#it's not that everything has to be a AAA game right

[violet-dragongirl]

I dunno I think story pacing is going to be a bit odd and too long in Starfield

[deerspherestudios]

Okay my curiosity is killing me, I saw that you said when Atom makes something it is no longer apart of him so he can’t just become anything…. But at the same time I’m so curious what would happen if he attempted to make like a human form?? Like would it end up as an entity entirely separate from him, fail as a whole, or would almost be like two atom’s to deal with? (That would probably get jealous of each other LOL)

He can make our favorite creature so theoretically he could make a person but like, if he doesn’t fully understand the behavioral characteristics of a creature, can he really make it?

IM SO SORRY I HOPE I DID THIS RIGHT I REALLY TRIED TO LOOK THROUGH EVERYTHING 🙏🏻 I love your games so so much! thank you so much for what you’ve created. Your work has genuinely changed my life for the better. 🩷

Aaa thank you for the sweet message and support! I was gonna explain it in this ask how Atom's transmutation ability works when it comes to creating living beings but the explanation was already so long I cut it out. I'm glad I get to explain it here!

To start, I always intended Atom to feel a bit eldritch-y, so this is probably the part where that aspect applies. Below is a clumsy explanation so bear with me, but to jump straight into it, this was what I had in mind:

So I've established they can make anything as long as they're familiar with it. If you're wondering how it learns, it's kinda hinted in-game when Atom mentions learning recipes from Kiara the cook after it dissolved her. I wouldn't know how to explain how that happens but chalk it up to being an alien lifeform! Also!! Think Warm Bodies I guess!!

Is it akin to a god if it's able to create life? Uhhh, shrug! I'm just having fun with them so just brush past this detail haha.

Anyways, the point is they can make stuff! This can be living and non-living things, but the caveat is anything 'living' kinda acts,,, off? The creature will look like it's alive but it feels like terribly programmed AI if you observe them long enough, with things like:

forgetting to breathe or blink

doesn't eat, doesn't drink, doesn't excrete anything

making the wrong noise

doesn't move like it's supposed to

flopping 'dead' for a few seconds before 'rebooting'

will dissolve into the rest of the worms when you're not looking (thus becoming a part of Atom again)

Extremely uncanny, extremely uncomfortable to watch. But if you ask Atom to shapeshift into something else, it'd still be a bunch of worms making up that shape.

For the sake of clarity, let's say you want a cat, that cat is gonna be it's own cat, however strange it might act.

If you want an Atom-shaped cat,, it's gonna look like worms.

I'll just use this doodle and hope it gets the idea across because I'm having difficulty explaining it but I hope it makes sense!

Edit: Actually now that I think about it, it's similar to this scenario from one of sanfangzhu's fancomics titled Reshape! Though,,, canonically the end result isn't gonna be that graceful hahaha.

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 8 part 8

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

so anyway rio could have stepped in at any moment and ejected billy into oblivion / prevented agatha from getting a full recharge. but did she? no, no she didn't. this is absolutely a fucked up game they're playing instead of talking about their feelings. rio tried to talk and agatha rejected her (almost) every time, so theatrics and blood it is! god it sucks so much that this stupid flirt/hurt/posture/dance is the only way agatha allows them to communicate.

agatha's smirk! she's like, now you're gonna get it! now I'm gonna fuck you up!!! rio has been throwing her around like a rag doll, but now that she has her powers back agatha can finally put allllll her shields up and do a little show of her own.

when it comes to agatha everything is about being in control of the narrative, being the one who hurts rather than being hurt, never showing any weakness or vulnerability. she was awfully vulnerable without her powers and that has allowed rio to creep in closer, something that agatha had managed to escape for so long. it's no coincidence that she chooses this appearance, the same one she chose when going face to face with wanda. this is what she was trying to look like with her purple coat too: the formidable, merciless witch. it's an armor she clings to, a mask to feel powerful that won't ever show the mess she's hiding underneath. this is what agatha chooses to look like when she's scared.

rio: fuck off you little meddling twink the adults are talking

agatha: mwhahahah I'm such a big scary villain just lemme check if billy's okay real quick.

actually let me gush for a second about agatha's greenhouse being full of herbs and potions! her witchy basement disappeared because she had built it with a magical illusion, but in here she's been totally experimenting with physical craft (neeeerd).

billy's like, are those two fuckers honestly actually flirting right now

CHILDREN I swear to god

LEAVE MY INFURIATINGLY STUPID EVIL MOM ALONE!!!

poor rio. just her luck that when she finally gets to corner agatha a baby maximoff comes into the picture. I love my perfect mama's boy.

the bittersweet look she gives billy. she's truly having a lot of firsts, now she finally admits that all her dancing/fighting with rio is futile, it's just for show and it won't ever truly solve anything. what is she even doing, involving billy? billy who's still so earnest, so eager to help.

I SEE YOU JAC SCHAEFFER! I SEE YOUR EVIL WAYS! I SEE YOU CREATING THESE SILLY LITTLE SHOWS SO YOU CAN EXPLORE THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF LOSS AND GRIEF AND OUR OWN MORTALITY!!!!

but she's being 100% genuine here???

okay, no, this is still agatha we're talking about.

she's being aT LEAST 80% GENUINE! she's having a moment of clarity, she's contemplating the true awfulness that would be sacrificing billy on the altar of her own fucked up issues. the mask has slipped and the real agatha is peeking through, swords in her heart and all.

her parting words to billy: you are not bad. the same words she wanted to imprint on him when they had their first mask off conversation. don't let people cast you as a villain, like they did with me.

Neither are you, says Billy.

You're the only one who thinks so.

The thing is, being so hated, doing all the fucked up things she does, really hurts agatha. It's no justification whatsoever, doesn't make her any less of a villain. she goes out of her way to be misunderstood, to never show any weakness, to selfishly rationalize all the horror she inflicts, because the alternative is opening up to more potential hurt, and she's been hurt too fucking much in the past. and the more she pushes people away, the lonelier she is. it's a vicious circle.

three people loved her despite it all: rio, and she ran away from her when things got too overwhelming. nicky, and that's a whole other mess that I'll get into next episode.

and now billy loves her, and she craves that love just as much as she wants to run away from it. she'll hurt billy to protect herself, she'll hurt him first because she's afraid that he eventually will leave or die or get mad and will hurt her. because right now? she's feeling so much love for billy, and that's terrifying to her. the more she loves, the more she opens up to heartbreak.

both gorgeous shots

billy: I'm not that nice.

also billy:

then she got an idea. an awful idea. agatha got a wonderful, awful idea.

oh this is perfect, isn't it, agatha? you somehow convinced the boy to turn himself in! if he goes through with it, rio has promised to leave you alone! you'll be free to crawl back to your dark dark corner and accumulate bodies and power like the old miserable smaug you are!

you can see agatha's survival instinct kick into high gear. this is how she has survived so long. this is what she does.

BILLY'S FACE. I got to laugh a bit, sorry kid.

rio shaking her head both in triumph and exasperation. of course you betrayed the kid, agatha you piece of shit. rio didn't expect any less from you.

and she can't even look at him, the coward.

but I thought we were having a moment??

he went ahead and made a grand gesture without being ready to actually sacrifice himself whatsoever, and now he's going "mom??? come back and pick me up, I'm scared??" it's like agatha is kicking a puppy.

the slow, dramatic turn. the evil grinchy grin. this is the most egregious example yet of agatha putting her mask on, and we have all the context to understand exactly what she's doing and to see what's going on both on the surface and inside her wretched little soul. she's not cruel and uncaring, that's play acting - she's actually small and scared and a coward. she's once again running away screaming, rationalizing it as a smart choice and breaking her own heart in the process.

so I know billy's telepathic line was added in post because disney execs feared audiences wouldn't buy agatha turning around on her own. what absolute buffoonery, such massive disregard for your viewers' intelligence.

...on the other hand. billy full on misreading the situation and trying to fix things that are beyond him, only to accidentally hit the target? somehow fixing a delicate fragile problem by hitting it with a hammer? totally on brand for him.

is this how nicky died? it kind of is. she did choose her own fear over nicky's well being, despite loving him so so much.

whether you choose jac's version or disney's version, here's what happens next: agatha stops in her tracks. her stupid grin fades away, and she clutches her chest. she finally did it, she told a lie too big. her poor heart, already bleeding from all the swords stuck in it, simply cannot take one more stab. sure she's all about self-preservation, but at this point she's damned either way: she either goes out saving billy or she's killed by her own regrets and sorrow.

she turns around. she runs. not to billy. to rio.

going back to what my mother jac schaeffer (whom I love more than jesus or pizza) said: this is not agatha enacting a grand plan, she's not taking a ~calculated risk like she'll tell billy later, the fucking liar that she is. sure, she had a vague hope of turning into a ghost, but she didn't know for sure. this is agatha's emotions taking over her brain - like they tend to - and forcing her to use what are probably her final moments on earth to TAKE WHAT SHE'S BEEN CRAVING ALL ALONG

agatha grabs rio's face and SMASHES their mouths together. FULL ON proceeds to EAT HER FACE she wants her so much. rio is shocked for a moment and then closes her eyes and gives in completely. and you can see the poison taking over because this idiot - this gorgeous, tragic dork - has decided to kill herself by absorbing rio's powers - but this is not going to be a mere 'peck of Death', no sir, that's not what it's called! agatha is gonna SNOG Death, she's gonna TONGUE that immortal being, she's GETTING ALLLLL HER MONEY'S WORTH. dear lord the HUNGER and YEARNING and DESPERATION on her face.

and I love that she's taller here. they're basically the same height so who's taller depends on the shoes they're wearing, but I love love love that agatha gets to engulf her for once. agatha taking control, rio giving herself up completely

what? you thought that now that magic has been absorbed THE KISS would be over???? well THINK AGAIN. because now we're going to switch angles, we're going to linger, we're going to make it look like almost gratuitous fan service, oh yes we are!!!

I truly don't know what to say. I would like to thank jac of course, and kathryn hahn and aubrey plaza for MAKING THE FUCK OUT and exchanging so much spit on camera like the true professionals they are. thank you writers room, thank you to all the crew who had to listen to the ungodly noises these two were undoubtedly making. thank you gandja monteiro for directing this. I'm going to even thank the lighting department for making it thunder so we can (more or less) see what's going on. this was truly a group effort. well done you all!

and they keep kissing until the very last available moment, and rio doesn't know how to let her go

but this is so on brand for agatha. you know if rio was in her place she'd try to be as gentle as possible to ease agatha's grief. agatha literally went for the most dramatic, most over-the-top, most emotionally devastating way to go. this was supposed to be rio's big moment! and what does agatha do? she makes it all about herself. again. should be the other way around, but once again rio gives, agatha takes. you just gotta laugh at this point.

Death looks on stone faced as her love turns back to nature and balance is restored. she wraps herself in her cloack and tries very, very hard not to cry.

agatha really went and made rio kill her, didn't she? rio, who isn't ALLOWED TO. these two are soooo wrong and so toxic for each other and yet they love each other so freaking much, I truly cannot get enough of them.

go to episode 8 part 9

[starlighthosh]

Ot 13 when you’re sick

pairing: svt x reader

warnings: I don’t think there is one except that it’s super cute and I’m down bad for all of them

This is purely my opinion!

Scoups

pouty baby. How did his baby become sick:(. Literally sooo caring for you. Stays with you in bed, even if you insist that he should go, he’s gonna stay right there with you. Constantly checks up on you either through messages, calls or asking you directly. Also orders your favorite food, brings you meds and buys little presents so you feel better. please just one chance, I’m begging

Jeonghan

A menace. He teases the living shit out of you. Uses your sickness as an excuse to cancel schedules. Cuddles you extra tight so he also gets sick. Still tries everything for you to feel comfortable and brings you meds and food.

Joshua

Big surprise, the one and only gentleman. Only talks with you in baby voice. Always asks if you need anything:(. Sings you Sunday Morning on a daily basis and makes jokes so you feel better (please laugh, even if they’re bad). Bakes you your favorite cookies.

Jun

Doesn’t know what to do. As soon as you tell him you’re sick, he’s acting like you’re a fragile vase. Shows you cat memes or tickles you to make you laugh. Might asks Scoups for tips. Stays at his own place for that time, but if you text him that you miss him, he’s at your door in 0.5 seconds.

Hoshi

Immediately brings you to his parents house and lets you stay there while you’re sick. Asks his mom for tips and if she could cook something. Cuddles you really really tight, it makes it even harder to breath despite your stuffy nose. Makes a talent show for you with latte. It’s so funny that you actually can’t breathe. Marry me

Wonwoo

Husband material to its finest. Takes such good care of you, you start crying because: what did you do to deserve someone like him?? Orders your favorite food, makes sure you still have meds on your nightstand, always checks up on you. When he’s gaming he doesn’t fully wears his headphones, so he can hear whenever you call him. Reads you bedtime stories. #needthat

Woozi

My man has never been this anxious in his life. His eyes are always on you. It’s already bad that you’re sick, what if you trip while doing something around the house? Not with him. Orders you to stay in bed and does the chores around the house. It only takes one cough and he’s immediately “Are u ok? Do you need anything? Go to bed, you should rest.”

Minghao

Watch him pull out every type of tea he has. Tells you to meditate and eat a lot of veggies. Refuses to hug or kiss you and only enters your place with a mask and gloves. No way you also get him sick. If you’re healthy again he’s gonna make up for all the missed kisses though.

Mingyu

Becomes your personal butler. He’s already feeding you with so much food. Now he’s cooking even more. Feeds you with the airplane and goes “say aaa”. Brings you a lot of meds, like you won’t need new ones for 10 years. Hugs you so much. “Gyu you’re gonna get sick too” “I don’t care, I just want to hold you” he gets sick too and then pouts.

Dk

Mister Sunshine himself. Cooks you food while dancing to your favorite songs and sings along. Makes so many jokes your face starts to hurt. Trust, you will get better after 2 days. Also sings you a lullaby to bed.

Seungkwan

You don’t get sick. He does. Man is always making sure you’re healthy, taking your vitamins, eating healthy food. But he himself isn’t, so then you have to take care of him. If you somehow still get sick, he does everything in his power so it doesn’t last long.

Vernon

“Well, that’s too bad” he doesn’t really know how to react to that, but deep inside he’s so worried. Weirdly asks you what you need and does whatever you say. Calls his hyungs so they can give him tips. You end up drinking the tea that Minghao recommended. Also makes a special playlist for you.

Dino

Worst week(s) of his life. A tragedy for him. Treats you very very well. Too asks his hyungs for tips. Next day he takes you with him to the dance studio so you can sweat your sickness out like Hoshi recommended. You end up feeling even more sick and additionally sore after all that dancing. He lets in a hot bath for you to relax.

Hope you enjoyed!

[twistedpink]

Jamil x hypeman reader?? Like jamil falling for someone who just is always hyping him up and cheering for his stuff or something??? Idk Jamil getting praised and loved on

Jamil x hypeman reader

OMG YES

Jamil gets this special kind of high whenever you support him, nobody else does it like you do.. He’s even picked up your good self talk for whenever he’s down, but it’s so much better when you do it :(

Hypeman!Reader is not some yesman! They know when their schemer’s in the wrong (and they make him know about it, loudly), but when he’s right he’s right. It’s only fair to appreciate him when he’s so dependable, he’d do the same for you :) probably

AAA supportive!Reader convincing Jamil that he has worth outside of other people,, that he’s not “better” than someone, or good “despite” his circumstances. He’s good the way he is, your Jamil <3

omg Jamil getting the best, loudest hype at basketball games >>> You’ve even cached in favours so there are plenty cheerleaders for him in the crowd, but he only ever looks at you. Dedicating every shot to you silently- he promises that when he becomes great, you’ll be at his side for being so sweet. But you’ve never pushed him to be better, the way you think he’s as good as you are puts him for a loop. You’re the good one, and for your efforts he’ll always make sure you know it!

Poor Jamil just can’t take a proper compliment, everything that puts him in the spotlight’s had some ulterior motive until now. So why can’t he say you’re the same way? He starts supporting you no matter how much you oppose it. You’re worth it, for being his treasure <3

[transformers-spike]

Aaa I love your take on SG Optimus. Perhaps I could ask, what would your take be on an equivalent of the Orion pax episodes (first 3 eps of s2)? I Imagine SG megatron taking Optimus’s place in that chunk of episodes. And perhaps the reader (unwittingly) gets some more insight into what happened between the two.

goshhh thank you! I'm so happy you like my SG stuff! I try to stir away from most SG interpretations of the characters (I try to keep their core intact while turning this into a "What if the choices they made turned them into horribly broken people?" situation, with the opposite for the Decepticons)

Anyway, this may get a sequel:

“What are you doing here, little one?” Megatron asks, voice rumbling with gentleness you could have never expected from the vicious leader of the Decepticons. “I…” you begin, frozen in the doorway, permafrost spreading up your legs as you struggle to keep your composure in front of the tyrant.

What comes out is an accusation. “You’re here to kill Optimus,” you say with finality.

The monster’s eyes grow wide; blue pits like glistening ocean water hiding the jaws of a bloodthirsty shark.

“What? How dare you accuse me of such a thing!” he demands, hideously scarred face twisting to reveal rows of razor sharp fangs. “Orion-” he cuts himself off, gritting his teeth. “I would rather lay my life down for Optimus than watch any harm come to him!”

Your eyes fall onto the Autobot insignia on his chest. “So what? You think you can paint their symbol on your chassis and act like you’re part of them after all the crimes you’ve committed?”

“Crimes?” he snarls, footsteps ringing in your ears like an earthquake, heart jumping out of your chest, yet unable to run from your incoming murderer.

You do not struggle or call for help when he grabs you.

Eyes squeezed shut, you hear nothing but your heartbeat as you prepare for the worst.

Yet, your bones and organs remain uncrushed.

“I’ve fought for the freedom of enslaved Cybertronians for eight-fragging-vorns before being captured and tortured by my very own supporters! Only to wake up millennia later to discover those very same traitors had decimated our planet!” He huffs, volcanic air blowing in your face. He pauses as though concentrating to regain his composure. “Now prey tell, human,” he continues, slightly less murderous, “what gives you the right to insult me for simply existing in your perimeters?”

That’s not… that’s not right. He’s lying to you, loud and clear. Pretending to be something he’s not in order to lull you into a false sense of security just as he’s done with everyone else. What Optimus is, Megatron is thousands of times worse; a vile dictator hellbent on bleeding each and every planet dry of its resources in a bid to exterminate all Autobots.

Optimus isn’t stupid, he must know what Megatron is trying to do. Or… or maybe he’s seeing through rose-tinted glasses? Maybe he wants to believe it’s Megatronus. But you know it’s not. It can’t be him. It’s a lie. It has to be.

“Go ahead, crush me!” you shout in a sudden burst of confidence. “Crush me and they’ll know all about your lies, Megatron! Your little charade doesn’t work on me! Especially after you’ve slaughtered us like cattle for your twisted little game!”

You expect aggression, you expect him to swelter with rage. Instead, confusion twists his face.

“I did no such thing. Who… who is this Megatron you speak of? 

Your throat closes up in shock. “Is… is this part of your sick game?”

Frustration draws a snarl, which quickly recedes as he seems to realize you are just as confused as he is.

“What… what do you remember before ending up here?”

He contemplates your question carefully, debating whether or not to answer you. He makes a gambit.

“Standing before the Council of Elders,” he says in a strangely wistful tone. “Then Orion with his blasters drawn. I could hardly recognize him… he’s changed… so much since his cycles as an archivist. He explained what happened… the war… the lives lost… everything.” Whatever relief the confession brings quickly dissipates, replaced with anger and pain. “Explain yourself, human – or whatever creature you may be. Why did you call me Megatron? And why do you speak as though I am your enemy?”

You brace yourself against his hand, throat dry with dread as you struggle to form an answer.

Eventually, something slips out. Something you wish had never left your mouth. “Optimus lied to you.”

[hiddenbysuccubi]

On a serious note, though, Date Everything has so much content and better than that - the dialogue is really fun to engage with. Most of the options fall perfectly within the range of what I would actually respond with and not a lot of 'dating sim' games offer that. There's also a lot more depth than I'd expected. Life lessons and a groundedness among the whimsy. I have binged the game all night into this afternoon and have barely met half the characters (and won't be meeting the other half any time soon as I make my way through the questchains I'm on)

I also love jumping on right as it's new - want to look up how to do XYZ? Too bad, nobody else has figured that out yet either! I've already encountered pathing where if I'd made different choices, different characters might have ended up together or not instead of what happened.

This small dev team with a PHENOMENAL Voice Cast and enchanting writing deserved the money I paid (which after tax was 33$ for an 80 hour game). With games like Date Everything, Alters, Clair Obscure pushing pricing down from the 80-100$ prices AAA games (which are nowhere as heartfelt) have been hoping to make normal, I can find some hope and a turn of the tide in the industry.

[tench]

Veilguard is such a weird game.

It's not a Dragon age game, it's bately a role playing game. It's an ok action. Even though it is the most stable AAA release it is still just a bunch of barely tied together stuff in a trench coat.

The writing (insultingly dumbed down and absolutely incapable of taking itself seriously untill the last 1/6 of the game) is all over the place, the direction is nonexistent judging by the tonal shift from one quest to another. We can have very heart felt monologue about the fear of death sit right next to a conversation where a lot of things are told using one specific phrase (I really hope in a clumsy attempt at emphasis) repeated till these words lose any meaning to you.

There's also a problem of role-playing in this "rpg" and the Rook. None of your dialogue choices matter in terms of defining your character, no matter the option you choose, the general conversation will carry the upbeat silly tone. "Your backstory and class matter more than your race" works untill it doesn't, like when you are a dwarf but you are denied your own journey and realizations tied to the titans, and maybe it is not your journey to take yet you can't even try to be a part of it, even when Harding is actively reaching out to other dwarves to share this connection. It's also weirdly more interested in writing romance between npcs than for the main character (Lucanis comes to mind, it feels like the game is actively punishing you for pursuing him, you have to lose the whole shadow dragon faction, you won't get to hang out with Dorian and still you have bare minimum and he more interested in Neve anyway), that's extremely funny that this game is player-sexual yet completely player-aromantic. (And I miss the dai option where you can come up and kiss your LI whenever you feel like it).

I won't even touch on the weird and unnecessary sanitation of everything, like we can't allow people or factions to have negative traits whatsoever. And it's not "southern propaganda", it's "we are not engaging with complex topics for the sake of clear dichotomy between good us and evil overlords". Speaking of which

The whole plot.. The general idea of it is ok. You come to stop Solas, you make the situation go sideways, you have to work together to fix your mistakes and maybe learn to sympathize with the antagonist haunted by his own transgressions with the main theme being legacy and your relationship with your culture and the baggage it brings. But the journey is a complete disaster. Part of it works solely because the characters absolutely Refuse to make a plan and the other - because the main character has a blunt head trauma. Maybe it's related. Maybe it's all a mass hallucination. I may try to elaborate on how it's absolutely ridiculous how little the inquisition and the politics have any impact in this game yet somehow 8 people squatting in the Fade with no political affiliations are held responsible for providing for every faction they come across. I won't even try to make sense of it. It's the usual case of "the main character does everything".

The direction is not only absent in the writing. Some lines that are ok in text delivered in such a way you may think they were allowed only to use the very first take.

The music is absolutely forgettable. Also the odd riff during the dramatic reveal absolutely took me out because I thought I heard kazoo (but I bet Varric would love it).

The visuals are.. Ok. It's pretty on the first glance but the more you travel the more you realize that the general design of the locations are kinda lacking. They have this weird gradient that makes everything a little bit more unfocused and a bit washed out. There are also too many cases of the horisont just drowning in the fog. Air perspective is great and it suits locations like Necropolis, but I would argue that these establishing shots should be used for environmental storytelling in other places, with some focal points in the background, like during the final mission where you see the world absolutely drowning in the blight, devouring local statue of liberty. Or the dead Titan. Or the first shot of the Veil jumper forest (I forgot how it's called) where you see the ruins going into he sky. But because of the fog (or sometimes darkness) it feels like the game is more interested in cheating the optimisation than to hint on the bigger picture (like the chantry and the gallows buildings that you can see almost from all locations in DA2 or the andrastian/dread wolf imagery of inquisition)

So, in conclusion. Not the worst game I played, yet disappointing, even if we pretend it's not an installment of a beloved franchise that people were waiting for 10 years.

Ps. Also making such a game with nerfing all the lore only to nuke all the legacy locations is a choice I won't ever understand. It's like it is not for the fans and it's not for the new people but a secret third thing.

[nadvs]

OMG, i’ve never written one of these so im nervous lmao. I wanted to say, I am ABSOLUTELY in love with this basketball!rage stories you have going on right now!

Don’t know if i’m getting to ahead of my self, but I can literally imagine reader and rafe when he gets drafted to the NBA. Or even reader sitting courtside on his NBA games, whether only her or with this kids! Also like imagining rafe winning the NBA finals.

I don’t know if you plan on going that far with this series, but just would absolutely love to read about them more!!!! Your writing is so AMAZING!

hi hi aw thank you sm for reading and messaging!! 🥰

based on this fic

AAA I LOVE IT she’d be supporting him as he waits for draft night and he’d be fooling everyone but her that he’s not nervous. in reality, he’s scared as hell that he’s gonna go undrafted.

but then he’s offered a two-year contract for a team states away and that’s when he knows for sure that he loves her because underneath the excitement he feels, he’s scared the distance will ruin things between them.

they do have troubles and they argue a lot when he moves away because their worlds become so different and he gets so busy and wrapped up in his new life. but he doesn’t let it fuck things up. he flies back to see her every single chance he gets. if he’s not playing or training, he’s finding a way to see her. eventually she regains trust in their relationship and uproots her life to move in with him.

the tabloids eat their love story up. she’d be sitting courtside and the camera’s focused on her pre-game while the commentators are talking about how good his season’s been and how interesting it is that he and his girlfriend are college sweethearts from rival schools.

during his first finals season, he injures his shoulder and he goes into a dark place once he gets told he needs to sit out the season. he takes the time off for rest and physical therapy. she’s there for him every day. he’s stronger and better the next time he gets a chance to go to the end with his team. he wins the championship trophy and after celebrating with his teammates into the early hours of the night, he crawls into their bed and he feels like he has to hold her as she sleeps because he cannot believe that this is his life and touching her makes it feel more real.

the next morning, he’s hungover and she tells him he should’ve hydrated (she’s been nagging him about that since their college days).

he has a reputation for being an angry, aggressive player. he becomes a figure people love to hate. he hardly ever agrees to do interviews he doesn’t have to do, but he gets offered to be part of a docu-series on athletes who had almost career-ending injuries but bounced back and he agrees to do the interview with his girl by his side and people all over social media are obsessed with them and how funny their banter is and how obviously in love they are with each other.

it gets to a point where they can’t go anywhere without being recognized and hounded, so he prioritizes booking quiet, private vacations for them every few months so she doesn’t get overwhelmed by it all. she keeps him grounded. she knew him when he was nobody, just a college ball player who bickered with her all the time.

throughout everything, the nature of their relationship never changes. they joke around a lot, but they give it to each other straight when they need to, and it’s what makes them have a strong, happy life together 🥹

[spinchip]

So glad someone asked about Ninjago Finds the Way Home AU recently cuz I just found that and oh boy do I have questions, this au is so cool!! So, since the ninja never became a team, this means they never found the golden weapons, so the megaweapon and Garmadon's subsequent healing never happened. And since he's not there, and Zane was quickly sent to the dungeons by Chen, this means none of the other ninja are wary of Chen (minus Cole and Zane due to your previous post). This also means, besides Lloyd, none of them know Spinjitzu or have their True potentials. Does anyone unlock their true potential *during* the Tournament?

Oh!! Also cuz they don't have their true potential unlocked, does this mean Chen's spell is weakened in power? Or does it just take the power (no matter the skill level) as a baseline fuel? Cuz I'd imagine taking the literal Elements of Creation would be really powerful, but they're not as powerful as they could be.

Also, I'm very curious if Chen still gets to Kai in this, since in canon Chen mentions he knew Kai's parents. For Kai in this au, someone who wants to live up to his parents legacy of being blacksmiths and restoring their shop to glory, how would he take this info? You also said he wants to avoid the prophecy and that he's only here because of Nya, so does that mean he doesn't really use his powers or participate? Or does he still try? Also since I mentioned Lloyd earlier, what are the groups reactions to seeing a child in this Tournament? I know you said they warm up Lloyd and see parts of themself in him, but how does that go about happening? Sorry for all the questions, this au is just super cool! Hope you have a nice day!

Omg long ask thank you ! I'll put the reply under readmore aaa

You're right! At first, no one is that wary of Chen or Clouse. I think there might be a bit of "Wait, somethings not quite right." but it's pretty easily brushed off by attributing Chens strangeness to the fact he's a wacky reclusive billionaire. He says something a little off color and it's like well, he has been alone on this island for years so...? I guess that makes sense. I do think Zanes little outburst and dinner raised some eyebrows, and made some of the more attentive EMs a bit slower to trust the whole situation, but for the most part everyone thinks they're there to play the game and win the crown. no more no less. This AU would focus a lot more on clues and mystery and unraveling how everything is connected I think.

I didn't give much thought to true potential, but thinking about it now- I think only one ninja would unlock his TP during the events of the ToE, and it would be Kai. I think this version of Kai is really resistant to change and is very focused on him and nya vs the world. I think him reaching his true potential is when he accepts that he needs and WANTS to make outside connections, and accepts his role as part of something larger than himself. I think he would still reach it protecting Lloyd in some way! Perhaps he still gets his hand on the staff and feels that corruption, and ends up reaching TP by destroying it and giving everyone their powers back? Might have to workshop that one a little. What do you think?

Personally, I think that taking the powers no matter the skill level of the user will give Chen their Fully Recognized Power. It's not that the power isnt THERE, just that there's a mental block keeping them from accessing it. The staff doesn't really have an mental blocks so- full power from the moment they're stolen!

the question about Kai and Chen is really interesting. It's been too long since i've seen s4 i need to rewatch augh. Kai is really individualistic in this version of the story- he wants to take care of what's his and nothing else. i think Chen bringing up his parents would play into that, and I think Chen would bring up his parents earlier on to get Kai on his side earlier on. Though I don't think he would phrase it like he knows a Big Secret, just that he KNEW them, which would be enough for kai, who starved of any and all information on his parents. I don't think this would set off any alarm bells for Kai at first because Chen clearly has an interest in the elemental masters, so it's not that strange he knew his parents, right? But as things start to become more obviously nefarious Kai's willingness to listen to Chen would quickly sour. Especially once he realizes that Chen was fighting against his parents in the war. At first, though, he would be extremely interested in learning everything about them he can from Chen. ANd he might still use that interest to trick Chen into thinking he's on his side later on so he can act double agent and help the others from behind the curtain so to speak.

Kai doesnt have any idea about the prophecy at first, and he's kinda just of the mindset of like- I gotta get Nya and go home. there's a blacksmith shop to be run. i don't have time for this tournament stuff i JUST started getting good at the forge. But he's still a young man and i think the more he was around other EMs the more he's like OKAYYYY this could be fun. maybe. and heck, i'm stuck here... so why not try to win? For the heck of it? so he does end up participating a bit!

there's a collective thought bubble from everyone who sees Lloyd that basically boils down to "Man, I hope someone else eliminates him before I have to." WHICH IS TO SAY no one would actually try to hurt him, but they would try to defeat him in the tournament. There's a lot of money on the line, after all...

There's a lot of inertwined stuff that happens that leads to Lloyd becoming really important to the ninja team. I think the basic idea is that first the group as a whole takes him in when he's getting into trouble on the ferry ride to chens island, then Zane, who knows who Lloyd is, is keen on keeping an eye on him. He and Zane bond quick because Zane does not treat Lloyd like a child to his face (To elaborate, Zane isn't like unjustly shouldering a lot of responsibility onto Lloyd like he were a fellow adult. he just listens to lloyd and takes what he says with the same gravity he would if those words were coming from someone like neuro or wu. Lloyd feels very heard and respected, so he sticks close to zane.) then, because Cole and Zane are fast friends and cole has a natural paternal instinct, he and lloyd bond. Colke and jay are a package deal, so Jay ends up growing close to Lloyd too. Jay and Nya are flitring a lot, so now Nya's in the mix and where there's nya, kai is not far behind.

a game of connect the dots in a way?

tell me what YOU think!

thanks for the ask!

[filthyterrancommie]

Right after lunch, Heidi picked me up and walked me to her hab, telling me "don't worry, it'll be fun". Then we walked in and met her two friends and her (surprisingly nice) mistress who's name I can't remember. One of the florets was an attractive woman named Avaline, and the other… fuck.

She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life.

Her name is Lilith, and she has red skin, horns, wild dark hair, and a heart-shaped tail. She's chubby and curvy in a way that just… augh I feel like a perv just thinking about it 😵‍💫. And her smile was downright predatory. I couldn't form a coherent sentence around her to save my own life. Apparently the form she chose to embody is a "succubus" from the christian religion.

As for the "playdate" itself, I was actually having a good time! Me and the florets got along surprisingly well. Heidi's mistress, for the most part, left us be, which I appreciated. It seemed like just a normal hangout sesh with games and snacks and everything… aside from the flirting. (Stars, the flirting. I swear Lilith was trying to break my brain.)

Then suddenly Heidi and Avaline started making out. I wondered if I should leave the room or something, but then they tried to drag me into it! Like actually trying to start a threesome with me!! They kissed me and held me and I just… aaa!!! I was too overwhelmed so they went to Heidi's room to continue what they were doing alone. Leaving me with Lilith.

As for what happened after that? Well… I'll just say that I have three new usernames on my chat app, and the knowledge that certain people were proved right about what "playtime" means today.

Stars above, what is happening to me?

[horrorvale]

HorrorVale Development Blog: End of Year

Hello, citizens of HorrorVale!

As the year draws to a close, we (or more specifically me, Dustin) wanted to put together a little blog to talk about HorrorVale! How launch went, what our current and future plans are, and more!

(Note that this blog post does not receive audio, so if you respond I cannot hear it.)

Dream Colosseum

First, before I start talking about HorrorVale's Launch, I want to discuss an upcoming patch.

Currently, we're working on a massive patch for HorrorVale that will include the following:

Even MORE bug fixes

Brand new optional dialogue for every single party member in the game for main story cutscenes

More skill re-balancing

Other minor things and scenes I still wish to include

But most importantly... The DREAM COLOSSEUM!

I originally didn't think many people would bother with the "Secret Bosses" in HorrorVale, but since so many of you enjoyed them and also desired to get more opportunities to mess with party combinations, I decided to punish you horribly!

The Dream Colosseum is a brand new feature that will allow you to fight Bosses you fought previously, now all scaled up to End game stats, with new moves and quirks, and all very difficult.

If you've fought the "Last Secret Boss", now you get to imagine what a Dream Colosseum version might be like.

It will require you to 100% the game to access, but won't give any unique rewards outside of a cosmetic change to Alice's bedroom so people don't feel compelled to torture themselves for completionists sake. Naturally, there won't be any new trophies either.

Right now we're working steadily on this update, and hope to have it out very early next year.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about how launch actually went for HorrorVale...

HorrorVale Launch

After 8 years in development and 5 years since announced, HorrorVale finally released on October 1st, 2024.

This reception has been tremendous.

Leading up to release, I was anxious but overall feeling pretty good about launch. There were minor things I wish I had included or changed, but knew that delaying what was otherwise a feature complete game would be extremely silly.

I actually intended on releasing these things as a patch in the first week of launch, in the hopes of catching most people before they get too deep in the game.

...What I did not expect however, was the unfortunate discovery of several bugs, some of which were game breaking.

What made these bugs especially frustrating is that most of them were NEW bugs, created from me adding things right before launch, or fixing other unrelated bugs.

Due to these bugs and the massive influx of new fans, comments, reviews, and more I found myself extremely overwhelmed, and it ended up being probably one of the most stressful 2 weeks of my life after launch.

In the end, everything worked out and I was quick to patch the game...

...Multiple times.

Still, despite these issues the reception was overwhelmingly positive. Certainly some critiques here and there, but the general response was that the game was so enjoyable that even the most egregious critiques could be brushed aside. All of the wonderful things I've read by people who had fun in the world I created... It truly means the world to me. The... Underworld you might say.

I'm sure some people are also interested in how the game actually DID. Good reviews and positive reception are one thing, but this is also a product being sold, so how did it DO!? Did it SMASH RECORDS and become bigger than UNDERTALE? Did it FLOP???

Well, to be honest I'm not entirely sure!

Which is a strange thing to say, but it's difficult to gauge "Success" when so many factors can change what that means. For a AAA game, success means something very different to a small indie game with a publisher, which also means something very different to a ragtag team of people with no real budget, no publisher, no marketing, and especially no notoriety whatsoever. Not to mention as first time developers we have little to compare it to...

But that being said...

As of right now, HorrorVale has sold...

1,000 COPIES!

That's an INSANE amount of people. If all of you were in a big room crowded around me, I would be very scared.

That's 1,000 new citizens to HorrorVale that have entered its gates.

If we gauge success purely based off "did it make back what you invested in it?", then HorrorVale was absolutely a success!

However, unfortunately it did not necessarily meet the expectations we had.

Going into the launch of HorrorVale, I had 3 goals in mind.

To make back what I invested in it (out of pocket, not including Patreon earnings)

To pay Matt, the composer full royalties for the HorrorVale OST (since he created the entire 170 track monster soundtrack for FREE.)

To be able to devote myself full time to Game Development

Of these three... Only 1 has been achieved so far.

While I generally try to avoid discussing topics like these, I feel like it's important context for the next piece of discussion. The future of HorrorVale.

HorrorVale: Act M

HorrorVale: Act M is a small side story featuring none other than Mothman himself! This spinoff game was greenlit thanks to HorrorVale fans reaching our Wishlist goal for the main game. This game will tell the story of HorrorVale from Mothman's perspective, giving you new insight into his side of the story, as well as elaborate on events leading up to and following that story.

I think there's something really special waiting for you in Act M, and I want to use it as an opportunity to experiment with the HorrorVale formula based off of feedback from the main game.

No matter what, this project will begin development and it will be in your hands....

...At some point.

Which is where the previous topic comes into play, because naturally how long Act M takes to make is dependent on the time I have free to work on it. HorrorVale sales could certainly pick up, and I might one day be able to devote myself fully to game dev, but for now Act M will have to follow the same development process as "HorrorVale", which means it's difficult to give an estimate of how long it'll take to make!

What I can say for sure, is that Act: M will be much, much shorter than HorrorVale. Don't expect a 50 hour experience! I'm aiming for something more like 8.

And yet, you might be asking yourself dear reader...

"How can we help?"

Indeed, you asked yourself that exact sentence and in the voice of the King from Zelda CD-I no doubt.

Which brings us to the next topic!

Patreon Revival

My original plan after HorrorVale launched was to completely retire the HorrorVale Patreon as it seemed unnecessary at that point, but since:

We did not reach our expectations of sales so far

Several fans expressed a desire to support the game in some way because of the Steam Early Access debacle

I thought it made sense to keep it up and give it a little makeover.

Now fully dedicated to "Act: M", you can expect Monthly Progress Reports here, just like the main game!

Not only that, but we've added a brand new "Cryptid" Tier, that will allow you... Yes YOU! The ability to design a Creepy, Scary, or Starry for Mothman to fight in Act: M! We don't want Mothman to just fight all the same enemies as Alice! He'd naturally encounter foes she never even knew existed. This is your opportunity to help the game out and get to be a part of it as well.

(Please note that in order to participate in this reward, you must be 18 years or older and willing to give all rights of your design to Batworks Software.)

(Also please note that Mothman will kill your beautiful creation with a crossbow and it will hurt very badly.)

Since as of now I can't "live" off of HorrorVale sales, instead my plan is to put it and Act: M Patreon earnings towards Act: M itself and Mystery Future Project. This will help ensure a smooth development cycle as possible. If you're interested in helping out the HorrorVale universe, now's your chance!

Of course, forking over your hard earned candy isn't the only way to help though!

Just enjoying the game and telling your friends about it is a MASSIVE help. Without a marketing team, word of mouth is a tremendous help to us, and it's thanks to that that we're here at all!

Closing

In closing, I just want to say thank you to all of the HorrorVale fans that have supported us over all these years. The love that HorrorVale has been shown has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. As long as I'm able to, I'd like to read every comment and message I can, but I fear that if the game does get bigger one day I won't be able to see them all. Just know that the love you've given Alice and her friends mean the world to me.

Wait Stop Right There What Do You MEAN "Mystery Future Project"???

That's all for now goodbye!!!!!!

*The device he was speaking from explodes spontaneously*

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for leaving a DND campaign abruptly?

Some backstory: I had joined a DND game about 5 years ago right after breaking up with my toxic ex at the time. Me and my ex were both trying to be cordial at this time and ended up both joining a DND game run by a mutual friend.

In our first session, I had noticed my ex made her character be a parody of me that she made look like an awful person. She then kept dm-ing me during our sessions to tell me how to play my character better and other general backseat gaming stuff.

Very quickly, maybe about a month in, I contacted the DM about leaving the campaign due to wanting to distance myself from my ex. She was very upset I wanted to leave and offered to kick my ex from the group instead. I declined saying it would only cause more drama. The DM agreed to let my character go off at the end of the activity we were gonna do that session so it would make sense story-wise.

But this departure did not happen. after that conversation she vague-posted onling about how people dont want to be her friend. She then purposefully kept extending this part of the plot, just so I wouldnt leave the game and could realize it could still be fun. I told her outright I could not do this anymore after 3 more additional sessions and telling me she'll get to my character's exit soon. I always felt like an ass to the other players in the game for leaving them abruptly but I could not do it anymore.

Fast forward roughly 4 years, the DM tells me she is going to make a new campaign and would like for me to join since my ex was no longer in it. I agreed as I had missed playing DND a lot.

For the past year or so I have been in this campaign and it can be fun at times but I still feel out of place. This new session is a direct continuation of the previous campaign's storyline and regularly references it. Now, as far as I know my ex's character has not been referenced at all but I am constantly reminded of this situation whenever they mention a character's name I don't remember (because honestly I don't remember her characters name nor do I want to). I know I said to not bring her up around me but I don't quite trust this friend to keep her word. Simply because I don't think she ever remembers anything I tell her out of a place of... just not caring.

The DM and I just don't quite mesh that well. I don't really like her DM-ing style of making it up as the session happens. I don't like that she will constantly decide what my character is doing, even if I ask to do something, she tells me to roll to see if i can, i can get a nat20 and she will still decide what my character will do next based on what she thinks is funnier to her but makes my next action harder to accomplish.

I have dm'd her to talk about the progression of my character arc (after she constantly implys in session my character is the comedic relief and doesnt have any character development) and she'll go ooo and aaa (literally all she would say) but never actually implement anything I recommend.

I kept saying to myself it will get better in time. I have voiced my wants for my character, and they are ignored. In session, my character actions are essentially decided for me no matter how I roll the dice. It feels weird to be around half of the party bc they spent 4 years in a campaign with my ex who played a parody of me. esp hard after the DM keeps making me be the comedic relief even though I keep trying to play more seriously. other players constantly joke about how my character is gonna be the one that gets them all killed etc because of actions I dont necessarily decide.

Now as mentioned before, DM is also known to vague-blog about how "her friends secretly hate her" at any moment as well. This has happened before after I tried to "real talk" with her a handful of times over unrelated topics too (even if she initiates this conversation)

Given everything above, I want to leave this DND game after giving it a try for a year (really giving it an opportunity to improve). We left off with my character running off alone to get supplies for the party. I was thinking I could make a statement saying I had some personal things come up and I need to leave the game abruptly and leave it to the DM to decide what to do with my character.

Now I feel like I may be the AH because: I am leaving the game abruptly for a second time technically. I would contact the DM on how to make it make sense for my character to depart, but I feel like she will do the same thing as before with the previous campaign and keep putting it off, especially after ignoring my character growth ideas for a year in this current campaign. I also feel like I may be the AH because in character my group does need those supplies, but there is nothing stopping the DM from controlling my character to deliver supplies within the first 5 minutes of the next session.

[mercars-musings]

1 and 16 for the ask game about Az and Emmrich <3

Aaa tysm for asking!!! 🥺🥰 {Answers Under the Cut} 1. Does your Rook fall for their partner at first sight? If not, what moment made your Rook realize they're in love with them?

A. Surprisingly, no!

He thinks Emmrich is extremely attractive when they first meet {the daddy issues cliche is strong in that boy}, but Az is almost as romantically emotionally constipated as Neve is honestly.

He's spent a long time not really having anything serious with anyone due to past trauma and has mostly just had like a fling every few months to get a little less touch starved.

He actually falls slowly due to Emm's consistent gentleness & kindness to not only Rook but the rest of the Veilguard.

Az is the kind of person who puts all the people he cares about before himself, so seeing Emmrich treating the people he loves with kindness really kind of seals the deal for him.

Though if I had to pick the EXACT moment, I'd probably say it was during the House of the Dead quest when he's freeing all the trapped spirits. Seeing him push through the pain to save those who were unwillingly trapped and tortured really spoke to Rook's morals as a Shadow Dragon and just generally a person that cares about justice and helping others.

16. How did your Rook react to getting trapped in the Fade and separated from their partner?

A. Funnily enough I'm actually writing something on this now!

He is honestly extremely distraught, he'd finally let someone in after all that wasted time of self doubt and fear that he would be betrayed again. The fight they had before the battle certainly did not help his worries and doubts, but hearing Emmrich say that he was wrong and wanted to talk more he'd been rejuvinated in his conviction that he had chosen right.

And then for it all to be taken away from him just like that?

My Rook spent about 7 years in the Fade {or at least he experienced it as 7 years. It's still 2 weeks for the rest of Thedas and the Veilguard}

So he had A LOT of time ruminating over everything he had even the tiniest concern about in their relationship so far:

He worried his choice to convince Emmrich to give up Lichdom for Manfred might have made Emmrich hate him further down the line, he worried that maybe Emmrich actually meant that he wanted to break up when he said he wanted to "talk" with Rook once the big fight was over, his mind decided to stress that boy out like nothing else.

It kind of ate him up inside for a long time honestly, though he eventually learned to channel that pain and fear into trying to find a way out of the Fade.

Anyway, when he leaves the Fade his usual aversion to touch suddenly swings over to the opposite side and he clings to Emmrich like he'll disappear if Az looks away for even a second. This does eventually get a little better but Em doesnt mind as I head cannon him to be quite touchy anyway.

If anyone else is interested about my boy Az & Emmrich feel free to ask me anything from this Ask Game! Also you can find my fics here & my Az rambles under #az mercar !🥰

[ayeforscotland]

I'm not a super dedicated gamer these days, but I loved Kerbal Space Program (a game that was more a labour of love than a commercial project) and was super hyped for the much delayed KSP2. When I saw it was releasing as early access (years late) I worried for its hopes of ever seeing completion and held off buying, now after all the other shananigans the entire team have been let go in yet another mass lay-off in the gaming industry. I feel like, a few notable exceptions aside, the big-budget gaming sector has been failing to deliver real quality games for a long time now, with lower-budget indie games more often coming up with gold from much simpler foundations. It seems almost as though developers are being pushed to shoot for unachievably epic games and releasing buggy messes, or vast but hollow worlds when the publishers get impatient or the money runs out. Is there any grain of truth in my feeling that bankrollers' expectations for games is leading to more games failing to live up to the hype as projects spiral out of control and over budget? Would big studios benefit from learning from indie devs and aiming to really nail down a simpler scope but on a scale beyond what the indies can achieve?

Industry-wise there’s a couple of things at play. And apologies for the length of this.

During the pandemic, there was a shitload of investment into the gaming industry as everyone was at home and many started playing games for the first time, so venture capital firms piled money in.

They were looking for a return on their investment, not really aiming to cultivate long-term studio success.

This puts pressure on the studio to get the game out the door quickly. That month or two of QA before launch just becomes overhead while you have a product that could be selling right now.

Chance to earn even more money for shareholders and execs? Welcome to microtransaction hell.

So that’s one side of it, investors/shareholders/execs forcing decisions that make games worse.

Next bit is partly influenced by the shareholder side of things but also a huge cultural side too. Lots of studios complete a project and then layoff staff because the next game isn’t ready to start being developed yet OR layoff staff because they don’t want to pay them OR staff leave to go and do something else (often due to lack of pay, lack of promotion etc)

And what this leads to is a *massive* corporate knowledge gap. People take their skills and knowledge and create voids. Voids that need to be filled by senior staff, which is why big AAA studios are always hiring seniors, and rarely hiring juniors. So all the seniors job-hop from studio to studio and there’s no new skill set being cultivated by new industry talent.

In my experience, these huge studios are also incredibly siloed. It’s something that impacts most industries, siloed teams lead to sluggish development and decision-making.

I think the games industry walks an incredibly fine line between being a creative endeavour and being a tech business. Process management methodologies honestly seem quite alien to the games industry, most of the time to its detriment.

It honestly wouldn’t be that hard to implement but Production as a discipline within games seems to be relegated to ‘staring at JIRA’ particularly in larger studios.

Could write forever about this to be honest.

Worth saying that indie studios also have their own issues. Almost everything is a scramble, and the search for publisher funding is a nightmare.

[arknights-imagines]

exeeee!!! that ask game looks fun ^_^ could i ask for 🎨 and 🤧 with you and fede? - bee

BEE bajshs hiya 🥹🫶!! It's always v v nice to see you in my inbox, and aaa omgsjhss tysm for your ask for the yumeship thing and your interest in Exerico 💕😭!!!!

"Exe. We have received another ask regarding us." / "It's about us? It's about US!!"

(art by @mammonishot)

Like last time svshs the responses will be under the cut 🤲!! I hope you like the replies svshs I had lots of fun with this one, especially the 🎨 question aaa!! (I may have gotten carried away sbshbshs please excuse me 😭🙏!!)

Tysm again for dropping by Bee 🥹!! Please enjoy the Exerico bits 🤲! I hope everything is well for you! And please remember to take care of yourself and I hope you'll keep sticking around 💘!!!

This ask is regarding THIS post!

🤧- How does F/O take care of you/ your oc when your sick?

Exe is bad at being sick sbsjsh 😭 all they can think about are the things they coil be doing instead of resting 😶 They will constantly try and escape bed!

'Rico's entire job while they're sick is frankly making sure they rest sgshshs 🥹😭 he'll always set a certain schedule up for medication, rest, eating... And doesn't let Exe evade it whatsoever lololsbsjs

And lololsbsjs we all know 'Rico completes all his missions... 😭

"But-- I have so much stuff to do! I have Operation briefings all week and-- I can't be sick!!"

"Regardless of your duties, you are ill. Attempting to complete work while sick is not only inefficient, but will also worsen your condition. Please, return to bed to rest."

"But I--"

"Exe. Return to bed, or I will be forced to carry you should you continue to resist. It is for your own good."

"No! You're just bluffing...!"

"Knowing me as well as you do, you must be irrefutably aware by now that I do not 'bluff'."

"...okay, fine...."

🎨 - Pick a Color Palette that makes you think of your ship!

Here's what I choose 🤲!:

So sbshhs the colours are mostly just based from right off their designs ✨! Federico has the muted orange from his original Notarial Hall uniform, and a light cyan for his eyes; Exe has their signature shade of blue that I associate them with, and a chocolate brown for their eyes! The black in the center is because it's a prominent colour in both their designs sbsjsh so they match in that aspect 🫶!

As someone in the field of arts sbshhs, a lot goes into my thinking about this than just colours svshsg so please excuse my ramble in advance 🥹🙏!!

Exe's shade of blue is v v special! When they were first being designed, me and their design mom ( @mammonishot 🫶🥹 my dearest friend... She helped design Exe and illustrated their reference sheet!!) wanted to pick a signature colour suited for them!!

I knew it had to be a blue... Since blue is the complimentary colour to orange (which I associate as 'Rico's colour)! And between lighter blue or darker blue we settled on a lighter blue to match Exe's brighter personality sbshhs 🫶!

So Exe's shade of blue, (afd6f5), has been their associated colour since 2021-2022! And it appears in nearly all my Exerico commissions as the bg colour or fill colour, etc 🥹💕! As you can see here!

(art by @/claradeso and @mammonishot!)

And then... When the Operator Record for Executor the Ex Foedere was released a little while back, I couldn't believe it sbjsh:

Federico canonically gains a fixation and a liking to the colour blue, sky blue! Just like Exe's blue.... 🥹😭!!! Sbsjbsjshs...!!

It's a huge and v v cool coincidence sgshshs 🥹 (Exerico Canon perhaps? Sbjsbsjs joking joking... 😭)

"Bye-bye! Thank you for seeing us! See you next time, Bee!!" / "Thank you. Please remember to take it easy."

(art by @/claradeso)

Always remember: 'Rico and Exe love you sbshhs!! 🫶