship dynamic I was looking for in the pairings they feature. So if you write what you want to read, chances are there are people in the world also looking for it <3