#is it a rewards system bc it doesn't feel like it

[the---hermit]

Lately my internal dialogue has just been my compromising with myself as if i were a little kid, like if we do this and this we can skip class on wednesday

[southparkhcsocs]

kicking my feet and giggling

can you do something like the main 4 praising you whether it's nsfw or not or both

heavy on the nsfw but you can pick 🤭

It's been a while babes ❤️ remember when that's what this blog was lol

Fem!reader

Under 18s dni! NSFW under the cut.

All characters are aged up to mid 20s thx

Stan Marsh

Stan wouldn't praise you as much as you'd like.

He doesn't say much generally.

But when he's drunk. Good God.

You are a goddess to him.

Everything you do is amazing, omg stunning!

"you're soo pretty, y/n. 'm so lucky to ha ve you. Look at you. You do so mu-ch for me. I loove youu."

Whether sober or drunk he'll praise you in the bedroom

He's a pretty dominant guy but he has to make sure you know how perfect you are for him.

But it's so much more when he's drunk.

He will stop mid thrust to complement and praise you.

Will end in crying lol

"So perfect." He mumbled into your neck before going to kiss your lips. He stopped his movements to just admire your beauty. "I love you so much. You're so good to me... I don't deserve you." His lip trembles.

You need to praise him back bc bro is insecure!!

Kyle Broflovski

Kyle will praise you a nice amount I think

If he thinks you've done something well, like getting a job, promotion etc he'll genuinely praise you

"That's amazing! I knew you could do it!"

If it's something he doesn't think warrants praise, like getting groceries, cleaning, basically everyday things he won't say anything but thanks. Not that he doesn't appreciate it, he just thinks it's not a big deal.

If everyday things are something you struggle with he'll try praising you but it will be half-hearted.

I don't imagine Kyle being much of a talker during sex

I also imagine him getting quite flustered when you ask him to praise you while he's two fingers deep inside you

"I - uuuhh." His brain fizzles out. System overload as he looks into your desperate eyes. "P-praise you? H-how?" He asked. You thrust your hips to remind him to keep fingering you which kicks starts his brain back to work. "oh, uummm g-good girl. S-so precious aren't you." He burrows his face into the crook of your neck. "You feel so good around my fingers."

He'll get so embarrassed if you praise him. He's not used to it!

Kenny McCormick

Kenny showers you with praises

No matter what you've done he thinks you're amazing, he understands how difficult things can be and wants to shower you in love, complements and praises

But he's so cool and collected it's sexy

"great job, babe."

But will almost always end it with something sexual

"you deserve a reward, huh?"

In bed, he'll praise you constantly

He'll get you to praise yourself.

"you're such a good girl, aren't you? Tell me how good you are for me, baby." His words reverberate against your neck as he's 6 inches deep. Fucking you so hard that you can barely get the words out. "Come on pretty girl. Tell me how much you deserve this."

You can praise him but he'll praise you right back. So much. He'll give you butterflies.

Eric Cartman

Cartman isn't much of a praiser

If you cook him his favourite meal he'll be like "Meh"

The only time he would praise you is when he's bringing you back from subspace

"such a good girl." "You did so well." "Look how pretty you are covered in my cum."

Bro would have you begging to be praised.

"what? You think you deserve praise?" He takes hold of your jaw, forcing you to look at him. "Babe, you're only good when you're on your knees sucking my cock. If you're not doing that, what is there to praise?" His hand slides to the back of your head, pushing you down to his crotch. "You need to work for it, slut."

Nooo his ego is too big don't praise him!!!! He doesn't deserve it!

Will melt at being called a good boy.

[ladyloveandjustice]

I want to expand on what I'm talking about. And I said a little bit extra in the comments:

There's just some posts that have been going around about how to solve the issue of men swinging real right in America right now,which does have an impact on society. some guy was saying he was attacted to the right bc they were all 'welcome brother' but in the left people resent him. I think it's just. It's easier to go to an idealogy that's like 'you're entitled to this' than an idealogy that says 'hey you're not entitled to everything but you could be more emotionally healthy and kinder to other people and". That's something simply being nice or making them feel good won't ever fully fix. The "rewards" for being in the right will always feel more immediate for white men.

It's not unique to men to feel alienated in an idealogy that wants you to challenge yourself. At the same time, more kindness to everyone, emphasis on acceptance, less volatile language toward each other, will help the community be stronger over all. it is a difficult conundrum, but I don't think it comes down to 'we don't make men feel special enough

It also ignores I think, that white men DO get rewarded in leftist spaces too. a lot. Men will get a ton of adoration for saying something vaguely feminist than if a woman says it a lot of the time, and so on a so forth, everyone loves a sweet guy...I think that's something that already happens.

But let's get back to volatile language:

We always say guilt isn't going to help anyone and it isn't about guilt. But I think we need to admit that no, we do try to make people feel guilty and ashamed a lot. And not framing it around that most of the time would do a lot.

I've seen posts straight up saying it's a bad thing to want to survive and live happy lives and take actions to do this because (x) bad thing is happening. You know, the most basic human instinct? And that's not going to win over people. You may not like that, but it's not.

I don't think that needs to center on women helping men feel special about themselves. A lot of us are asked to take care of men all the time and it's exhausting. Men on the left can focus on being more positive about the concept of manhood if they want, but asking women to do the work. is just....yeah that's just the patriarchy.

I do think examining things like black masculinity etc is great though. If you have another marginalized identity, it will intertwine with masculinity in very specific ways that will be used against you, just as it is with femininity or being outside both those concepts (yet the world assigns you one anyway). I totally get that masculinity is used as a weapon against both gay men and gay women, in different specific ways. And I think at least learning about that and supporting efforts to stop this makes one a better person.

On the other hand. it would be insane of me to ask a Black woman to make a Black man feel special and accepted for simply being a man if she doesn't want to do that. Like. absolutely wild.

And it's it's rarely about that, is it? When we say "celebrate men" it's not bringing any unique experience into it. It's about white men. They're the ones who make up most of the alt-right.

Communities in the right are not compassionate but because they offer some form of reward and companionship they can seem like that. As much as people are lured in by "welcome brother" or whatever, those same people will on the right will mock any person who steps outside the strict roles that have been set.

So....we need to abolish to same roles. I think we need to focus on how we talk to people. On supporting people when they're trying.

It also comes off in how we talk to each other about basically I can harshly tell someone who has privilege over me-- a white man or straight person ect ect-- their guilt about their privilege does nothing, I'm not interested in guilt and what we need is action. But let's be real. Telling someone "you benefit from a system that makes other people suffer" is going to make someone feel guilty. And yelling at someone for feeling guilty isn't going to make that better. I think we avoid saying the truth and say what's the core of it-- no, it's not your fault you were born a certain way and now you benefit from something. A society hundreds of years in the making made that happen. And that sucks, that you basically have no choice but to be complicit. And it sucks way, way more for the people who are kept down by that system. So we need to change society. We can do it together. It's not to "make up" for you existing. It's because we care about each other. I want this for all of us, because when we see each other as whole people and are treated equally, it benefits all of us.

This is a not a "men are uniquely punished by the left for being men, we need to celebrate masculinity, stop being so mean" thing. It's a human thing. It's about the way we talk to each other and try to weild guilt towards people in general. People want to feel good about themselves. They want some kind of acceptance. If you're constantly made to feel bad, it can be hard to want to stay. This is something everyone feels, because we all have a selfish instinct.

People don't like feeling guilty. That's just how people are. It's promoting compassion, rather than hatred and resentment, that's going to help us in the end.

But me simply saying that isn't going to change much. Humans feel hurt and lash out too. When horrible things are happening to us, we resent people that don't understand that or are part of that. The paradigm shift will be hard. Not everyone will be able to do it and I don't think that's wrong.

Everyone gets frustrated by a class of people where a lot of them have more power and try to push them down. Nobody wants to talk to someone that's trying to hurt them.

That's why it needs to be someone like me who could explain racism 101 rather than idk. making a person of color say 'well white people don't feel special and accepted for being white. poc we must be nicer. let's celebrate whiteness because the right does and that's why white people are drawn to it, they feel accepted." listen to how ridic that sounds. you are literally asking for a white history month. That's the same thing you're doing when you're talking about manhood like this. The onus is not on the discriminated group to reach out to those harming them. That's up to others in the community.

But as a broader thing...We just need to figure out what the end game is. Do we want to yell and guilt trip, or do we want more people in our corner? What's more important, the end goal or if someone knows all the right lingo or matches up to your opinions exactly? What do we need to rally around? How can we take care of each other? If we're kinder to the community, more people will follow.

Anyway this is the last time i'll say some big thing like this and tag it. I don't like doing this on tumblr for a reason.

[bloodyfries]

Epic songs that fit Svsss characters/moments

Epic and scum villain are currently my favorite fandoms (not counting tgcf) so I wanted to make this list. Also please give me any epic x svsss fics or art, I'd greatly appreciate it (I've already read the suffering fic)!!!

Just a man: This was actually what inspired this list and the idea for an animation won't leave my head. This is Shen Qingqiu during the abyss scene. This is him trying to rationalize pushing Luo Binghe. The whole first half of the song is him saying how he couldn’t possibly do it. You'd replace "Deep down I'd trade the world to see my son and wife" with "Deep down I'd trade almost anything to save you from this fate" (yes ik it doesn't sound good or rhyme but I'm terrible at anything music based or poem based). The silent beat between "I'm just a man" and the "but when dose a comet become a meteor" is the system reminded him of how many points he'll lose (and maybe how many he has), so he get that final push to turn his sword onto Luo Binghe.

Luck runs out: OK, this one is not even close to cannon but I'd love if this happened even if it's slightly occ. Also this isn't nearly as long as just a man bc that one actually has been haunting my brain like Christmas in October. I can see this is moment between Shen Qingqiu escaping the water prison and self destructing where somehow Shen Qingqiu runs into Shang Qinghua. I think that it would be more likely to happen if they were a bit closer and if Shang Qinghua wasn't fully sure that the mushroom bodies would be ok. I think it could sort of be Shang Qinghua trying to get Shen Qingqiu to flee the city (this gets shut down either by Shen Qingqiu telling him about the blood mites or Luo Binghe almost having qi deviation)

Wouldn't you like: Doing time jumps because I'm going in Epic order. This is literally just some sort of knowledge person rewarding Luo Binghe for helping them. So they tell him about Xin Mo and how all of his enemies (or monsters), that will kill him if he doesn't become stronger, will be easily defeated with Xin Mo

There are other ways: A woman who was supposed to be a wife trying to get out of a lost fight. Of course Luo Binghe doesn't care so instead she gives him information about a prophet that can help him escape in exchange for mercy.

No longer you: I would talk about this but there are already at least three animations on YouTube on this, they're both so good. [animation 1] [animation 2] [animation 3]

Monster: Luo Binghe finally "snapping" or coming to terms with his blackening (in the abyss)

Suffering: Sirens that were either a wife plot or wives themselves originally, probably both. Luo Binghe trying to get info out of a siren that looks like his beloved shizun, thats it. There is also a really cool animation of this on YouTube. [Animation]

Legendary: this on is only being added because the same creator at the suffering did one if legendary and it opened my eyes. It's pretty much white lotus Binghe talking about wanting to be great then cutting to black lotus (during the five years) wishing for his shizun back. [Animation]

Little wolf: Kind of a stretch but Meng Mo training a young Luo Binghe. This would not be a real fight but old fights that Luo Binghe lost and is reliving in his dreams to see what he did wrong. The only problem would be hurting the mind by hurting someone in a dream. Alternatively: Shen Qingqiu silently cheering on Luo Binghe during his "fight" with Ming Fan. Quick thought would just be the leaves being shot

Not sorry for loving you: I already made a post about this and as you can see by the dwindling lengths of these descriptions, I'm getting really lazy (plus it's late) so just read the post please. [Post]

I can't help but wonder: This just feels like something post cannon where BingQiu finally talk about everything. Luo Binghe probably says something about how he's a monster and has done terrible things and Shen Qingqiu is practically offended that Luo Binghe would suggest that Shen Qingqiu wouldn't love him because of that

This post was too ambitious for one sitting, especially this late but I did it. I might add more when my thoughts are more coherent and I'm not just throwing the pink slab of meat in my skull into the post

[breathoflavnder]

Ok, real talk. I would really like to know others' opinions on the easiest and hardest Xenoblade game to get into GAMEPLAY wise

Here's my ranking from easiest to hardest:

1. Xenoblade 1

2. Xenoblade 3

3. Xenoblade 2

4. Xenoblade X

Now I don't just base this on combat exclusively, I also base this on stuff like tutorials, side quests, the introduction to new gameplay elements, navigating the open world understanding the combo systems, etc.

Here's my reasoning for each (Yap session):

Xenoblade 1: Tutorials are pretty good. Tell you what you need to know as tutorials should. Side quests are so easy. Especially ones from unnamed NPCs. Side quests will literally tell you the locations of requested items and enemies like to the EXACT SPOT it's really hard to miss. Open world is straight to the point as well. While you can be around enemies that are ungodly high leveled by Gaur Plains most of them are tucked away or only appear in certain weather conditions and are usually non-aggressive. The game does a good job at keeping enemies levels close to your in each area as you progress in the story. Now the combo system in this game is really simple, it's literally just break > topple > daze (> maybe insta kill if you have it on Sharla). Nothing much to say about the combo system.

I will say that it is easy to miss things in this game. This is the only Xenoblade game that put really heavy emphasis on timed side quests (and yes xenoblade 2 does this too technically but not in the same way 1 does) and if you don't go out of your way to interact with every NPC you find at least one you can miss some other side quests. The decisions you make in this game when it comes to side quests can also completely change what future side quests you may get and affinity between NPCs. Not impactful to may plot, but it may prevent you from seeing cool little details and really good rewards.

Xenoblade 3: Tutorials are also very good and straightforward. Combo system in this game is more diverse as they have the X1 combo system with the end being called "burst" and they have the x2 combo system. The special mechanic of the game is easy to use and understand (both lucky 7 and the ouroboros). Open world is kinda like Xenoblade in they way of they don't just have high lvl monsters everywhere, BUT they are not as tucked away and usually super aggressive which if you wanna go to a certain area it can get inconvenient. Intro to new game elements is good as well. They give you a healthy amount of guidance when tell you about new stuff. Nothing is too overwhelming.

Side quests are less straight to the point I feel. Like they don't leave you lost per se but they aren't holding your hand like Xenoblade 1 is which is not a big deal tbh. I like how all the side quests help to expand on the story and I always like reading them. Side quests in this game are helpful, but I do think there is more grinding (like beating up enemies to lvl up) in this game then in 1 where you could get all the EXP you need off side quests alone tbf. I also love being able to control all of the main cast. I think this makes like so much easier rather then praying the CPU doesn't screw you over. Having 6 party members (plus the hero) also makes taking on high lvl targets not too bad. Like you can lure a lvl 30 enemy away being lvl 14 and kill it.

Xenoblade 2: Oh man. Where do I start. Tutorials... awful. Like they tell you the barest of BARE MINIMUM on a LOT... like the combat is so confusing bc they hardly explain it. I had to help friends find spoiler free YT videos to explain the combat. And on my first run years ago I literally so confused on wtf fusion combos were. Like I was able to connect the dots on blade and driver combos but fusion ones had me confused. They don't explain this well at all. The special mechanics introduction (like getting mythra and then being able to switch back and forth from pyra to mythra whenever) are introduced well. The other spoiler stuff is also straightforward. Affinity charts on blades... good lord. They NEED to better stress how important those things are dude. Like I did not fully understand the importance of Affinity charts till I had beaten the game 2 times (first run then NG+). Open world is pretty good but it is easy to bump into high level enemies. Like I would say more then Xenoblade 3 but not too much more.

Side quests... yikes. They can be really confusing and annoying. In gormott I remember having to look up the begginer side quests bc it gave no real direction and this was a reoccurring issue in the side quests too!! I'm also still salty about the one side quests in Gormott where you had to buy the material and it was super expensive, especially when you had just started the game. Side quests in this game are bad and it's better to just go grind on enemies they rely on side quests. Low-key infuriating.

Xenoblade X: Ok so honestly if you are an experienced Xenoblade player, this game is alright! But if your a beginner coming into the series on this game, good luck.. I will say that this game's a lil tricky to navigate like when it comes to stats and understand augments and some combat stuff like soul voices. Takes a bit to understand everything. New gameplay mechanics are introduced well, tutorials are good but lengthy walls of text sometimes. Overdrive is really cool but really confusing cause I don't feel like they give the full run down about the color combos of arts. I found that confusing till I asked a friend. Open world is awesome and fun!! But omg.. I can't breath without being getting aggro every 2.06579 seconds!! And the enemies that are 10 - 60 levels over you are NOT tucked away at all. Even in areas that are supposed to be "beginner friendly." This shit is so annoying and it can really make exploring not enjoyable at times. You can work around this with Elma! Blood sacrifice and Shadow runner have been my life line. Blood sacrifice gives 1000 TP And Shadow runner needs 1000 to be activated and it prevents you from being aggro-ed for 20 seconds (Maybe about 26 or so seconds if the art is maxed).

Side quests can be annoying. The basic quest (blue) can be more annoying then they should be in my opinion. The normal knes (green) are more enjoyable. I like the story and the dialog in these can be really funny!! As for combo systems, I don't have too much to day. The combo system in this game is very different from others, but it's not too hard to figure out tbh.

If you had made it this far in my post thanks for reading!!! Would love to hear some other opinions!!

[transfemme-shelterdog]

Contributing my perspective on CNC... so, with my partner, it is ofc fun because it is entirely consensual. Knowing she wants it allows me to go fully into sadism space, knowing she can safeword both verbally and nonverbally if needed

But in terms of personal fantasies, like if I'm just masturbating or w/e... I'm pretty sure this is a trauma response to my infant CSA, so feel free to back out now if this might be triggering... (also, warning for mentions of self harm)

.

.

.

I actually want to be raped, like, nonconsensually. It's not necessarily a healthy desire, nor is it one I ever intend to even try to act on (and also never truly could, bc technically if I want it then it wouldn't really be rape anyway).

But you know what is healthy? Fantasizing about it in a safe environment. Engaging in CNC with my partner (she's willing to give as well as receive with CNC). Writing fic about noncon.

I've talked to my therapist extensively about it and we've worked out that these are in fact healthy coping mechanisms for that likely trauma-driven desire - much like risk aware consensual blood and knife play allowed me to stop self-harming, bc I wouldn't let myself do it for fun and horny reasons unless I could be healthy about it, so I basically rewired my brain to see it as a sexy happy special treat and lost all interest in doing it to cope when stressed.

Like, idk. I'm kinda an outlier with these things, but genuinely kink has kept me safe and helped me cope. Traumakink in general has made me more able to engage with things that could otherwise be harmful in a healthy way, bc that's for me a prerequisite for engaging in any kink but especially extreme kinks.

Obviously it doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me. I'm no longer depressed and having panic attacks and hurting my system's body, but taking care of it for us and working to be healthy and happy. And then at the end of the day as a reward I can get horny about stuff that used to hurt us (plus, the headspace allows even more freedom to engage in stuff like impermanent deathplay, bc death simply isn't meaningful inside the headspace lol).

But yeah. It's worked out well for us.

I'm glad you and your partner have a healthy way of coping with things and have a dynamic that works for you!

I wish you both all the best.

[hoboblaidd]

I think the 'good' ending of Veilguard should've been dependent on an actual approval system with Solas. High enough approval, the Mythal trauma ambush will work. Low enough approval, and it won't.

So with that in mind, here are some Veilguard Solas approval/disapproval metrics (based on no actual math bc ya girl cant do math what do i look like). As in Inquisition, the overarching way to gain Solas approval is to "show subtlety in your actions" and wisdom in your choices. And don't be a dick to him.

Approval

Asking (good) questions. Inquisition rules apply - if a Rook consistently asks genuinely good, information-seeking or curiosity satisfying questions, they get a slightly approves. Anything that taps into the Wisdom part of him just like in DAI. But just like in DAI, it's a trick. The more questions you ask, the more he rewards you with approval, and the more he can influence you.

Demeanor. Consistently choosing resolved, diplomatic, and stoic dialogue options will net approval. Even aggressive options can get approval - if it's aggressive about the missions or even in defense of the team, he approves. A practical Rook is on the right path for high approval.

Factions. Approval is based not on what faction Rook is part of, but their view on the factions. For example, a Crow who loathes their faction and find that it's bad will get Greatly Approves. A Crow who is a zealot 'The Crows Rule Antiva and Treviso Will Be Free' will get Greatly Disapproves.

Opinions. Opinions and worldviews that align with his (spirits good, elves shouldn't be oppressed, slavery shouldn't exist, tea is disgusting) will net approval. Opinions that challenge his, without crossing into a direct opposition (i.e. spirits are demons, fuck the elves, and tea is the greatest beverage on earth), also net slight approval.

Decisions. Only certain decisions will net you approval: taking time out to save or prioritize elves; freeing slaves or prisoners; helping distressed spirits; punching the First Warden (bc it's funny); driving the Blight back from Hossberg; backing Dorian as Archon.

Companions. He has little involvement with (or regard for) the companions, but if he learns about the companion quests, he'll approve of the following choices and disapprove of the opposite: freeing the Nadas Dirthalen (but only if it's actual freedom, not just keeping the box in storage or destroying it - let the spirit return to the Fade); saving Manfred; giving the griffons to the Dalish. He disapproves of Harding's entire questline, and thinks she should just stay away from the Titans. He has no stake in Neve or Taash's because they have no bearing on anything he cares about.

Disapproval

Asking personal questions. Inquisition rules apply - he doesn't want to answer personal questions about himself. He's not your friend. He only tolerates you because he has no choice. In general, there will never be a 'reach level # to unlock his tragic backstory.' These questions net Slightly Disapproves unless you consistently ignore that boundary, or he finds out you viewed his memories. Then it bumps up to Disapproves.

Demeanor. The worst thing is to not listen to him - wisdom unheeded is what twists into pride. In general: (1) constant jests and sarcasm make him feel mocked; (2) constant berating rankles his pride and feels like a 'kick a ratdog when he's down'; (3) weeping about your lot in life won't tug at his heartstrings and there's no crying in baseball god fighting; and, (4) showing him sympathy - it also rankles his pride because it feels like feigned pity and rubbing salt in the wound. Telling him you want to set him free is a Greatly Disapproves for the same reason.

Opinions. Viewpoints that directly and stubbornly contradict his net Slightly - Great Disapproval, depending on what that opinion is. Thinking that tea is the greatest beverage in the world is like a -5 Slightly Disapproves. Saying that all spirits are demons is a -25 Disapproves. Saying 'fuck the elves' is a -50 Greatly Disapproves. Also, every time Rook says 'drowning the world in demons' nets them greater and greater disapproval.

Inquisition. Bear with me - any disparaging talk about the Inquisitor and/or the inner circle like Varric, Dorian, the Inquisitor, etc., will net you disapproval. The sole exception is if the game actually cared about the previous games and a low approval Inquisitor is in charge. Then you can shit on the Inquisitor, but not anyone else. rip to Harding but she doesn't count because he barely knew her.

People. Pretending we're in a game where his Agents still existed, hurting any of his people - spirits, elves, Inquisition, etc., is an automatic worldstate fail. Trick or fight, because he's not atoning for shit (only Solas can kill his own friends).

Decisions. Only certain decisions will net you disapproval: Back Mae as Archon (he believes her kind of passive resistance against an institution like slavery is always insufficient); doing anything to strengthen the Crows' hold over Treviso; ignoring prisoners, thralls, or slaves in need.

[gorgugplushie]

can you tell us abt how you read dandys. deal. like whats wrong with him. and whys he like that . whats his favorite manipulation tactic. does he like waffles? idk if this is weird enough but maybe its a chance to talk

OF COURSE.

my overall reading of Dandy is him being the first toon created so obvs he was the first toon experimented and tested on, exposed to the horrors what not, so he KNOWS what the handlers and founders can do if he ever messes up etc. he's ultra aware of having to be perfect and fit this image of who Dandy is.

my hc is that he was completely nonverbal during his creation,Arthur leaned toward a gentler approach with teaching him how to speak while Dehiliah felt the need to rush the progress with introducing more ichor into dandys system, it works but the progress is horribly traumatizing to dandy and leads him to lose all trust in humans.

humans are the bad ones who are keeping him and the others in gardeview, to him the toons have ZERO anatomy because it could just be taken away from them in seconds, they could easily be replaced if not doing well, and the humans make their respective existances MISRABLE with things like how holiday toons hibernate most of the year. dandy sees all of this as pure torture, he believes humans are overtly arrogant and playing god etc.

bc of that he feels like it falls upon him to protect the other toons even if it harms them in the long run, he needs to be strong to protect them all, they need to hone their abilities, to break free, and return home to the digital land scape of the dandys world show. which is dandys ultimate goal, return home or escape garden view.

he has a weird realationship with his cartoon self. bc as much as he wants to be that dandy he cant bc of the fucked up situations he finds himself in. he idolizes yet resents that dandy. he doesn't even know if he cant really be called dandy since he continues to fail everyone's expectations of him. idk.

i dont think twisteds were really dandys idea. its delilahs (something she made to piss off arthur when gardenview started going under etc idk. too get back at him for having the credit of toons basically) but he did spread it and run w it.

his fav manipulation tactic.. well. id say its being overtly friendly and personal... lulling toons into believing he's the ONLY one who can help them, making them entirely co-dependant on him, making them mistrustful or warry of the others. he's extremely touchy but I actually see him as touch repulsed, to him touch is a reward or a punishment nothing more than that.

i think hed like waffles... i think hed like simple foods... anything that's diff than what toons usually are fed.

overall he means well but hes just incredibly fucked in the head.

sorry for the long ass essay i like him. I HAVE MOER TO SAYYY.

read my fics also on ao3 bc I write a lot abt dandy and get into his head.

[regretevator-confessions]

tbh whenever I zee thoze confezzionz abour "oh gnarpy doeznt need to have a zad backztory to juztify xem being evil!!" I alwayz feel a bit weird bc I do genuinely think Gars and their zyztem iz a good place to actually analyze!! Given the depth all of the other villain like characterz have, I wouldn't be zurprized if a lot of Gnarpy'z actionz and behaviorz came from Gars, which zeemz like an abuzive place that rewardz violent behavior for the zake of the planet.

From what we know, Gars iz military and zcience bazed given thatz. The only real thing we know!! If we take thiz into conzideration, it wouldn't be abnormal if Gnarpy grew up with the idea that everyone but the Gnarpianz were inferior and therefore think itz normal to act thiz way!! Doeznt juztify any of xyr behavior they ztill did horrible thingz and itz ztill fucked up!!!! Alzo Gnarpy iz NPD coded,,, gpd im in love with thiz alien I think chat <3

(tbh whenever I see those confessions about "oh gnarpy doesn't need to have a sad backstory to justify xem being evil!" I always feel a bit weird bc I do genuinely think Gars and their system is a good place to actually analyze! Given the depth all of the other villain like characters have, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of Gnarpy's actions and behaviors came from Gars, which seems like an abusive place that rewards violent behavior for the sake of the planet.

From what we know, Gars is military and science based given thats the only real thing we know! If we take this into consideration, it wouldn't be abnormal if Gnarpy grew up with the idea that everyone but the Gnarpians were inferior and therefore think it's normal to act this way! Doesn't justify any of xyr behavior they still did horrible things and it's still fucked up! Also Gnarpy is NPD coded... god i'm in love with this alien I think chat <3)

.

[starburstsobsessions]

MORE AC Mirage thoughts >:) Compiled sporadically

OKAY I'M SO CONSISTENTLY HAPPY WITH RIPPING WANTED POSTERS DOWN. AGH!!!! SO GLAD ITS BACK WE ARE SO BACK

This game is entirely plagued by the fact that he ends up in modern times looking like a hipster, and as our next modern protag 🧍I love it

Despite being still open world like Valhalla and Odyssey, the level design is FAR better and FAR closer to the old ones and its SO NICE. ACV and ACO didnt have... actually much level design at all LMFAO I spent very very little time planning out what I needed to do and the best paths to take and all the things Mirage wants me to do. It works really good!!! Like this early prison break mission was so well thought out while still having all the new game stuff. The wacking Al Ghul mission was fun as hell too like it was so neat fr. That's where I'm paused for now!!

Combat being harder is SO MUCH FUN. I LOVE Valhalla but in it, I quickly just got the best heavy sword possible and max upgraded it and swang it around like a tank bc thats what Eivor is. Super fun too, but Mirage gives me a challenge again. Learning the whole parry system again like Ye Olde Days is fun as hell and feels rewarding when I finally start getting it right. Also, Basim can only take FAR less hits, which is an instant incentive to sneak around instead. Again, Eivor was a tank and I never worried abt it LMFAO.

I love that Basim is the first and only(?) character to have "questions" and falter during all of the assassins creed shenanigans. He couldn't leap of faith. He's confused by the assassination cutscene. There's probably more I forgot. Fun af.

I think it's hilarious how dramatic he is even at shops, just like Eivor is. I constantly made fun of her for that so he gets the same treatment. It's just rlly funny to me when leaving a shop and they dramatically turn to the wind and go like... "I must take my leave... so long..." uheiufhiauhsiuf bro I stopped by just to sell like a tennis ball and 4 teeth

Basim and Ali and Beshi polycule they should fuck. What the hell was that introduction to Ali like ewww get a room ygs. Will I regret this statement later is the question.

Also I love Basim's expressions but I DON'T like how he occasionally has Eivor's idle animations LMFAOO it jumpscares me sometimes but it doesn't injure me. He has plenty of his own.

Also I can't get the bird to land on me?? I need to look up if the bird can do it in this one or not.

I probably have more I'm forgetting. stay tuned.

and also @luv-again hiiii <3

[mclzandaya]

ysaline throws up and jason sees when she does, but she doesn't on him... personality system feels like such a sham and vip is a waste that needs a lot of work (they also still get timers which makes half the point of the skip button useless)

thanks for the clarification!! but still this is just,, whyyyyyy!! (guess i'll need to play the ep to find out but it feels like such an unnecessary interaction idkk)

i was super excited abt the personality system bc i thought it'd mean we'd get further personalised interactions depending on it :( but i guess it would've been way too complicated to input (though i feel even without it, a shift could be felt in HSL sometimes depending on our previous choices; imo that completely disappeared in cl)

yea when i realised that the skip option wasn't a real skip option i was so annoyed, also part of why i stopped playing lol; got a big problem with needing to complete everything so i almost get fomo from not getting every calendar items if i'm not vip, but being vip truly isn't worth it,, (so i haven't collected the daily rewards since i stopped playing, ik it doesn't make any sense tho)

[wlw-cryptid]

You're making a modpack that sounds so cool! Please tell more!

kicking my feet and giggling

honestly the most intensive part is just that I'm trying to make a quest book where you can pick between a couple different progression paths for yourself depending on how you like to play

I split it up into (names not really settled):

tinkerer: for the factory builder, focused on using Create to make resources from nothing. I found a mod that locks waystone crafting behind create auto crafting so they at least need to be able to produce brass. I also found add-ons that let you make upgradable armor and I think creative flight within a certain radius (but I can't remember rn if that was working or if I had to remove it). They also join the push for the nether bc they need blaze burners

I want to make it a little more engaging beyond Create but I haven't really settled on what that should be

warrior: focused on dungeons and bosses killing and looting for resources. Optional Irons Spells, exploring many biomes for archeology artifacts, food made out of mob drops, & I'm going to make a few dungeons personally so I can put the End Remastered eyes as rewards. I also have a mod that complicates entering the nether and I imagine this path leading the push for that too

Wanderer: a more average minecraft experience, farming and building and less dungeon exploration. I can't decide if I'll have this one split into two paths for living in the over world and living in The Dimensions (tropicraft and then the under dark to start), if I'll just assume tropicraft start (bc I have a few friends I know really wanted that mod), or it I should try to make it generic enough it doesn't matter which dimension you start. I'll give them some more guidance towards diversified food production, archeology again, meeting the new mobs, and trying to integrate the mods into gameplay.

I added simply ships and a mod that makes you a mermaid in water, origins, mowzie mobs, and I plan for them to go through quite a few kat-made quests and eye dungeons too. I know a little about using commands and I can leverage that

+ the general progression chapters for getting started (a lot of basic info, storage mod, Tetra, info on quark additions), the nether, a chapter for Alex's Caves (since anyone can stumble into those), the end, and then Deeper and Darker

+ some optional gameplay suggestions that I usually do myself to spice things up like being vegetarian, or only eating foods with fish, or trying to Never Go Mining, or actually using potions (which I added Dave's potioneering for too), or just telling them to really lean into their origin's themeing. I can't actually enforce these so they're just check mark honor system quests but theyre there for fun

We did a mod pack like a year ago (no fancy quests, just vibes) that went well but it did make it so I wanted to avoid mods like twilight forest or bewitched or the ars magica suite . bc we all already played through all that . and nobody gaf about the aether which is sad but oh well

For the most part I don't think it would feel THAT HEAVILY like a super duper modded experience compared to other heftier mod packs unless you take the wanderer path to effectively jump in the many modded puddles. rn it runs clean w 4 rams and I'm proud of that

the most difficult part is that I Want to throw together a quick mod? datapack? just to add some recipes (for inter-mod compatibility, like making tropicraft fish cuttable on the farmers delight cutting board) and maybe maybe ideally make it so a certain iron's spells mob doesn't drop netherite scrap. but. I don't know how to code. I've been watching tutorials and I don't even know what program they're using to do it in or if methods that work in vanilla would work on modded features. worst case I try using that infamous MCCreator thing and hoping for the best. but I'm having a lot of fun

[coffincoitus]

I unironically feel like growing up as a girl who doesn't feel attraction to men kinda sets you apart from other women in the way you legit do not care about being the "prettier girl". there's no concept of "the pretty friend". you have not internalized a reward system for being the pretty friend bc male attention means jackshit. most times you wouldn't even notice male attention. you think every man is ugly and stupid

[phagodyke]

Would love to hear ur thoughts on Hades game sometime because I too loved but had beef with the game and I think we are the same ….

yessss, disclaimer I haven't played it for like 3 years and I only played 10 hours/got to the end once before I dropped it so i might be misremembering some things but I stick by my opinions! under the cut cuz this is long as fuck 🫣 my haterism has no limits

ok so basically my grievances w hades can be split into 2 main areas: gameplay + narrative, I'll break them down in that order.

firstly gameplay - roguelikes/lites are my fave genre so I was predominantly approaching hades from this angle + its failure here is the clincher for me.

I found the gameplay repetitive and stale. this isnt a criticism of its permadeath like ive seen some ppl make - I usually relish repetition/grind especially in permadeath-based games bc I find tactical challenge fun + love the learning curve, its soooo rewarding. but hades is ultimately just a glorified button masher. mob/boss movesets are boring + unoriginal, and can generally all be fought the same way. trying to do otherwise drags out fights; it actively discourages emergent gameplay so theres little variance WITHIN runs. the pool of rooms for procedural generation is far too small so theres little variance BETWEEN runs. there's no real challenge to combat, difficulty is mainly increased by heightened mob tankiness as you get further in a run. movement/combat doesn't flow well, its mechanically very weak, relying heavily on its permanent upgrade system instead of developing skill in the way you approach the game. all the weapons feel clunky and don't really offer any unique challenge/benefit so theres virtually no point switching between them and the grind to unlock them all is so pointless… god there are just SOOO many hack n slash crawlers that keep it fresh even for hundreds of hours and hades fails miserably at keeping it fresh for even 5 measly hours :^/

I didnt like the boon system either - its far too simplistic + shallow. its fine to rely on chance, this is part of the random generation, and I think it had a lot of potential in that it was a good way of combining aesthetic w gameplay itself. but this is pretty much the only form of resource management - and theres barely any management to it! theres no reward for exploring different builds, they dont really synergise BETWEEN gods in interesting or useful ways, so the game encourages you to just stick with one god throughout, and biases random generation towards boons youve already collected. part of the fun for me is learning HOW to design a build, and working with the randomiser to play flexibly, but hades just isnt interested in that at all...

also - I don't like the permanent upgrade system, I think this detracts from it as a rogue. every time you should be starting on square 1 - maybe you pick up health upgrades etc throughout each run, and maybe you unlock new weapons etc for the random generation pool, or purely cosmetic upgrades, but the point of permadeath is that it RESETS! zags base health + dmg should be the same 50 hours into the game as when u first open it. make a different genre of game if u dont wanna do that lol. I also think IF youre going to say fuck it and add a permanent upgrade system, you should also add unlockable permanent biome shortcuts bc ur just making it boring as fuck to have to waste time grinding thru earlier biomes with unskippable combat once youre op for them.

I GET that they did this to make the game more accessible* to players who dont typically enjoy rogues, but it just makes it really disappointing for those of us who DO love rogues, and it always feels cheap to me when games are like "well of you want challenge then set the difficulty yourself with these modifiers 🙄" like just make the base difficulty TOUGH up front and then add an easy/story mode and accessibility features* for players who don't want the challenge.. if you're gonna call yourself a rogue the gameplay should be the PRIORITY not a throwaway option

one of my biggest peeves with hades is how people now laud it as one of the best rogues - whenever I mention I like the genre I almost always get asked "oh, like hades?" and it pisses me off so much… its a rogueLITE not roguelike, ie. it has rogue ELEMENTS but its not a true one and imo, it does a pretty shit job implementing them! I would have a lot less resentment towards it if it wasnt marketed as the forefront of the rogue genre - frankly its a very basic rogue with very mid gameplay, its characters/design are by FAR its strong point and it should be sold as such. its misleading and makes me sad that this is what most people think of when they hear rogue :-(

*(side note - accessibility in this game is another major flaw. theres really no excuse for a game as popular as this to be so lacking in accessibility options. allow people to bind keys together or use coloured outlines or have colourblindness settings or alter font/text size etc - its not that hard! dead cells did a great job of this lol)

anyway... moving onto my second criticism - narratively, its also unsatisfying.

the hades plot is, loosely, about a cycle of abuse, so the 2 natural directions to go in with this are either: #1: escaping the cycle, or #2: continuing it forever.

#2 is the easiest to do with a rogue format - bc of permadeath the game is already cyclical, so all you have to do is create an ending which loops perfectly back to the start (smth like 'its impossible to truly defeat/reconcile with his father so even after zag beats him, hades drags him back to the start again). obviously this is a miserable story to tell, but tbh I think it wouldve been interesting + fitting - so much of greek mythos is about cycles and the unchanging nature of the gods, and they LOVED eternal cyclical punishments. plus theres smth rly tragic about zag gradually helping everyone else while no one else can save him from his family LOL

#1 is a bit harder to do - this is the story they WANTED to tell but I just don't think it worked… the driving force plot-wise is his desperation to escape. realistically for this to happen the game needs to be finite, which it can't be due to its rogue nature - somehow you have to end up at the very start again. the main solutions I can think of for this are:

a) after the final boss, insert some time travel shenanigans (easy to fit into the worldbuilding using a character like kronos) and all of zags progress with hades is unspooled. this can be completely out of his control, or it could be a choice the player makes (to end the game here or choose to go back and relive zags past in order to progress npc questlines). eg. what happens in dead cells. again, tragic but it makes more sense to me

-or b) bite the bullet and give the game a completely finite ending after beating hades. if players want to go back and play more to complete other npc questlines, they pick up play from before they beat hades. this isnt explained "narratively" bc the plot is already concluded and now theyre just playing for fun (eg. what going under does)

I also think for a character-focused story-rich game, roguelite was a really terrible choice of genre as it locks every interaction behind pure chance and hours of grinding - just really baffling why they decided to do this, especially when theyve had such success previously making games within different genres (transistor, bastion, pyre). the core of the issue for me is that the devs wanted to create a game that was both story rich AND a rogue - and these things arent mutually exclusive, but the best features of each contradict each other when you try to balance them in a way to appease their respective fans (ie. the challenge/complexity of the gameplay is heavily restricted by keeping it easy for ppl unfamiliar with rogues to pick up, but the strength of the narrative arc is simultaneously weakened by the fact that as a rogue it has to be perpetual bc of permadeath + you're working with procedural generation…)

I'm not going to beef with the artstyle or music bc I rly loved them both (even if I wish the body diversity was better!), or with the interpretations of greek gods bc literally every piece of media abt greek mythos has to decide how to interpret them and I think its silly to be like "this isnt CANON" - since we actually dont HAVE a strict "canon" for many of these stories bc theyve been retold/translated in so many conflicting ways lol. I've just heard ppl complaining abt that and I dont think its worth complaining about 🤷‍♀️

ANYWAY tl;dr: hades should've been an action-heavy isometric metroidvania… it wouldve made it far easier to focus on character questlines (ie. with respawn points + a fixed map), unified the story they wanted to tell with the gameplay SO much more effectively, and allowed them to reach the full potential of both, whilst also playing up to supergiant's previous game-making strengths. but thats my 2 cents!

[essentialthyme]

[Outer Wilds SPOILERS!]

In the very first loop, I figured out that the sun was dying. I went to the museum, saw the model and was reminded exactly of what a supernova is. 22 minutes later the sun explodes. I was like "oh... fuck" and I knew there was no "saving the solar system" so I didn't get the experience some people got when they went to Sun Station. It was actually disappointing, to finally get there only for the reward to be knowledge I already had. No realization dread. No just sitting there and waiting for the inevitable.

BUT!

Well, I HATE Ms. Dark Bramble. I hate her and her little monsters, they have no right to be that terrifying. I went there for the first time because I really wanted to meet Feldspar, and after a shit ton of suffering I made it, did what I had to do, restarted to loop and said "I ain't going back there, thank you" like a fucking IDIOT because of COURSE there's more to be done there. But I could do it later. Like, at the end of the game. Probably.

So I do everything I can think of, all my logs cleared except for the Vessel. Having done the math, I knew what I had to do. I had coordinates + a core I could use to power up... sigh. I decide to face my nightmare without retrieving the core from the ATP bc Ms. Bramble HATES me, and there's a 100% chance I will die. I do die. I get some practice. I reach the escape pod. I reach the seed, the tomb. I nearly cry, because I fucking love the Nomai and I really wanted them to make it, but they met their end long, long ago, and yet it doesn't get easier to me, seeing it.

I die some more, I reach the Vessel.

I read the first panel: It was all avoidable. That's a conversation for another time. Like, I have so much to say about it, it's insane. But we're on a timer.

I read the second panel.

Nomai talking about the dying stars, about the end of the universe. Talking about meeting up, somewhere that has the potential to be safe.

I don't think anything in the game could beat the feeling I got while I read that panel, slowly realizing that this conversation is RECENT. These Nomai might very well be alive! Right now! After exploring all of their lost civilization, their doomed history in this solar system. After meeting Solanum. I don't know.

After hours of playing a game where all my experiences where laced with grief, a tiny spark of hope.

I still have, at the very least, one more loop to go.

Even though I really want to, I know I can't save anyone. None of the Travelers, none of the Hearthians. I can't save Solanum. I don't know if the Nomai are really alive, or if it's just wishful thinking. Even if they are, I probably won't meet them. I won't get to talk to them and tell the stories about their brave ancestors, of their recklessness, of their genius, of their wonder.

All I have are the coordinates to the Eye.

And I owe it to those who came before me, the Nomai, the Hearthians, the people who played this game before I I did, to go and see it for myself.

I hope it's worth it.

[mobiused]

you didn't even mention this in your post, but to me personally, what has asserted my trust (not blind tho!) on ctd over modhaus is definetely how the two companies handle diets

like i will NOT forget how haseul had to do exercise (2 times in a day if i recall??) right after she ate a cup of noodles or whatever it was; and how on the other hand, we see ctd staff actively encouraging yeojin to eat (and tangently at least 3 loossemble assemble episodes in which the girls were given free rein to cook and eat... yeojin doesn't make as many depreceative comments about food now. hyeju mentions constantly how she exercises but eats healthly, and the other day gowon was talking about eating sugar frequently for energy (well. watermelon is mostly water but the intent is. there.) even though they have a cb right around the corner..... (this gowon comment was particularly rewarding i think. sugar is usually seen as the devil for diets and thinness, and seeing a member aware of its actual biological function....i liked that)

thought of this as i was writing but i also cannot ignore the white washing. like, on one hand we have ctd being "yeah whatevs girl!" to hyeju tanning, on the other modhaus editing artms pics *like that* uhm....

and another thing bc i've seen too many ouriis just going "well go ahead and unstan, you have looble and chuu and yves" when orbits rightly critisized the voting system.... the voting system is actually.... fine? it's the way it's handled that is wrong. the girls should be aware of what polls are happening, and what is being voted on at all times. hell, they should be the ones making the polls, because they'd handle it in a way we would KNOW that they'd be happy with the results regardless, and the poll would act only as a way to generate a bit of entropy and get a feel on how the fandom (well. the paying and with nfts part of the fandom) feels about concepts, music, etc....

sorry this grew a tad long.....i think i'm done. sorry for the spelling mistakes.....

nono is okay honestly speak on it I totally agree with most of this