#it is suffering but it makes the game so fun

[hero-of-the-wolf]

I've already done this but @crazylittlejester tagged me so I'm gonna do it again skshsksbnsns

Twilight; my blorbo ever, my sad wet dog man. I fell in love with him /plat the second I saw that panel of him waxing poetic about goats for the first time and seeing the beautiful way Jojo handled the Dawn -> Sunset arc really solidified him as a favorite character of all time forever. He's the reason I got Twilight Princess, he's the start of my obsession with this fandom and my goal to play every LoZ game I can get my hands on, he is everything to me and I love him so so much <3

Time; Time is incredibly special to me, I relate to him on a very personal level. He's very fun to slap my issues onto hehe. There's smth about this tragic man that makes my brain just a little bit insane and I desperately need to write him more 😔

Hyrule; he is just. so much fun to hit with the whump bat, I can't even describe why he just is 😭 I love his spunky attitude and his lame puns and his inability to ever give up, I need to see him suffer and then give him a hug and tuck him in 🥺

Warriors; I'll admit I wasn't the biggest fan of Warriors at first, but he has certainly wormed his way into my heart (in no small part bc of Jes' wonderful fics 💙) He's so much fun, I love his sass and his banter and how kind and gentle he is. His reliability is unmatched indeed <3

Legend; Legend is also a sort of unexpected favorite, but I've found that I really enjoy writing him as well! This guy can fit so much guilt and trauma in him hehehe

Wind; I unfortunately don't have a lot of thoughts about Wind, but I love this kid <3 He wasn't born a hero like the others, he forced the gods to accept him as one... how can you not admire that??

Sky; Sky is super sweet and sassy, I love when he lets the intrusive thoughts when it's so funny skshsksbks, I love him, but unfortunately he is unreasonable hard for me to write 💔

Wild; Wild took me a bit to warm up to, I'm ngl 😅 the way a large part of the fandom characterizes him does not help, in fact I think that's the reason why it took me so long to come around to him 😭 but I do love him!! He's been through so much and he chooses to be silly, and we love to see it <3

Four; absolutely nothing personal, but Four has proven to be nigh impossible for me to write. I just. I cannot get into this kid's head. What's going on in there?? Beats me! Love him tho 😭

I love all of them tho!! To be explicitly clear, they all mean so much to me and I've really enjoyed getting to know everyone and playing all the games for the first time <33

no pressure tags to @sprite-and-the-bunnydragons @nerdzanddadz @gryphonlover and @skyward-floored

Gonna try and start a tag game, so let's go!

We've all got our favorite Links, but I wanna know how ALL the LU Links rank for you.

I'll start! And just to note, I've only played Sky, Wild, and Twilight's games so far.

1. Sky- My favorite Link, though his game is my second favorite

2. Wild- Second favorite Link, but his games are my favorite

3. Warriors- Haven't played his games, but @crazylittlejester has made him one of my top three

4. Time- Gives big Dad vibes, he's just trying to keep his children out of trouble

5. Twilight- Absolutely the big brother

6. Legend- Not as bitter as I often see him portrayed. He's just a (older) kid whose been through a lot

7. Hyrule- Played his games a LONG time ago, never made it past the first dungeon. I don't really have much to say about him though

8. Wind- Cute kid, I like him but don't have much to day about him either

9. Four- I unfortunately don't know anything about him beyond LU, sorry Four!

Tagging:

@skyloftian-nutcase @crazylittlejester @skyward-floored @sprite-and-the-bunnydragons and anyone else is welcome to join as well!

[kerink]

sorry more on corrupt ford au:

bill letting stan stay because he's "a sucker for a complete set" and "whatever makes you happy, baby." but there are no free rides so stan needs a job. fixes him up to keep doing what he's always done: act as fords guard dog. but he's way more dog than guard, because ford and bill are married and no one is messing with him, but also because ford has powers and is perfectly capable of defending himself.

it really just serves to humiliate stan, remind him he's powerless and here only because ford wants him to be here and will only be here until ford gets bored of him. and because bill needs to keep an eye on the parasite incase he gets any funny ideas.

and ford just acts so blind to it all stan really thinks bill's done something to ford's head so he doesn't hear how bill threatens him or see all the suffering and torture. and stan being disturbed by ford's casual dismissal of that thought because he does, he just. doesn't care. bill threatens everyone, especially if you haven't proven your loyalty, and bill's hated you for years, stan, i'm surprised he let you stay at all. ford dragging stan around the wastelands and pointing out people who have been malformed and twisted into disgusting body horror props, describing the process by which each change occurred and what he's been able to learn about their new morphology and isn't it all so fascinating, stanley? as naturally as when they were down by the tide pools and ford was poking at anemones and urchins and fish.

but as disturbing as the world is and as ford's casualness is, what's got stan most upset is that he's happy. he's happy and he's having fun. initially he and ford fought about it all, how does ford just expect him to accept he married the devil and helped bring about the apocalypse and he's not only okay with it but happy it happened! but all ford wants is to apologize for not seeing the gift stan gave him, that stan saved him from a future of rigid academia and not being understood and being limited and held back. stan saved him from monotony, from being average even in his greatness. now ford's a god and stan gave him that opportunity. ford thought he was making the best of a bad situation, but after he saw the zodiac he realized there was no other way this was going to play out. he was destined for bill, and stan can be apart of that!

and stan doesn't want to be apart of that but he wants to be apart of ford so he agrees, following his master along like the dog that he is.

it's nice to talk with ford again, them slipping back into old banter like nothing changed. ford dragging him around and talking his ear off about things stan can barely understand, and it's like they're kids again instead of nearly 40. the way ford beams and his eyes shine and he waves and clenches his hands as he gets excited or worked up about some odd thing he's learned, how ford wants to tell him everything, show him everything, teach him everything. almost like ford really does want stan back in his life.

and that's all stan wants. his home is wherever ford is and if ford's home is the devil's castle then fuck he'll figure out the game. mafia, cartel, demons, it's all the same and stan is flexible. if ford opens the door for him he'd be stupid to not walk through it. he'll adjust, he always does.

[rivereverie]

It's not even depicted on-screen at any time, but Astarion's experience in that tomb is something that has affected me in a way I don't think any event in any other piece of media ever has. That first time I listened to him describing what he went through, it took me a while to even process. Now I literally can't think about it too hard without breaking down. I don't know if it's my hyperempathy or my intense love for this character or just that such a thing is so unimaginably bad. Probably all three. So naturally I wanted to play the interactive fanfic about it and upset myself on purpose. I played through A Dream Of Silence. It's a masterpiece. I can't describe how it wrecked me. The mechanics of the game alone are perfect in creating a sense of helplessness. It's so brilliant. I may have been shaking and crying all the while, but I was having a great time. Yeah. I may have to write a longer post about this at some point but I can't not talk about it right now. I'll be replaying it, I imagine, when I'm in a better headspace. There are so many branches; lines to read, things to witness, choices to make. Much like the kind of repetitive, exhaustive imaginings one could occupy their mind with over the course of a year in silence. I'll stay with Astarion in those grey stretches of eternity. Although it took a LOT of emotional energy, so I will need to remind myself to take a lot of time between sessions or playthroughs. It's not the kind of thing you do for fun. There was clearly so much thought and care put into this fanwork, with a healthy dose of hope and healing at the end of the horrors. It really is so special. Thank you to @abigailmoment for this incredible fanwork and making me sob uncontrollably. And @oonalovesastarionssimpleplan for mentioning it in a post which made me decide to check it out.

-

I was having a full-on breakdown over playing through it and fell down a rabbit hole of several soul-rending (incredibly-written) fics about Astarion immediately after being freed from the crypt, and I was so deeply upset that I had to write some comfort for him.

Here and here are two of the lovely fics, if you too want to suffer. They're very hard reads so don't be like me and read them when you're already feeling bad, probably.

[middlingmay]

Genuinely, when I watch movies or a TV series now, I think: could this fit Buck and Bucky?

But I just watched The Crow and I'm not doing it. I'm not playing this game, it's too sad a story and I refuse.

So! How about some fluff instead:

Gale cannot cook worth a shit, like honestly he's worse than John. So when John is tired, or down, Gale makes him the fanciest thing he can: a club sandwich. And whenever John's co-workers ask what he had for dinner and he tells them, they all feel sorry for a grown man only able to have a sandwich for dinner. But they don't know it's John's favourite thing in the world because Gale is going the best he can. Even if the bread is cut too thick and the bacon is either too fatty or fried to a puff.

Gale suffers from back pain but never lets John massage him anymore. Because the first couple of times, he kept getting distracted and convinced Gale into having some fun, and it just made the back pain worse to be honest.

However, they discover that when John sprawls over the back of him, resting his full weight on Gale, it feels incredible. But ofc Gale can't come out and ask direct like a normal person. So he signals to John by coming to bed without a shirt, lying on his front and pointedly sighing from time to time whilst wiggling his butt.

John has to bury his face in his book so Gale doesn't see him grinning like a loon and trying not to laugh. Because it would not. end. well.

[dreadlock-detective]

So I've been replaying the old DMC games for the first time in decades and i have THOUGHTS and OPINIONS and those will be below the cut, i wont make you suffer. But in the meantime, I am a firm believer that DMC2 Dante's outfit + DMC1's rolled up sleeves and black undershirt would go hard as hell!

We'll start with my Big Hot Take:

DMC2 > DMC4

Yes, DMC4 has better gameplay. Yes, DMC4 has a better (has an actual) story, and yes, DMC4 Dante > DMC2 Dante. Yes to all of those things. And yes, they're both unfinished messes in their own way.

But 2 was short, it was goofy as hell with so many insane line reads i wish so bad there were more spoken lines in the game, and it was easy. Braindead easy, sure, but I had a good laugh counting how many encounters I could win by standing still and holding the rocket launcher button. Also the combat isnt nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Its not great but its serviceable enough that theres some minor fun in there. Do you have any idea how many times you enter an area only to have the camera facing Dante for an INCREDIBLY LONG TIME as you run towards it with no context for where you're going? its incredible! A playable shitty B-Movie! Dumb as hell but a good laugh!

4 sure plays better and has a real story but that just, like, amplifies the bad parts of it. I dropped the game originally back on the 360 at mission 15 and I don't blame my younger self at all. The level design has so many obnoxious gimmicks that slow things down, the fight arenas are almost always way bigger than necessary so you don't even see most of them or waaaay too small with a shit camera hiding enemies from you, and I swear starting at the forest missions all the level and enemy design can eat shit.

Like people make fun of DMC2 for being the Gun Shooty Game and I'm not defending Infested Helicopter Boss like no that isnt fun or good design, but i DID laugh at the horrible animations as the chopper zoomed around in the air! But 4? Between the Miphistos and Fausts and Chimera infested enemies and the Blitz, do you understand how many enemies are designed around you shooting them for long periods of time in this game? Particularly with Dante since you cant yank at them like Nero?

4 also has the worst boss rush in the series, having ALREADY fought all of them twice just before it AND needing you to play the stupid dice minigame to even get to the fight itself (Thank goodness the dice actually has predictable rolls if you just buster them)

Plus smaller gripes like Dante only having 3 weapons each and Rebellion is just DMC3's Rebellion and Gilgamesh's moveset is mostly cloned from Beowulf from 3 and Lucifer... is probably neat? But its weird to use and not too satisfying out of the gate. I know you can do crazy shit with the game's physics and combat engine but more casually it just kinda isn't impressive.

Anyway, yeah 4 hits higher highs than 2 but damn I just enjoyed my time with 2 as a silly little game while 4 actively frustrated the hell out of me numerous times.

HOT TAKES OVER, COLD TAKE TIME:

DMC3 remains amazingly solid, to the surprise of absolutely nobody. It was my first time getting to play the Special Edition too (only had the OG as a kid) so i got to play as Vergil finally! Just as kid me always wanted but couldnt afford to blow a game purchase on the Special Edition!

Definitely a few annoying enemies in 3 but aside from a few encounters with Soul Eaters they're mostly pretty good! Camera was rarely an issue which was great (Camera sucks frequently in 2 and 4). The combat is great but Dante without Swordmaster feels pretty limited so mods or the Switch version that adds style switching would be great if you want to play with anything else.

Being stuck to 2 weapons at a time never felt too restrictive and going Swordmaster the entire game made fighting stylishly very fun.

Vergil in 3 does feel rough compared to 5, but still solid enough and fun to play. 4 absolutely guts his Trick moves so that Trick Up gets disabled if you Air Trick or ranged attack at all and Trick Down is locked to DT for some godforsaken reason. Otherwise 4 feels pretty decent to play as Verg. 3's main problem is how ABSURDLY LONG it takes to charge attacks so Judgement Cut and Round Trip (and Dante's Drive) are all much harder to pull off than the other games, plus you cant do them in the air so you need some space, unlike 4-5 where you can just jump up and JC everything into oblivion if you want to.

Overall 3 is still really fun and I'll probably go back to it again soon.

DMC1 is the only one i havent replayed yet, so Ill get around to that at some point soon here I'm sure, but its DMC1. Pretty sure "jank and old but competent enough to be fun" is a pretty safe bet.

I mean i enjoyed DMC2, so i doubt 1's jank will bother me.

[burningcheese-merchant]

honestly, i am very much with you about not really liking hollyt/aya.

it feels like. im a hollyberry fan and i rarely if ever see people analyze her character or say something about her, even in the context of that ship. and same thing with pitaya. even on ao3, most of the fics tagged as ho.llytaya just have them as background characters while the main ship is what the story is actually about.

i completely understand your distaste, and my distaste comes from the fact that people treat that ship like it's their obligatory ship to have to prove that they think about characters that don't use he/him pronouns in english.

I'm feeling kind of unhappy today and I let that influence me to ramble semi-coherently. TL;DR is Hollytaya is dumb, boring slop that further perpetuates Pitaya's ongoing character assassination in Kingdom and I deeply resent its popularity, especially when its fans often mock and malign Beast x Ancient when they are literally the exact same shit, but Hollytaya is good and acceptable because (insert lame excuse here). But whatever, I don't really care at the end of the day, I know and like plenty of people who ship it and it's no skin off my nose. My opinions are just that, opinions. You do you, friends. Have fun without me

Man I sound like a grinch beneath this cut don't I lol. Please feel free to skip it if you don't want to deal with that, it's understandable

I just don't really understand Hollytaya. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone when I first went online after finishing the Red Dragon arc and got bombarded with ship art. I don't see anything and never have. Do I need new glasses or something

You'd think I would like Hollytaya, since it pretty much is just BurningCheese in a different costume. But I don't. In fact, Hollytaya sickens me. It was the first tag I ever blocked on this site lol. I hate even remembering it's a ship that exists at all. It just rubs me in the worst way possible and I struggle to even put how or why into words. It's as though it's simply a trait passed down from my distant ancestors and whatever the reason for it existing was was lost to time eons ago. Some primal repulsion. Fighting a centuries old blood feud when you hardly even remember why anymore.

Pitaya acts like a child. Hollyberry treats him like a child. I do not see how romance could bloom in a dynamic like that. All Pitaya ever does is act like a spoiled brat. A whiny dimwit. And Hollyberry behaves accordingly, in my eyes. Why would you want to date the person you basically have to mother every time you meet. "If you won't stop terrorizing my kingdom I'll never spar with you again" the tone with which she said that to him was like a schoolteacher scolding a tantruming 5 year old. Maybe I have different ears than everyone else idk. (You really don't understand how frustrated I am with how Pitaya is characterized in Kingdom. Look at Ovenbreak, it's like night and day. What the fuck did they do to them. Look how they massacred my boy. And as far as I'm concerned, Hollytaya only serves to further ruin Pitaya's character, because it and every depiction I've ever seen only leans into that character ruination. And I can't even blame people too much for that, because the game itself makes it seem like Pitaya's entire fucking existence revolves around Holly and wanting to fight Holly. There is literally nothing else to him as a person, and Holly honestly isn't even all that much better tbh. Holly is a jolly drunkard who takes nothing seriously and has a happy dandy life while everyone else around her suffers tremendously (I know that's not true, I know there's so much more to Holly, but Holly's development has been massively neglected to the point that she almost seems one-dimensional compared to the other Ancients) and Pitaya is her pet dog. It's a fucking disgrace)

All the fanart is the same. Just the same shit every time. All anyone ever does is make Pitaya a dumb simp and Holly the big strong woman in charge (and always taller than Pitaya for some reason. Why are you all afraid of Tall Pitaya. What's this unconscious need to drag Pitaya as far down beneath Holly as possible in any way possible. They're a fucking dragon, just let them be tall. Holly doesn't lose her worth if she's shorter than Pitaya lol). Never seen a single person ever actually address that Pitaya has committed actual crimes against Holly, her family and her kingdom, and has never said or done anything to apologize or atone. Never seen anyone acknowledge that Holly should have to morally and psychologically struggle with wanting to be with someone that personally threatened to kill her son and granddaughter. Never seen anyone acknowledge that Holly would be shunned by her people for basically romancing their dictator and would-be killer, and her friends would question her sanity and integrity. I can do that shit with GC and BS (and Holly and Eternal Sugar, for that matter), why can't anyone do it for Holly and Pitaya? Hollytaya is the not-yaoi equivalent of yaoi slop to me. It's fucking dumb and boring. I see Hollytaya randomly appear before my eyes somewhere and I remember what was done to ShadowVanilla. Except Shadowvanilla wasn't always slop, it got turned into it by new fans. Meanwhile that is what Hollytaya always was from day 1 and you can't convince me otherwise

Holly and Pitaya have nothing to offer each other romantically. Nothing that a simple friendship can't also provide. I just like them as friends. Brother from another mother. Sister from another mister. I think of them and I remember Mona-Lisa and Jean-Ralphio from Parks and Rec or some funny friend/sibling relationship like that. That's enough for me and I don't understand why it isn't enough for anyone else. (They've repeatedly referred to each other as "friend" anyway. They've already friendzoned each other lol. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble.)

It's one thing to have to endure its unfortunate popularity, and like there's nowhere I can go to escape it and no one to talk to who doesn't like it either. Hollytaya almost feels mandatory to some extent. I feel the phantom sensation of the barrel of a gun burrowing into the back of my head whenever I'm forced to see it again because a mutual or someone I follow reblogged something (and I can't just click "not interested" like I usually do, you can't do that with reblogs). Triply so not only because I ship them both with other characters, but also because I ship Pitaya with Fire Spirit, when the fandom just randomly declared them parent and child and routinely attacks anyone that interprets them differently. This ship makes me feel so alone. Like the one black sheep in a sea of white.

It's another thing to see so many fans be so hypocritical about it. Huge chunk of Hollytaya fans I've seen will turn around and decry Beast x Ancient when that is literally what Hollytaya is. Zero irony or self-awareness. And I mean, fine. Whatever. Be that way. Lord knows I'm not all that different. Just don't be a dick about it. Which a lot of them are lol. A lot of them are the same ones that will actively harass Beast x Ancient fans, because you know. BurningCheese is toxic but Hollytaya isn't. Somehow. For some reason. (I've genuinely tried so hard to understand that and I can't lol. By all accounts, the fandom should hate Hollytaya because it fits the criteria for "toxic" and "abusive". But they don't. It's one of the most popular ships. Because? Because. Just because. No actual reason listed. I get the impression that a lot of people in this fandom don't think things through often lol)

Idk man. PitayaFire is vastly superior to me. Pitaya's and Fire Spirit's deep flaws and hidden virtues mesh so much better together. They have more to give and more to take from each other. The foundation of their relationship is already so fascinating. The fact that this ship is slept on the way it is is so wild to me. Where have any of you been. What's going on with you guys. PitayaFire is peak real estate for angst and tension and character exploration. Why y'all gotta leave me hanging like this. I'm not crazy I swear

But... whatever. I say all of this and end it with "ship what you want it's not my problem". Because it honestly isn't. As annoyed as I sound, I really don't pay ships I don't like much thought unless prompted, like with asks like this one. I blocked the tags forever ago and just click "not interested" if they show up on my dash. I don't go looking for content because it's not for me. And I don't go out of my way to bother anyone who likes Hollytaya or whatever else I don't because that's shitty and a waste of time. They're talking cookies who honestly gives a fuck. Do whatever so long as it isn't adult x minor or something equally inexcusable. I have plenty of friends and mutuals and followers that like Hollytaya and I don't think any less of them for it. I still like and cherish them. I'd be an awfully lonely person if I turned away everyone who liked something I don't. That's a terrible way to live, nobody should do that.

And of course, everyone is welcome to disgree and/or ignore me. I'm just a random weirdo on Tumblr, my opinions aren't the law lol. Doesn't actually mean anything to me if someone doesn't like BurningCheese or PitayaFire, so it shouldn't mean anything to anyone if I don't like Hollytaya. We all have more important things to care about than that

[fox-guardian]

[ID: Drawings featuring a very sick Curly from Mouthwashing and also Jimmy. The first drawing shows him wrapped in a blanket, sweating and holding a steaming mug with a red and puffy face and teary eyes. He is unshaven and his hair is a mess. He is labelled "ill".

The second image is a comic showing Curly on a couch under a blanket with Jimmy in a nearby chair reading a newspaper.

Curly: uuuu.... my head huuuurts.... mmmmhuuuu.... Jimmy, lowering the paper: (all caps) Oh my god what the fuck do you want. Curly: no no it's fine I'm jus' complaining, I can take care of myse- Jimmy, standing up and leaning over to him, properly yelling: (all caps) I said what do you want, I'll get it for you. Curly, ducking and holding his head: oooowwww

The third image shows Curly on the couch again with his arm hanging off the edge, face still puffy and teary, with Jimmy on the floor next to him, leaning against the couch and looking at a thermometer.

Jimmy: You're lucky to have me here, you know. Curly: thangs jibby.... Jimmy: Yeah, yeah.

end ID]

~~~~

i'm sick so i'm making it curly's problem. feat jimmy.

[solace-saphylos]

I've started this challenge, and I will now unceremoniously use this reblog to reminisce about my progress so far. One of my personal goals this game is to socialize with all of the Sims 4 townies and get to know them better, so in order to ensure nobody ages away, dies or generates new whatever ones I set only my active household to age. That also means that every generation kept living will keep living even though the legacy goes on. I think I like it that way.

Lae'zel started out as a fresh alien ready to make her life in Grimm's Quarry, Evergreen harbor. She had great compatibility with Bess Sterling, the entrepreneur scam lady, so I first aimed for her as Wyll's other parent. This was shortly messed up by Bess asking to stay over a couple of days. It was a merry time of flirting with Bess and beating the ever loving shit out of Jules (Bess' boyfriend). I should have seen the Evil trait coming, but I embraced it with surprise. This is officially Vlaakith route Lae'zel. I promptly picked a fight with Santa, beat him up, and then erased his memory with alien powers. Life was good!

Wyll came to be after meeting Marcel Price at the neighbourhood brawl. Great compatibility, and a lot of micromanaging later, we were best friends and made a science baby. Boy on the first try! Lae'zel used up all of her parental leave to absolutely baby the infant, marvelling at how cute a human baby (objectified) can be. No will of their own, just... Adorable. Christmas came and she beat up Santa for presents, memory wipe, just like last time.

After an exemplary toddlerhood, Lae'zel was getting bored of parenting on her own. She made the impromptu main character decision of moving into Bess and Jules household, with the explicit goal of keeping up the romance with Bess and completely ruining Jules' life. It took some renovating to their house, and Wyll's room was a minimal closet type place with a bunk bed and a desk. Still, as a sociable child he enjoyed the extra faces to talk to.

The bane of my existence was picking the Commander career path, since it requires to level charisma. The socially awkward trait made this sloggingly slow, and I hated it. In order to make this suffering less serious I made sure to level Wyll's charisma too, to get that out of the way for his play as an adult. His teenage years became distinctly uneventful, as both him and his mother spent time yapping at mirrors and chasing confidence moodlets. Oh, Christmas was awesome for everyone in the house, even if Lae'zel beat up and memory wiped Santa again.

Life in the Bess-Sterling house was falling apart though. It was funny to give Jules the jealous trait, so that he would suffer, but on a whim I gave Lae'zel it too when prompted? The bitter resentment toward Bess, who honestly was the unfortunate victim of this love triangle, all of it made the relationship un-salvageable. It got to the point where Lae'zel beat Bess up, memory erased her, just to start over. It didn't work. They still despised each other.

So Lae'zel took her son and left that house, moving closer to work in Strangerville. With the half million simoleons she had stolen (split 50/50, Bess won the lottery once, I think that's why they were so rich??) Lae'zel built her own modern-cosmo luxe McMansion of moderate size. The charm point was the detached gym and a barely hidden rocket platform on the gym's roof. Truly a woman-cave to spend her retirement days in. Since she completed the bodybuilder aspiration, that retirement was bound to be long.

I wish there was more exciting things that happened in that house. They mostly grinded away at their skill leveling, Wyll completing both charisma and dance before Lae'zel got that damn 10 charisma for the final promotion. Since Lae'zel's evil trait had made her so mean, their relationship slowly deteriorated to a nice neutral in time for Wyll's birthday.

He invited all his friends. Even Bess and Jules were there. His dad, his half brother, the nanny who became his first best friend, it was just awesome! As soon as he's aged up and gained the good trait, he felt confident to take on the world! ... If only his evil alien mom didn't start arguing with him so soon. Their relationship sank like a stone in water, and after getting beat up Wyll immediately moved out. The party had barely finished before the took a measily sum of money and got himself that one haunted chef's apartment in San Myshuno. With only 213 simoleons to his name, he was ready to start his leg of the legacy!

Lae'zel was not quite finished with hers though. I played her for an extra week, where she gracefully aged up into an elder. Almost as soon as Wyll left she finally got that last bit of charisma. It was time to build the rocket on the roof. I purposefully left it 75% done, just to get that ominous scaffolded look for all the neighbours to worry about. Is she going home? Coming back with reinforcements? Or just bored of this earth?

Too bored can't be true. She admittedly had some flirtations with Marcel, Wyll's dad, after the platonic science baby had been made. Since Bess was shot, Lae'zel initiated a new sweet relationship with the man who had been there all along... Or rather, continuously showing up unceremoniously, somehow never concerned to hang out with his own family of six. I love this game.

Throughout her career Lae'zel has had work-pop ups for nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing but her social awkwardness. The final week of work to promotion edged me, continually sending me down with medium loss too many times. Friday finally made her Grand Marshal. She laughs manically, heading off to her detached gym to spar with her robot or to build on her rocket. She's finally done!

This is my first legacy challenge, but I get it. I really get it. Now I'm off to ruin Wyll's life before fixing it again. I have a Mizora stand in in mind for him <3 Judith Ward!

So I was surprised that there hasn't been a Baldur's Gate Sims 4 Legacy Challenge made yet, so I made one. This only includes the BG3 companions and custom characters. You're welcome. Let me know if I forget a pack.

Required packs: Get to Work, Realm of Magic, Strangerville, Snowy Escape, High School Years, Cottage Living, Get Famous, Seasons, Get Together, Cats and Dogs, Discover University, Growing Together, Spa Day, City Living, and Romantic Garden Stuff (optional)

Generation 1: Laezel

Socially Awkward, Genius, Active

Start as an Alien; you are not allowed to disguise yourself

Complete the BodyBuilder aspiration

Reach max Fitness skill

Reach level 10 of the Military career, either branch

Become Woohoo Partners with a sim and achieve Best Friend status without any romance bar

Have at least one Science baby with your best friend (No Try for Baby or Adoption)

Generation 2: Wyll

Self-assured, Proper, Good

Complete the Social Butterfly childhood aspiration

Complete the Friend of the World aspiration

Complete the Diamond Agent career track

Reach max Charisma and Dance skills

Have a negative relationship with Lae'zel and leave the house as a Young Adult

Have one child with an Evil, Mean, or Jealous sim, who will be Karlach.

Achieve soulmate status with another sim and stay with them until you die.

Generation 3: Karlach

Goofball, Hot-headed, Self-assured

Complete the Rambunctious Scamp childhood aspiration

Join the Football Team and become Football Captain

Complete the Joke Star aspiration

You must reach the Comedian branch as a Young Adult, but quit for the Manual Laborer part-time job until your death

You must have at least one child with a friend or lover in your household

Die as an Adult having completed all requirements

Generation 4: Shadowheart

Gloomy, Noncommittal, Snob

Be raised by a sim that is not your surviving parent. You are not allowed to interact with your original parent until you become a Young Adult.

Complete Friend of the Animals aspiration

Reach level 3 in the Criminal career, and then max out the Detective career

Own at least one barn and one chicken coop

Have at least one child

Optional: Have your child through the Wishing Well

Generation 5: Halsin

Love the Outdoors, Romantic, Animal Enthusiast

Become a Master Llamacorn Scout

Complete the Serial Romantic aspiration

Have at least 5 children with all different sims, one of them a spellcaster (Gale)

Own at least two barns, one chicken coop, and one garden plot, including Shadowheart’s barn and coop

Generation 6: Gale

Ambitious, Bookworm, Good

Must be born a spellcaster

Complete the Creative Genius or Whiz Kid Childhood Aspiration

Join the Chess team as a Teen and become Chess Team Captain

Become an A Student in Grade School and High School

Go to the Magic Realm as a teenager and train with a spellcaster. Have a romantic relationship and break up with that spellcaster as a Young Adult.

After the breakup, perform the Rite of Dissolution. (RP that this was forced.)

Complete a University degree

Max out the Professor career track and have at least one non-spellcaster child with a different sim

Optional: Become a Spellcaster again after completing your studies and reach Virtuoso rank before your death

Generation 7: Astarion

Paranoid, Kleptomaniac, Unflirty

Complete the Slumber Party Animal childhood aspiration

Join the Drama Club and become a Junior Artiste as a Teen

Join the Law career track and reach level 3

Be turned into a vampire by Straud as a Young Adult and move into his household

Seduce 10 sims and lure them to Straud’s mansion, turning at least 5 of them into vampires. You can only control Straud to turn sims; otherwise, you must primarily control Astarion. You cannot have a job and can only leave the mansion to pursue victims as long as Straud lives.

Make at least 3 friends

Kill Straud in your lifetime and take over his mansion

Achieve soulmate status with a non-vampire

Max out Vampire Lore skill

Have at least one child

Cure yourself of vampirism OR turn your soulmate into a vampire

Generation 8: Minthara

Self-absorbed, Evil, Ambitious

Can be a vampire or human, but must identify as a woman

Finish the Mind and Body Childhood Aspiration

Join the Cheer Captain activity as a teen

Complete the Leader of the Pack aspiration

Only women can be members

Reach level 10 of the Business career

Have at least 5 enemies

Generation 9: Dark Urge

Erratic, High-Maintenance, Gloomy

Complete the Public Enemy aspiration, then the Friend of the World aspiration

Max out Mischief and Wellness skills

Make 5 enemies, then repair all the relationships to Friendship level

Reach level 10 of any career

Have at least 1 child

Generation 10: Tav the Bard

Cheerful, Good, Creative

Complete the Artistic Prodigy Childhood Aspiration

Complete a University degree

Complete the Bestselling Author Aspiration

Reach level 10 in the Acting career

Max out Guitar (Lute) skill

Write 9 novels that correspond with each previous generation

[technikki]

I'M NOT A FREAK LIKE YOU!!

[kala-mies]

Everyone's favorite cosmic joke!

[knockknockitsnickels]

God I don't want to be too harsh because I know nobody means any harm by it but the way people analyze the Voices drives me crazy sometimes. Not even in the sense that I disagree with what's being written, but more in the sense of how these analyses treat the Princess.

I feel like in a certain section of the fandom there's this reluctance to admit that the Voices aren't always "positive" (for lack of a better term) characters? You'll see people give lip service to the idea that "it's good for a character to have flaws!" and then turn around and try to excuse their worst moments (and it's like. You don't have to do that. You can still like them).

And one of the consequences of this type of analysis is that the way the player's and the voice's actions affect the Princess is downplayed. I have seen analyzes of Happily Ever After which barely even mention the Princess, because they're so fixated on defending Smitten. I've seen people write off entire chapters as "bad" just because they didn't like the way the Voices were acting (with, again, barely a mention of the Princess). The Greys and the Witch chapters are arguably where both the Player and the Voices are at their worst, but fans will still twist around to make the Princess the sole villain of the story.

I don't know. I hate making these kinda posts because I don't want to shame anyone from writing/drawing something they love. But as a big fan of the Princess it's really saddening to see her pushed aside in favor of the male characters.

[adastra121]

Luneth the Reluctant Unnamed

I redesigned my Unnamed!MC, Luneth.

Pronouns: She/Her Birthday: October 24 Height: 5’4 (163 cm) Personality: Monotonous Mystic Likes: Swimming, summer rain, sunrises, dancing, playing the lyre, warm bread with honey, nature walks Dislikes: Dishonesty, the sound of an untuned instrument, crowded spaces, chalk, heights Fatal Flaw: Would go to any length to fulfill her destiny Other: She is a vegetarian. She doesn’t eat meat, but she does eat animal products like cheese and milk. Quote: “This path was never meant for me.”

More about her below:

Luneth is reserved, diligent, tenacious, seemingly unfazed and emotionless (but there is a great depth hiding under her icy surface).

She is very socially awkward, will probably make many social blunders throughout the game, but she does not care much about how others might perceive her. What matters most to her is her objective — why would she concern herself with the judgement of others?

Has a sharp, cold gaze that others may find intimidating, but that’s really just her neutral expression.

She tends to be straightforward and rather blunt with her words. She isn’t a very good liar and she knows that, so if she wants to keep a secret, she usually chooses not to speak on it.

She’s slow to warm up to others but she is fiercely loyal, protective, and devoted to those who have earned her trust.

She regards carrying out one’s duty with great importance. She would go to any lengths to fulfill her purpose, even to others' and her own detriment. She would destroy the world if she believed this was her destiny. Her own desires are nothing of importance — they are not meant to exist.

Despite appearing rather serious from her monotonous demeanour, Luneth can be quite playful. She enjoys utilizing her sense of humour when she wants to invoke joy in those she considers to be her friends. Unfortunately, it can be hard to tell when she is joking so her jokes rarely land. This is much to her disappointment.

She loves dance and music, as they offered a space for her to be herself. With her abilities, her hands, and her identity promised to serving the temple and the destiny they followed, she had very little ownership over her own person. Through her dance and her music, for a short moment in time, her body and her emotions are hers.

Luneth can play the lyre and the harp. She will probably learn the piano later on — I imagine she will continue learning new dances and instruments throughout the story and afterward.

She mainly dances contemporary. I'm debating on having her do aerial silks as well, mostly for the aesthetic parallel between the silks and her bandages, winding around her limbs. But where one represents a barrier, the other sets her free.

Luneth has a fear of heights, but she's also very disciplined, so every sunrise, she would practice her lyre or harp playing on the temple's platform overlooking the waterfall.

She is not a very empathetic person, mostly because of her sheltered and isolated upbringing under the Temple of Myst. But she does lend aid where she can. She may never understand why the traveller beside her in the caravan is crying — their tears serve them no purpose now, especially out in the Wastes — but she will share bread and water with them because an emotional outburst like that drains you of liquids and nutrients.

She’s a very practical prophet.

The Temple of Myst trained her to become the perfect vessel for her gift. She’s been raised to keep her emotions in check because they can affect her power, which needs to remain pure. Untainted.

Additionally, the priests told her she was to be an instrument of destiny. She must remain neutral, detached to carry out this duty. She is not a person, she must be more than that. She is more than that. She is the hand of enlightenment.

Actually, all the difficult training paid off, because now she can sense happenings in the present and the immediate future as effortlessly as blinking. 

Like, you can be conversing with and walking beside her in a hallway and she’ll suddenly hold a hand out to catch a falling vase and set it back in place without missing a beat. Or if there’s a tripping hazard, she’ll smoothly navigate you around it.

I imagine a scenario where she and one of the LIs get into a fight with a bunch of enemies and she calmly says: “One behind the crates, two on the roof.” or “Duck.” or “Block left.”

She is not much of a fighter, but she’d be a perfect lookout or…what is the word for someone who has eyes on everything? Guide? Anyway, if she can communicate telepathically, she’ll be the voice in your head letting you know what to watch out for.

Some abilities she might have, depending on how the Unnamed origin plays out (I've played around with them because I thought they would be interesting): Clairvoyance, psychometry, spirit mediumship, telepathy.

Luneth is oblivious when it comes to innuendo. So yeah…none of Vere’s jokes landed. She just wanted her room key back.

Vere: “Don't tell me Leander already snuck out to get his knob slobbered out back.” Luneth: “Kuras is a doctor. He would not put his mouth on an unclean doorknob, it would be unhygienic.” Ais: “…I see you’ve got no comment on the dove.”

Does not understand why Leander blushes so often — is he sick? That would explain the dark circles. He should not offer to allow people to touch him if he's sick. Or perhaps he just needs to keep off the ale for a while.

She genuinely considered tying Leander up for their safety, completely unaware of the sexual connotations around it. Did not know why he was so flustered about it.

She gets frustrated sometimes. Things would be easier if people just said what they mean — but here she is, in the city of secrets.

Her entire life, she has trained for one purpose — to serve the Myst with her gift and bring enlightenment to the lost. Her path has always been clear. Now, understanding that it had all been a lie, she is thrown into the unknown.

She must discover the truth of who she is, where these destructive powers came from. And perhaps she’ll find out who she is outside of the temple.

Her MBTI is ISTJ

Her zodiac sign is Scorpio

Her enneagram is 1w9

Here is her full new design:

Woohoo! She is the MC of mine who's free of the waist sash! XD I took some loose inspiration from art nouveau architecture for her design — I felt that the flowy, but structured, designs suited her character. I was considering giving her more of a gown silhouette, but I thought this would allow her more movement for her dance style, which is mostly contemporary. And Kuras probably wanted to give her something a bit more practical to navigate the city. I might draw her in the gown version later, though! I would like to draw her in more gowns in general — I think she looks very beautiful and elegant in them.

Some songs I associate with her:

"Daughter of the Moon" by Adriana Figueroa This is the song I think of as her backstory theme. I attribute it to the creation of Luneth's character. Her backstory came clear to mind when listening to this song. A lone temple atop a waterfall, an isolated priestess among the blue waterlilies. It's an original song based off of a character who ends up sacrificing her life for others, but with Luneth, I imagined someone — the visiting mage — that refused to let her make that sacrifice and, instead, destroyed themself so that she would finally be free. So, instead of her life being the sacrifice sung about at the end, it is her love.

"All the King's Horses" by Karmina Her character theme. Could probably be a direct continuation of the previous song. Right after the visiting mage destroys her temple.

"notre dame" by Paris Paloma A bit of insight into her experience in the temple, forged into an instrument of destiny. She may be held with great importance as the hand of enlightenment, but the pedestal can be as lonely as the high bell tower.

"Journey" by Aphrodite Patoulidou and Theodore Koumartzis Lyre playing and singing voice reference.

"The Calling" by The Amazing Devil Her story theme. I imagine you can hear the echoes of the visiting mage, encouraging her to be more than what everyone has insisted was her destiny. She can be more than destiny. She can be a person.

“Manike” by Jubin Nautiyal, Surya Ragunaathan, and Yohani Her love theme. I can imagine her dancing a duet to this song.

“Quixotic” by Seo Jayeong Her battle theme. Most of the songs I associate with her build up, like the music is rising with her.

[brofightiscancelled]

okay ill bite why do u hate kaoru sakuraba sidem aside from the fact that they went from hokuto as a main blue to downgrade to kaoru. to make it less awkward that I’m asking abt sidem on ur osomatsu side blog, what sidem idols would u assign to each matsu ?

i think sideM should collab w osomatsu-san and put them all in Beit so they can all get JOBS!!!!!!

anyways i hate kaoru from idolmaster sideM. i need all my osomatsu-san side blog followers to know that i hate this man. "i need a lot of money fast to pursue an extremely niche medical research track, which is why i quit my stable and high paying job as a surgeon to become an idol while having no soft skills, physical strength or stamina, or interest in getting along with people" are you Stupid??

he's not even using his idol clout to spread awareness of the rare disease he's trying to cure (like SEM does) so it can secure funding, he sees it 100% as a job and refuses to have fun, he is actively unpleasant and uncooperative in every interaction with his coworkers because he's trying to "rise to the top". it seems like the only thing he has going for him are his looks and that he kind of liked to sing when he was a kid. why not become a model at that point when you have the personality of a wet tree trunk. or better yet why not STAY A FUCKING DOCTOR!!!!!

also, i don't like meganes, so write that down.

[voidedjuice]

literally made to be ryona'd ^

[oatm3al-c00kies]

everyone shut up i need to tell suzanne collins directly that the only part of 'the ballad of songbirds and snakes' that got an actual extended period of laughter in my theatre was the "tuberculosis on legs" joke, a joke made at the expense of a young, suffering, dying, sick tribute as she's about to accidentally ingest poison and kill herself because she's so thirsty and sees water and thinks it will make her feel better. this girl who's so sick because of the living conditions in her district, who was doomed as soon as her name was called, who was probably just so relieved to see an un-smashed bottle of water she didn't think anything of it, too exhausted and dehydrated to think anything of it.

a joke made by the capitol host of the hunger games to try and make capitol citizens laugh and make the horrific things happening in the arena better tv because they already don't see the tributes as people who have lives and who matter and maybe we're so close to her dystopia that we can actually fucking taste it

[umbraastaff]

umm uhh. suffering game wonderland but it's taskmaster