#just my ramblings about stuff i love in this new expansion

[damien-ward]

This is such a small detail but one thst I love that Blizzard did.

In previous expansions whenever we saw the "Alliance Troops" it was always just a random collection of the races in the Alliance but they were all just in Stormwind armor with the stormwind tabard.

But here in War Within when we see the Alliance Troops they all show up wearing different armor that fits their cultures. It's such a small change but one that I love to make the races feel like they have their own style so to speak rather than them all adopting the Stormwind outfit.

Also, mad shout out to the devs for giving the Worgen a long coat look because that's peak Gilnean aesthetic.

[theycalledhimastar]

>w< HELLO AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE TIME LEFT

Nikolai , price and ghost with So with likes video games books and all nerdy stuff OWO

Hallo >w<! Of course, I'm a bit of a nerd myself and I totally love the idea of at least Price having like a total nerd of a partner, it feels so cute! I wasn't sure if you meant like a soldier or civilian, so I left it mostly ambiguous <3

☄. *.

Various X Gn!reader

(prolly a little ooc, that's my bad lol. Put my entire soul into Nik's, can you tell?)

Nikolai ☄. *.

I like to think that Nik is a bit of a nerd himself, he feels like the kind of person to dabble in older, retro type video games. Like I feel that this man has a figurine collection, all in the box, mint condition, the works. So when he meets you and realizes that he FINALLY has someone else that he can talk about his interests with, he is over the moon!

He'll just be working on something, maybe some blueprints, maybe he's chatting with John about an upcoming plan. He'll ask you to sit there and tell him everything about that new game you got. Or the newest release from your favorite author. "I just adore the graphics, and the voice acting is amazing!"

"Sounds much better than your last purchase, you were distraught about that one."

"Oh, it's five times better, and this one was free too! I had to like fight fifty other people to try and download it when it released but it was so worth the lag, because-"

He might not always follow what you're saying, especially when you get really into your rambling about game mechanics and such, but he just loves hearing you so happy about something.

If you ever got him any kind of action figure or even something similar, he would actually potentially start crying because like... You got that for him??? You cared that much about him??? that makes him so happy, regardless of the fact that it was a bootleg version of one he already had, it's 100 percent the thought that counts. (Also the official one cost him like a small fortune, if you actually got him one, he would likely worry about your finances.)

He would be the type to cosplay cute little couples cosplays with you. Especially if it's something you both enjoy watching together, he might even be the one to suggest it in that case. Doesn't matter if it's halloween, comic con, or even just because you feel like it. He thinks that the idea is such a fun one, and he's never been able to do it before. Now that he can, there's no way he's gonna throw away the chance.

He probably met you when he was browsing through the game store that you worked at. Off duty, just looking to see if you had anything that he had yet to collect. (Which wasn't likely, but one could hope.) You were restocking the shelves and something caught his eye, although it wasn't the array of colorful plastic figures. It was the cute worker that had an armful of them. None of them were new, but he wasn't about to miss his shot to try and talk to you a little bit.

"Is there any new stock coming in?"

"Pardon me?"

"New stock, new figurines. I like to collect them, but I've already got the ones that the store has on the shelves." He explains awkwardly, thinking about backpedaling and just leaving.

"Oh! No, we don't have anything new, I don't think, sorry." You gave him that customer service smile, trying to be polite of course. Although you appreciate that someone comes here for something other than their child's gaming hobby. "Y'know, it's pretty impressive that you've collected all of those. We have a large selection, I can't imagine how expansive something like that would be."

He does a double take, his heart skips a beat for a moment. You're impressed? By him???

"Yes, I like collecting various pieces, this store is the best place to get them for a reasonable price..." the silence is incredibly uncomfortable, so he breaks it almost immediately. "Do you? Collect, I mean. Even just like cards or something similar?"

"No, my paycheck doesn't really allow for that. Although I have managed to harbor my video game addiction somehow." Your little joke makes him crack a smile and wow this guy is attractive...

"Really now? What do you play?" Maybe he would have to frequent this shop a little more often...

John ☄. *.

John probably dabbled a little bit in video games as a young man, before he enlisted, but he never considered himself the type that was worthy of the "nerd" title. He gladly listens to you though when you talk about the lore for Lord of the Rings for an hour straight. (don't ask him about anything you said the entire time, please...)

He's as supportive as the next guy, but he just does not understand the appeal of all those video games you play. In his mind, so many of them look repetitive. You scream at the screen more often than you seem to be enjoying yourself, even with the cozy games. He admires the dedication to the craft, but for fuck's sake, please step away from the keyboard. You look like you're going to snap it over your knee...

Books, however, he can get on with, same thing with movies. Newer ones, good old classics, doesn't matter. He's always down to sit and watch an entire movie marathon with you snuggled up next to him under a soft blanket. He doesn't mind, even when you start commenting on every little fun fact that you remember from the film documentary you watched a while back. "Did you know that the line right there was improvised by the actor? They thought it matched up with the character better than the original line." "Hm. I'd agree to that, mate knows the character better than the script does."

Takes you to game stores so that you can buy whatever you want with his credit card. What else is he going to be doing with everything he has sitting around from working in the SAS? Don't even worry about it, he wants you to be happy and what better way to show affection than getting you that limited edition signed copy you wanted?

He'd regularly take you out on movie dates, just to have an excuse to sneak kisses in the back row during the fight scenes because nothing important happens during those. Kissing down the side of your neck while the main character fights some minor side character, you're trying to focus on the screen but you can't help leaning into his touch just a little bit.

"John..." "mmh?" "What're you doing?" "Nothing... Just keep watchin' love. Someone's gotta watch and tell me what happened later."

Menace to the rest of the theatre, best hope it's a late viewing or something, because man isn't all that worried about being seen. Is it a crime to show some affection in public? He thinks not. You better get home before he decides that he wants a lil more than affection-

Simon ☄. *.

Honestly, he has no clue what the hell you're on about most of the time. Like he tries his best, but all he hears is utter nonsense. Not to say he doesn't listen, because he does, he straight up memorizes what you say, even if he doesn't know what it is. He won't ever tell you, but if he has extra free time, he tries to research and watch/read whatever it is that you love so much.

Sometimes he finds it intriguing, so much so, that he becomes a bigger fan of it than you are. (Low key what happened when you introduced him to farming games, man is an absolute beast at cozy games now and you're not sure whether you're proud or jealous of how much better his island is than yours in Animal Crossing.

"How did you get apples!? No fair!" "It's called being good at something, love."

Stares at you sideways if you ask him to play a FPS with you, like "I literally play that for a living, why would I do that?".

Lets you cozy up in his lap while you read your latest fantasy novel, nodding along when you make comments about what's happening in the chapter. He's not listening, he's too busy staring at you and thinking about how much he loves you, but cut the guy some slack, you're prettymuch giving him footnotes about a book he doesn't read.

Comments about the realism of the previously mentioned FPS when you play them. It'd be funny if you weren't in the middle of a ranked match while he was ranting.

"What are those muppets doing?" "trying to kill me, Si." "They're doin' a shit job of it. A proper waste of ammo." "Yeah, well, I'll let em know that."

Just about died when he saw you in cosplay of one of your favorite characters, stared at you with those big ass eyes and asked you kindly what the fuck you were wearing.

"It's cosplay, Simon. Like a costume?" "You look..." "Watch yourself, Riley." "Unique. Why again, are you wearing this?" He looked you up and down, holding his tongue surprisingly well. "Because it's fun, Simon. It's a character I really like, and I made most of this myself." You gave a slow turn so that he could see all of the detail and hard work you had put into the clothing. "Not sayin' it doesn't look good, just sayin' you look proper strange in a getup like that."

Bro says this all like he doesn't run around on the field in a skull mask like some edgy middle schooler. He means well, and afterwards, he'll admit that you looked plenty nice and you clearly worked hard on it. But don't just walk up on him like that.

[bonesandthebees]

HOW DO YOU WRITE SO WELL

like, the general way you write omfg i was hoping to get some tips since i want to get into the type of writing you do (idk the name lol)

your fics have just not left my mind at all and i wanna learn how you make them stick

aw thank you that's so sweet! I'm so glad you enjoy my stories :D

as for your question, I always say this and it's not really the 'fun' answer or the one that people want to hear but the truth of the matter is that I got good at writing by writing. a lot. I've been writing on a near daily basis since I was 13 or so. I started writing original stories, but later when I was 15 I got into fanfic and really thrived using that as writing practice. regardless of whether or not you post what you write, just the act of putting words down is going to help you. whether that be rewriting movie scenes with your favorite blorbos or coming up with the most self indulgent fluffy stuff that you never want to see the light of day, or plotting out massively expansive stories with grand plots and worldbuilding, no matter what it is it's going to help you gain a natural sense for rhythm and word choice and all that stuff.

besides practicing writing, reading is also very helpful for improving your writing. and I don't mean reading fanfic. while of course there is some amazing fanfiction out there, you do actually need to read published novels as well. now I'm not saying you have to go out and read the entire book list from your 9th grade english class (although classic novels are incredibly important and beneficial to read), but just read any books. try to branch out into new genres. if you're only interested in reading YA romance, sure go for it, but once you get in the swing of reading regularly you should look for recommendations in other genres. there are a ton of lists online that will tell you "if you like X book then you'll love Y-" so try to find those. don't limit yourself to books only meant for one demographic. you'll get the most benefit for your writing from reading widely and seeing how many different types of authors do things. you can pick apart different writing styles and figure out what you like about each, then try to emulate that in your own work. do you like when descriptions are kept short but use very vivid language? try doing that in your own writing when setting a scene. do you like when a characters thought process starts rambling on and on for multiple paragraphs, really giving the reader a sense of their inner mind? try doing that yourself.

experiment! practice! have fun with it! write what you want and try not to get too caught up in what's going to 'get popular' or anything because then you'll just make yourself miserable if you don't get the hits you want. of course that's easier said than done but try your best to hold onto the mindset of writing for yourself first and foremost. make the stories you want to read.

hope that helps!

[dr-spectre]

I've been reading your blogs regarding s2's story mode (which I'm coincidentally also playing through rn lol) and I love the vent-song interpretation for Callie!! The other posts have honestly been an eye opener for me lmao

I personally always saw it as turquoise october making their own little tributes to her (especially girl from Inkopolis) using samples from her older songs (tho it's still music from the life callie was trying to run away from, so I'm not confident in my theory :')), like they're appreciating and celebrating her

(Generally I fell that the squid sisters are PAINFULLY underutilized in the story modes they're in, it hurts me.)

AYEEE! I'm glad that I've been such an eye opener for you and I hope that you enjoy Splatoon 2's hero mode a lot more because of it! That's my goal man, to make people have deeper appreciations of stuff in Splatoon because there's a lot of stuff that I think is really really cool and interesting.

Now in terms of the Squid Sisters being underutilised? I 1000000% agree with you. Despite them being the OGs, their stories have been mishandled and to be honest, we don't know much about them compared to Pearl and Marina.

This single image put me into a frenzy because they actually SHOWED shit from their past which is something that Nintendo rarely does....

Off the Hook in their story modes got optional lore content decided to THEM!!!! They had chat logs and a FUCKING DIARY!! WHAT DID THE SQUID SISTERS GET IN SPLATOON 2?!?! A COUPLE OF SUNKEN SCROLL ENTRIES THAT BRIEFLY TOUCHED ON IMPORTANT STORY DETAILS THAT PEOPLE DONT FUCKING TALK ABOUT!!!!!! RAHHH!!!!! (And a prequel tie in story that no one gives a shit about aside from youtubers explaining Splatoon 2's hero mode and then saying Callie was KIDNAPPED AND BRAINWASHED 5 SECONDS LAT-)

In Splatoon 3 ROTM, same deal, we got cute pics and some sunken scroll entries and that's it.

I love Off the Hook! I really really do but oh my GOD I hate how they hog up all of the cool lore and backstory details man!!!! Why do Off the Hook get to have more personal story modes yet the Squid Sisters don't?!

ROTM was the perfect opportunity but they didn't do ANYTHINGGGGG! The Squid Sisters were just comediac relief and that's so disappointing CONSIDERING WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LAST GAME!!!! I like their jokes and they bring a warm energy to the story, but how they were handled vs. Off the Hook in Side Order is a night and day difference!

And now people online say that they don't want them to come back?!?!? I saw a video about a guy rambling about Splatoon 4 and what he wanted to see. And hearing him say that he doesn't want the Idols to return because "oh it's an end of a trilogy. They shouldn't come back." Really pissed me off, to be honest.

The Squid Sisters feel incredibly underutilised and their story modes were heavily botched. Especially Splatoon 2's.... the shit I see about that story mode still persists till this day and it's making me go bananas... but you know already. Ugh... the blatant disrespect people have over Callie....

I just hope they make a come back for Splatoon 4. I dont need them right away but I just hope they make some substantial appearance in Splatoon 4 and go on a new arc that explores the duo further. A Side Order/Octo Expansion type of story for the Squid Sisters with Agent 4 or something would make me so.... happy...

Also, just wanted to say too, poor fucking Deep Cut, I hope they don't suffer the same fate as the Squid Sisters.

(First photo by frequent.squidsisters on Instagram)

[ikkosu]

Pookie I must know, do YOU have any merformers pharma headcanons of your own?💚

🛐🛐🛐 OMYGOSH YESS COMPY!! I'm about to go to the pagoda to absolve my sins /j

merform pharma would stalk your boat a hundred percent. he's a smart goober and would figure out your schedule really quick .

what's a human doing in this isolated expanse of an island?

he's sure he won't get the answer directly, so he's willing to risk a few scales of finding it

at the dead of the night, he'd rig your boat so the next time you'd go fishing — it starts to sink and he'd be the one saving you

obviously, you don't know that so, to you, he's considered a savior of some sort as he scuttles you back to the island

he could just bring you back tot he cave and keep you thee forever but that wouldn't be too ethical, would it?

besides, he wouldn't sully a bond he's been looking forward to for so long

language barrier is definitely a prominent problem between you both but pharma doesn't seem to mind

In fact, he likes it when you speak

The way the words warble out of your mouth, a language so foreign yet its a soft ripple off that pink muscle you call a tongue

so often as you go fishing with your new guardian, pharma would prod you with his digits, prompting you to speak

you're not even sure what to talk about anymore given you have him all the things he has to know about you, so you just ramble about anything in general

pharma is gazing at you with heart eyes as you talk about the recent strays that keep pissing and shitting in your barn

he would also keep (steal) your stuff, literally anything that reminds him of you. sometimes even more scandalous things like, say, your uh undergarments.

loves your scent. he loves smells that revolt him in general

you know he knows what you're saying, you've been far too long with that ridiculously smart mer to know he's a prodigy of picking up cues

so when he shakes his head dumbly at your subtle accusation — he's a big fat liar

aside from ammassing souvenirs, he loves to collect little trinkets and give them to you.

to him, it's courting but of course you know jack shit about mermay customs and so you think he's playing fetch with you

no, like he's literally hoarding seashells and dumping it at your boat.

"Pharma the boat is going to sink!"

[mistfallengw2]

Done with the story, and boy howdy am I happy with this expansion~

So, let's get the easy ones out of the way: map design and music are just top notch, even more than usual. Lost count of the amount of times I got lost exploring, it's all just damn neat, and I'm not even done. Likewise, I got so many goosebumps due to the music, and now that I'm past spoilers, I'm due to sit down and properly listen to the full soundtrack. Also, sound design has always been awesome as well, and each time they move up a level.

Story was pretty damn good and DENSE with stuff for lore nerds to chew on. GW2 is back to doing what it does best, and the worldbuilding through dialogue and books has been a blessing this time around. So many of the interesting things "forgotten by the story" got addressed or aknowledged, and I kinda like that we've been out of the loop for a while even before the SotO stuff (we can't be everywhere, and that's a good thing) so that it can be done organically. The Tyrian Alliance have some of my fave dialogue (oh Dougal, hang in there buddy) and books, and MAN the hints at potential future expansions have me running up walls. Also all my homies hate Isgarren's floaty ass and I'm here for it (and for poor Frode who has to wrangle him). The investigative parts are such a pearl of writing, piecing together what happened in Gavril through texts found around the map before the bloodstone story step was SO satisfying, and in general I loved each build-up. I expected things from Waiting Sorrow, and while what I got wasn't what I expected, I love her already (you can whoop Isgarren's supposed ass, don't hold back dear). I've seen people complain about Poky being Braham 2.0, which is fair, but honestly I'm here for it and I really want the two of them to meet and be friend (even Alder thinks the same, come on!). Can't wait to dwelve in all the other collections and achievements I haven't done yet, what I got done so far has been quite fun.

Gameplay? Sure the spears are awesome, the warclaw is fun (gosh the chain-race mechanic in those story fights? Perfection.), but the events and hearts are the kind of small scale stuff that makes me adore GW2, because I like being useful to people in mundane yet meaningful ways and it makes every part of the world feel lived in. I love that they reused a ton of older minigames and event structure for the new maps, and I haven't been so "at home" in maps since Grothmar.

Speaking of homes, the Homestead... Haven't touched it much because I wanted to focus on finishing story before going away for a few days + F2 being bugged for me. Given what I've seen, I'm glad I stocked up on mats, but I'll keep doing that and leave the actual decorating to when I have a nebulous "enough". With the story done, I will not respond of the emotional damage I will soon suffer. Expect posts uncomprehensible keysmashes under screenshots, I can't promise more (might survive since emotes don't seem possible for the alts, and while sad I do know that could have slain me).

My only sore points have been mostly resolved or are known bugs, and I'm trying to make my peace with the warclaw's animation speed ruining an otherwise perfect mount.

Could ramble a lot more, but all in all? If this is what we get after the teething pains of SotO, I'm sold on all future expansions and more. (And I should probably get started with GW1, huh)

Now to think about my OCs... For sure this is a expansion all about Aurelia and Ellara with a side of Zehmik, but gotta see about the rest...

[oodlyenough]

now that i've finished dual destinies here is how i'd rank the aa games that i've played.

this started as a bulleted list but then as always i ended up rambling forever, so, some of it is under the cut. spoilers for AA1-5 & AAI1. anything not listed is a game i've not yet played

1. Ace Attorney (1)

can't beat the original. ok so maybe the first time i played turnabout samurai i got so bored i took a 3 year break. that's not the point. i was weak. i think this game is the tightest and as the introduction to the concept and the characters it does a surprisingly good job of balancing and developing all of them. pretty satisfying arcs and relationships for every major character. also 1-4 and 1-5 are two of The best cases ever.

2. Ace Attorney 3/Trials and Tribulations

this one coasts on the strength of the dahlia throughline. all three of her cases are great. the fey lore develops so well and so interestingly, i loved getting a chance to play mia, dahlia is the best AA villain, bridge to turnabout has so many great things going on, edgeworth v franziska rules, phoenix investigating with franziska rules. it had some of my favourite puzzles and puzzle solving. the weak points that lose it top spot for me are that i didn't like how edgeworth and franziska evaporate from 3-5 in the second half, i wish maya had a bigger role in 3-5, and i don't enjoy anything about godot. also the two middle cases bored me to tears

3. Ace Attorney 2/Justice for All

this is a messier game than the above two for sure and i also thought it had the worst puzzle writing of the original trilogy. the magatama's use here is a bit clunky. i also think the way edgeworth's disappearance and return is handled is not quite as satisfying as it could've been for such a big emotional thing. the execution of the start of 2-4 with maya's kidnapping and engarde hiring phoenix could've been done much smoother.

BUT: i love the expansion of the fey lore, introduction of morgan and pearl and kurain, and franziska is my specialest little girl and i love that she's here. and 2-4, especially as it goes on, is such a good interesting case and some of the BEST character stuff for phoenix and edgeworth and truly made me unwell about the ship indefinitely. edgeworth hunched over his desk with bugged out eyes through gritted teeth "the prosecution... rests..." ??? peak romance

4. Ace Attorney 4/Apollo Justice

this is a really fun game that has the difficult task of introducing a lot of new characters and it pulls that off fairly well. apollo, trucy and klavier are all really fun. it's super interesting to see phoenix as an NPC and see what a mysterious galaxybrain he is when you're not given a front-row ticket to his scattered thoughts. i think the mystery writing here was coherent and pretty tight and i had fun solving the puzzles. 4-1 is one of the best tutorial cases for sure.

downside is that it's underbaked and you can tell. the new characters, while likable, barely get a chance to shine or really develop. apollo is not really much more than an avatar, the story is still about phoenix. and even when i'm enjoying the game, it just does honestly feel kind of... mean... the way the game drops every character from the trilogy and does what it does with phoenix.

5. Ace Attorney Investigations 1

fun pixel sprites, some fun new characters, it's cool to be able to walk my lil dude around and click on stuff. some of it is pretty funny. there's a surprisingly large variety of new female characters in different kinds of roles and personalities and designs and i always appreciate that.

the mysteries are not very good and the puzzles are frequently frustrating. the lack of trial day structure means the pacing feels wonky in many places. the returning characters are not written very well, franziska in particular is a flanderized shadow of herself, and most damning of all: edgeworth, the main character, is not written particularly well. the bratworth flashback in particular shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the character established by the trilogy imo.

6. Ace Attorney 5/Dual Destinies

this game had most of the same flaws as AAI and it didn't even have nice art or fun investigation banter to save it. i like athena a lot, i love aura and canon lesbians, it's nice to see phoenix as a lawyer again and get some confirmation edgeworth and the feys didn't fuckin die off screen. aa5 klavier is fucking hilarious. some of the new NPCs are funny s/o to the orca and plonco and robin.

the non-chronological plot was unnecessarily convoluted, the dark age of the law was emphasized so much only to be totally underdeveloped, the phantom plot twist was cool for three seconds and then pretty stupid in retrospect. apollo's storyline is a disaster. trucy has been replaced by an automaton that talks about panties. the lack of being able to investigate scenery makes the investigation days short, hurts character development and contributes the pacing that makes every final trial day feel interminably long and infuriating. too many plot twists rely on the game simply not providing evidence until the last second, at which point the twist becomes obvious. the nicest thing i can say for dual destinies is that it didn't irreparably break anything i loved in the previous games.

[ishgard]

Rambly first impressions but I'll probably be turning DT around in my head for a while still. Spoilers obviously touched on but I try to be vague about it as much as possible X'D

Overall I enjoyed it! imo it was far from their strongest expac and is admittedly pretty low on my mental expac tierlist (fittingly, about equal with ARR, which isn't a bad thing per se), but it did a decent enough job at what it did, especially so in the first half. I'm in love with Tural and the people, the cast of characters, the lore - it was all delightful!

I absolutely understand peoples complaints about their presence feeling kind of pointless at times, but I also didn't mind taking a side/mentor role either (I've had potential plot/headcanons for Ahru doing as much for a long time now, so it works for me). I don't think they always balanced it well at all, though.

I also would have loved to see more interactions between, say, the Scions and Lamaty'i, but it was nice taking things at a slow steady pace and just enjoying the world building. They had a lot on their plate to show us, and they did it well.

The second half... played with some themes I enjoyed well enough, but suffered from some questionable writing that often gave me whiplash.

I love!! the aesthetics of Solution 9, it was another one of the few things that piqued my interest for DT initially. The overall lore and story was enjoyable, just kind of an echo of things we've dealt with before which isn't a criticism exactly.

I'm typically pretty good at immersing myself and smoothing over rough edges in my mind as I go, filling in blanks and grounding myself in my characters' reactions, but there were a number of times I felt kicked in the teeth and taken out by some of the choices. There were definitely more than a few scenes I immediately had to be like "well Ahru is just not here for this because that just would not have happened" lmao I'd be groaning and rolling my eyes one minute, only to be balling my eyes out the next, so just a lot of whiplash 😂

I kept feeling like the second half would have benefited from more time building some of that stuff up, but instead we got a lot of things repeated to us multiple times and obvious things drawn out for us.

Also though they got their moments in some of the very final quests, I had really hoped to see more of Erenville and Krile's stories throughout the overall MSQ. (THAT scene with Erenville got me ugly crying though omfg.)

I feel like I'm mostly complaining but this is probably one of my most 'mixed feelings' expansions in the ten+ years I've been playing. Like, that's fine though, SHB and EW were ALL up my alley and delicious, this can be a little less 'for me', and it was enjoyable enough I don't feel entirely disconnected from the game I love. The high notes it hit really well, I'm in love with Tural and the lore, and I'm super excited and interested to see where they take us next - and what we do with Azem's key. 👀

I was utterly blind-sided by a certain two-headed mamool ja so now I guess I'm a Bakool Ja Ja fucker. 🤷‍♀️ Also I have a new son and if anything happens to him I'll kill everyone and myself. (p.s. trial 2's boss was the worst villain I've ever suffered and this is coming from a lifelong villain fucker, they were a big detractor from my enjoyment at times tbh)

I am begging for another adventure with Erenville because that snippet was hands-down one of the highlights for me for purely biased reasons. Admittedly, there were a number of times I was the 'do it for him' meme with Erenville's face plastered all over it. I'll probably need to do a whole other rant about him tbh

My slightly joking prediction is chemist for 8.0 just on account of his whole two times mentioning he had potions on him to help the wounded.

[parsleysagerosemarytimemachine]

Citizen Sleeper

What if Disco Elysium, but in space, and you're an escaped robot instead of a cop?

I just got finished binging through Citizen Sleeper again to play the free DLC stories, and wanted to recommend it here because I think it deserves more love. It's a narrative video game that I think would really appeal to a lot of you - Disco Elysium is a good touchstone, I think, in that it's very much about game mechanical interactions revealing the story, being a stranger in a fascinating and complicated place, questions of identity and belonging, and different forms of struggling communities trying to exist together.

More ramblings about why you should play this below

So first off, it's relatively short - six to eight hours, so it's easy to get the whole story. Mechanically, you're getting a number of dice each 'day' to put into activities, and getting a bit of story back with the results. One of the major themes of the narrative is chronic illness/disability; your robot body is slowly (intentionally) falling apart, and so not only do you have to get money to eat each day, but you have to constantly source the medicine you need to keep yourself together - if you don't, your condition degrades and you have fewer and fewer dice to work with. But this also eats into the time you have for understanding the space station you're on, and making the connections with other people that will get you better opportunities and support when you have a day where all your dice are low and nothing is going to go right. It's a frustrating spiral that will feel very realistic to anyone who's trying to live with a chronic condition. (Although, because it's a game, there's some good hidden tricks it uses to make it feel frustrating without actually locking you out of progress.)

The other characters that you meet in the world are good; there are some longer storylines where you get to know them over the course of events, but also some of my favorites are the ones you see only briefly, but repeatedly - the mushroom seller that kept me fed, the barkeep at the place that I could reliably pick up tips, the stray cat outside the apartment you gradually put together for yourself... you don't have a constant companion, and the game doesn't provide romantic opportunities (because you're a robot? because you're a stranger passing through? because there's only so much writing they could put in?) but there's still some good connections to be made, queer and disabled bodies are everywhere, and if I had one regret for the game, it's that there weren't more ways to spend time with people once their arc of the story had 'closed' but the game was moving on.

And then there's the story itself, about an exploited and abandoned space station, and the ways people try to survive - by exploiting others in turn, by trying to protect themselves and what they have, by escaping to new communities, or just trying to get through the day. It is very much a story that believes the only way we'll make it is by helping each other, but also it's realistic about the obstacles in the way of that. It's very good, and I love the way all the choices you have to make are reflected back by the characters around you.

Anyway yeah, go play Citizen Sleeper - there's a set of free story expansions that came out too, so if you went through when it originally came out, there's a bunch of new fun stuff for you to look for as well! (I do wish some of the systems made more of a reappearance, but also, game design is hard. :)

[messedupessy]

Ok so I finished Dawntrail a couple of days ago, and I got so many thoughts about it, things about it I loved, things I didn't vibe with, thoughts of what I both hope and fear will happen next, so prepare for a ramble as this will prolly get long xD MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR DAWNTRAIL DOWN BELOW!!!

Where do I even begin? I got so many throughts about literally everything it's hard to decide where to start, but think I will start with what I loved with this expansion overall and then go from there:

The graphic update is so good, everything looks so nice, the new zones and towns are amazing, all the zone music and music overall this expansion is a fucking banger there is no music I dislike which is amazing, the dungeons and trials, except for the last two for me, was so good, fun mechanics and bosses that is harder but not impossible! Most of the characters were so good and interesting and I loved to get to know them all!

But one issue I had with the expansion as a whole and not just the second half of it, where pretty much all my issues are tbh, is that the voices or rather the voice deliveries this expansion was really weird for the english voices, it felt like the voice direction or the mixing was very off and every character was affected. Like there were several moments Graha or any of the other scions spoke and I got all ??? that's not how you usually sound like what is going on?? And then there is Wuk Lamat, love her voice af, but there were many moments where I felt she just needed to push a bit more especially in emotional moments, her crying is fine but when she needed to get loud and yell it just didn't work, but I feel it's more because of the voice direction and mixing than the actual voice actor. And she isn't the only one though and this has been a issue I feel since the patches for Endwalker, something is really off!

And not to mention that the translation and subtitles are very off, they gotten so very bad since the patches, as my older sister plays in japanese but with english subtitles, and she understands japanese well enough to notice when the characters says more than is subtitled which really sucks. And there was allot of that in the patches, an example when Zero says to thank everyone she says their names in japanese but not in english, and there were moments here in Dawntrail that happened too, don't remember them atm tho since it was a bit since me and my sis talked about it, which sucks, feels like we who play in english are missing out on things all because things just isn't translated properly.

Then there is the msq, I absolutely adored everything until lvl 95 after the first story was done where we crowned Wuk Lamat dawnservant etc, mostly everything between 90-95 was perfect to me, great pacing, great characters, fun bosses and dungeons. The small critiques I got is that we barely spent time at the moblins they didn't even get any voice scenes, and that I wish the like rivalry we were meant to have with Thancred and Urianger thanks to them working for and supporting Koana instead of Wuk Lamat could been stronger. I would had loved a instance of us maybe fighting or just something more there.

And then there is the whole trading part with the Pelopelo, forgot their names the small duck faced ppl, where you are meant to trade things up for more expensive stuff, loved it love the UI they had for it and so on but wish they could gone a bit further with it, like they could have let us fail properly and mess up for example, that if we choose wrong here and there we would been forced to start over at a certain point, just something more there and it would been perfect!

But those are the only things I had issue with when it comes to the first part of the expansion, now to the second where most of my grievances lies and also my fears for what will come next:

First of shiiooni the cowboy place, the story there was truly what you call filler, which I get we can't always have something high stakes thing happening, not always needed either and things was brewing in the background, but I wish there had been more to the story there just it was very bland, something more could have happened there and instead it feels a bit like a waste of a zone even though I like the zone itself very much! Just something more happening in that zone could been really good but no we got like nothing. Connected shitall with the characters there except for our reflection versions of the trolley people they made me so darn happy!

Then the attack at the city happened, wonderfully fucked up but why did they have to kill off Guloo Ja Ja?? Think that's how you spell his name, but Papa simply I love him he was and still is one of my fave characters from this whole expansion, and it feels they went with the way too easy route to just let him get killed for drama, it always happens with fathers who are done and give away their position but i am so tired of it he could just gotten really hurt instead it would done pretty much the same give or take, you don't need to kill off someones dad to give them motivation to kill their own brother for doing so! He had already butchered a bunch of the towns people Wuk lamat did not need more motivation to go for it, and if he just needed to be put out of comission so he wouldn't solve shit too quickly then just hurt him a bit and shit would been fine, it just sucks and while the death scene was good it just frustrates me, let the parents live for once!!

But anyway then there is the dome, 30 years passing etc, loved that whole thing wonderfully messed up but here we meet the sole character that ruined the ending for me personally, Spherne or however her name is spelled. The idea of her and her story is great, but the execution of her character did not work for me at all, and it could been easily fixed if at the end of her instead repeating the same old "sorry for killing your ppl" she could had tried to tell something about herself but maybe failing etc, just said something to give her more character than "I love my people above everything else and I will kill anyone who harms them and I will keep them alive even if it means killing others", that was her whole personality there was nothing else there and it could been fixed so easily by her just admitting to it? If that makes sense? She was just so very bland and could been so much more and I get it she is just the memory of a person long dead but just give me something more, and then there is her design it is so bad if they just pulled back a smidge it would been fine!

After meeting her I feel the rest of the msq ends up so rushed, which like technically makes sense since we in a hurry to stop zorol ja think it was spelled mister first promise boy, but it made it so for me at least, that I didn't get a chance to connect with the new characters properly, didn't get to know the new villain at all, which could been on purpose since wuk lamat and sperne is kind of opposites, but it just didn't work which makes me so frustrated because it could worked so well!

And not to mention, a thing I didn't think of until my big sis mentioned it and how frustrated she was about it, is the whole electric sickness happening there! We have a cure for it we can fix that but there was no mention of it or anything where we could go oh hey we have a cure for this since its the whole thing from the first and tempering we could gotten Aisaie summon Angelo and help the sick boy but no, nothing! This better get mentioned/fixed in the future story patches or I will go insane!

Fuck we could had brought it up to Spherne and made her situtation more complicated but no!

And then there is Otis, I loved that guy but he was instantly taken away and killed we got no time so spend with him except for in the Living Memory later on but that wasn't truly him and it just sucks, wish he had been around longer and things didn't get so fucking rushed here!

Loved the trial for Zorol ja tho it was great, loved how it subtly explained why he was how he was, and while I would had loved having more of it outside the trial before we killed him etc it still worked out and made sense, love his son so much he is so good and I adore that blue baby! But I want to know who his birth mother is, who the fuck is Zorol ja's birth mother?? How was he born even though it is said two headed maamol ja can't have kids? Or is it just so darn rare he just ended up been the first ever? Game please explain gkejngke!!

But then comes Spherne and fucks shit up, which would work if her whole character wasn't as bland as a wet salty cracker! The whole of Living Memory was amazing i cried so much, the zone is amazing the music the progress of it was great, the whole message of everyone dies and life goes on hitting me way too hard.

But then there is the dungeon and Sphernes trial, the fights etc is fine and the visuals great, but thanks to her constant talking in the dungeon and its her we fight it just it's just so meh, she needed something more and now she will be part of Wuk Lamat's story forever and it sucks! Also I am still irritated that she kept calling Wuk lamat by her family nickname like please that was so rude, but I also get why Wuk lamat didn't protest proepr but still! It would been more interesting if like wuk lamat was like no u can't call me that and spherne been apologetic etc, and then later at the end wuk lamat lets her call her by that, just something!

Ok so rant over there but now we get to what my hopes and fears are for the future story, as now we got a fucking mguffin that can open portals to other reflections! Which we luckily know shit about except Kriles people had it but that's all luckily since they didn't know shit about it either, and I hope it stays that way for at least another expansion as it feels we are rushing the whole "find a way to other reflections" bit way too much, it already felt a bit rushed in the endwalker patches, but now we got a mcguffin and I am worried about it!

As while I want to visit other reflections, be able to visit the first with the scions again etc, I don't want to do that just yet! There been too much of reflection stuff in the story, I want a break from that and focus on other parts of the world we haven't been to, like Mercedia, Graha's home land, the Roegadyn homeland etc, I want to wait and let Y'sthola work more on finding a way, as I fear this mcguffin will make things way too easy and solve this whole thing, I want the story to wait, let us do other shit while this storyline can be like in the background a bit, and not the focus! And then it can blow up and be the focus again! I feel we need a break from it and I fear this will be the focus of the patches that is going to come.

After all the best part of the msq for me was when we just enjoyed ourselves in the new world and places we got to explore, where there was no mention except some smaller references and the reflections was not in the focus. I just want a break from it let it brew and stop rushing it!

But I am hopeful that this is something that will take awhile, since we literally have no clue what or where the mcguffin even came from or what it is, so I hope this will mean that it will take awhile, and that we can focus on other things like the electric sickness in solution 9 and their whole messing with souls there! I want clarification on if Alexandria etc is from the reflection from the second umbral calamity or not, as the hints are there as it would make sense, but I do not want to focus on traveling to any reflections for now. I want to explore other things so badly get to do new things and not reflection stuff please.

The only exception to any reflection focus is if something gets fucked up and the WoL gets sent to a reflection alone, with no one there to help us while the scions etc tries to find and contact us, that is the only reflection story I will be ok with getting at the moment as I want things to go wrong more and not feel as easy as it feels currently when it comes to travelling to the reflections!

Ok so think I have gotten out all that I wanted to say, sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes but I can't be bothered to fix shit, thanks for coming to my ted talk and feel free to chime in with your own thoughts and so on would love to chat or clear up any misunderstandings, as I know I am not the best at explaining stuff at times xD

[noahtally-famous]

Tell me about Picking Petals and that time travel AU of TDPI

Is the elimination order different, or does it go the same way as canon?

oh my godddd this ask has been sitting in my drafts for two months now i think?? ive been holding back on answering this bc i wanted to be in the right environment where i can infodump without getting interrupted. im so so super sorry for the long wait, i hope my response makes up for it!!

first of all, TYSM FOR THE ASK DUDE heads up you're gonna prob get a longass ramble abt this from me so yeah lmao without further ado, lets get into it!

PICKING PETALS:

the fic loml, the first EVER td fic i thought up and I've three chapters prewritten for it, half of the fic planned out/outlined, and so many scenes, moments, interactions, etc for it thought up. i'd gotten back into the fandom and while rewatching tdpi for the first time in 7 years i came up with this idea.

started off as purely self-indulgent bc i wanted to write my spin on the truth or scare episode, and then it turned into all this and im so living for it!!

dashawn-centric, obv. it veers off-course from canon during and after episode 4 (the truth or scare one). the overarching plot is 'what if dave and shawn kissed for the scare, and all the shenanigans that followed with getting feelings for someone you didn't expect all bc of one (1) kiss--as well as some other stuff that snowballs from it bc its total drama'. this is TOTALLY canon divergent. the elimination order is 90% different from canon. the characters get way more depth to the point where they may seem like different ppl with only their canon stereotypes reminding them of who they are in canon (not different as in like ooc btw before anyone jumps to that conclusion, i meant different as in a lot of the characters get more of a personality than what canon gave them lmao). a lot of my dave lore spawned thanks to this fic. dave, himself, gets such a fucking glowup from the 2D version of him canon gave while still retaining his 'normal guy' persona. same with shawn tbh, i love the expansion I've done for the characters in this fic ngl, but personally i love how dave turned out

dave & ella friendship, dave & sky friendship, background jasammy, jasmine & shawn friendship, sammy & shawn friendship, mild sammy & dave camaderie/friendship, sammy & amy development, dave & topher rivalry interactions, dave & scarlett interactions, shawn & topher rivalry, the final three being a ball of tension bc of enmity (i wont say who they are), ella getting her development, dives into character backstories and why they auditioned for td, tensionnn of all kinddd, dramaaa of all kinddd, scarlett's evilness actually being foreshadowed before the Great Reveal, etc etc the list just keeps on going!! these folks are gonna have tdi vibes--they're going to act like teens and befriend each other (or hate each other) bc canon tdpi sorely lacked that and imo the pi cast exudes found family vibes

due to how variant the elimination order is, i literally had to create two new challenges for two of the chapters, esp post-merge bc chris was interjecting himself into practically all the challenges in canon lmaoo also tdpi's eliminations were annoying bc why were there two double eliminations for literally no reason? that's gonna change here as well; no double eliminations, and there's gonna be a variant of elimination types (for example: there's gonna be a 'character is too injured to compete therefore obligatory elimination' type happening in this fic--hmmm i wonder who'll be behind the injury... and some more "scandalous" types bc this is total drama, it's not gonna live up to its name if there aren't any eliminations that are 'unfair'!)

starts from ep4 all the way to the finale--and speaking of the finale, the finalists are partly different from canon too. like i said, nearly everything diverges from canon to a degree. i kind of went nuts with this fic lmao its my bby, i treasure it with my heart, i want to write more for it, i want to publish it so badly, but my goal is to get at least 20 chapters into agtsta before publishing picking petals (tho idk i think that plan might change...im considering maybe giving myself breathing time to get more prewriting done until january before starting the new year off right with some picking petals posting!)

REWIND, REPEAT:

the time-travel au fic!! its still heavily in the works so im basically spitballing ideas here, but im thinking of two options.

dave time-travel route:

initially my idea for this fic (can you tell i love putting dave in situations? that boy deserves to be spun in a mixing bowl), and it'd be interesting bc he's sort of like an anti-villain?? bc its directly after the finale when he gets left behind and attacked by scuba bear. he comes across some malfunctioning tech on the island while running away and BOOM next thing he knows he's somehow zapped back to where and when it started--on the blimp at the very beginning of the season. so he is still reeling from everything that occurred and naturally he isn't feeling too lightly abt the whole ordeal

some of my mutuals may know this, but when i was like 10 and watched tdpi for the first time, i made notes for a season 2 au; it involved a personality shift for dave (even when i was 10 he was one of my favs). my idea in the notes was that he became a hollyleaf, if you know warrior cats lmao; he's more reserved, there's this inner turmoil and energy coiled in him, he's an enigma, he doesn't open up much, he has this Dark Secret vibe surrounding him, but he's also clever and will do anything to get to his goal and he has extensive knowledge of the island due to his time on there. this personality remains the same more or less in this fic. the catch is dave acts more in a villainy way but he doesn't rlly have what it takes to be a villain even though a part of him wants to (hence anti-villain). as much as he pretends he doesn't, he still has emotions--just heavily barricaded, and those emotions prevent him from fully losing his head. he forms an alliance with scarlett (and maybe topher??? idk why i love that trio sm, they would be so iconic when it came to villainy; bonus if sugar informally joins too, not as like a set part of their group tho bc she has her own agenda) and has one goal in mind: to get sky eliminated. gone is the lovestruck fool, he's revenge-driven and says he doesn't have time for love bc he's in it for the competition. (idk yet if there will be love interests for him or if this is just gonna be a dave-centric fic). the finalists are prob gonna be dave and sky bc that'd be fucking iconic after the build-up

shawn & dave friendship, topher & dave alliance, scarlett & dave alliance, sugar & dave hesitant alliance, sky & dave one-sided enmity, ella & dave friendship, maybe more depth abt beardo?? or leonard?? jasmine & dave mutual wariness and distrust, chris absolutely loving this version of dave

sammy time-travel route:

development (lots of development!) on sammy's end as well as her relationship with her sister amy. she'll prob be a finalist too?? or at least in the final four/three, and idk i want it to be a sammy & amy finale but idk if that's too cliche lmaoo i think it'd be interesting!

this one's different. shortly after tdpi ended, sammy partakes in a "controlled experiment" with several other teens with the reward of getting paid a somewhat hefty amount. she decides why not, seems simple enough, but when it's her turn there's a fluke and she gets chucked back in time to the beginning of tdpi (which was the last thing she'd been thinking abt before the experiment). however, maybe one or two episodes in, she decides to take charge in the situation she's going through and adopts a 'fuck it we ball' attitude abt the whole thing where she tries to be a different person--the kind of person she's always aspired to be like but amy had always belittled her for--and this makes her less of a pushover overtime and instead more bolder and persistent in getting as far as she can.

she makes new friends that she hadnt noticed or gotten the chance to become closer with when she initially was on the show. maybe ella & sammy friendship, jasammy, either scamy or scarlett & amy 'we're gonna betray each other' alliance OR scarlett & sammy 'friendship' OR a scarlett using manipulative tactics to play both sisters, etc etc.

both her version and dave's versions of this fic idea are different bc neither of them are fixated on the prize money. they have their own agendas for getting ahead of the rest. dave for revenge and beating sky; sammy for being the person she's always wanted to be and actually moving past the box amy placed her in.

third option (that i literally thought up like ten seconds after writing the sammy route):

COMBINE THE TWO OPTIONS, that'd be pretty sick ngl like dave's on the island when he flashes back and believes he's the only one in the past, but sammy, at the same time, had partaken in that experiment and flashed back to the past too; neither know the other is in the same predicament bc they try to hide it thinking they're the only one until like...later in when they start getting Suspicious and maybe some slip-ups occur bc they're tryna keep a low-profile but things happen y'know? they're 16 year olds who figured out time-travel exists, obv they're gonna fuck around and find out. possible alliance between the two once everything is out in the open? out of pure mutual beneficiary? it'd be funny bc both their personas are on opposing sides lmaoo dave & sky finale, with sammy and amy ending up post-merge? sammy's prob still gonna be in the final four, i think, but idk abt amy lmao i still think before amy gets eliminated she and sammy have a Confrontation bc i def need sammy to confront amy one way or another lmao that girl deserves it, they deserve a Heather & Lindsay Confrontation, sammy deserves to call amy a bitch on international television

ooooh and somehow scarlett finds out?? and tries to get her hands on the technology, but obv time is finicky so dave and sammy can't rlly allow that so they gotta stop her as a joint agenda while they have their own separate ones to deal with?? so this paves way for a true scarlett villain?? she'd make it to the final five or three, i think?

for this idea, there are gonna be multiple povs--dave and sammy's--and it's gonna be multi-plot too; dave and his conflict; sammy and her conflict; and how both alter the season bc of said conflicts and their attitudes abt them; plus the scarlett conflict

(y'know what i may end up going this route lmao bc i love both separate versions and im indecisive as fuck so my motto is if you can combine the options do it!)

[clawcommanderabsinthe]

Rant ahead. Beware.

That being said. My rant about a VERY specific group of destiny players.

So. Lightfall has come out. It gave us Strand, Neomuna, new Exotics and of course, Nimbus.

Ever since the expansion dropped, I see people being like: "Bleurgh Nimbus is soooo cringe"/ "Cayde-6 was better!"/ "Cayde was never this disrespectful/knew when to be serious"

That's bullshit but we'll get to that.

First off. Cayde has been deadin game for 5 damn years. Forsaken launched 2018 and he literally dies in Mission 1. Get tf over it. I know many loved him but he's gone, okay?

Not only that but he tells us in the Ace of Spades mission that his Story is over. So y'all (you know who you are) still clinging to him and using him to annoy everyone else should just grow a fuckin pair.

Now we get to the fun part.

I admit, i haven't finished Lightfall yet but I have seen Nimbus' cutscenes and did the strike against the Taken thus far.

Nimbus, during the entire raid, seems very concerned about the threat that the Taken pose to Neomuna and the CloudArk. They barely crack any jokes (if any) and try their best to help us during the Mission.

Now. Lets look at the two strikes Cayde is still in (dunno if Arms Dealer is still in rotation. Only returned to D2 last week). Anyway. In "Exodus Down" Cayde is EXTREMELY disrespectful to Failsafe, asks us to find some Golden Age loot for him "even if its just a Crew cup" and is extremely disappointed when we don't bring anything.

The point of the Strike is to protect Failsafes Ship from the Eliksni Raid Team that's stripping it for Tech and Parts. Exactly the same thing that Cayde wants us to do for his personal gain.

And if i remember correctly he does the exact same stuff during "Arms Dealer". Where we are send to take out an extremely Dangerous Cabal Weapons supplier. He shows little to no serious concern to the mission and is just cracking jokes left and right.

And don't get me started on the Forsaken intro mission. Sure, his death was handled serious but everything else wasn't.

Long rant and maybe just rambles but I am legit so sick and tired of these braindead takes.

Just fucking enjoy Cayde, let others enjoy Nimbus but don't fuckin force your dumbass comparisons on everyone.

They're different people from different expansions that have different roles to play.

Let be and be let be.

[2n2n]

Hi hi I pretty recently got back into tbhk and fell harder than before lol. And I just gotta say I love your content! It's so refreshing to see someone in the fandom who.. idk... just gets it. Like the complexity of the manga and the relationships in it. Ever since I got back into the manga I've been reading all kinds of theories and discussions online, because just. Seeing people ramble about stuff they like for paragraphs gives me so much serotinin idk. But most of the time my brain would just go "he would not say that" mode gdhdvd case in point how so many still don't think Amane loves and cares about Tsukasa despite the manga basically screaming it into your face.

So yeah basically I just had to say I love your posts and godspeed 💫

ITS A GREAT TIME TO BE BACK INTO JSHK!!!! It couldn't be more exciting right now ((: every update steams my brain into a soft expanse.

AHAHA gosh well I'm glad I'm to your taste ahahaha, yeah… most discussions feel kind of "stuck" in conclusions drawn from the earliest volumes. It feels like many are still only ever looking at that bandaged classroom Amane, and drawing their conclusions off of scant exchanges between the twins from vol 4-7. It feels like everything from vol16 onwards is not really taken into consideration… !

I barely exit my own little pen but when I do, gah ahahahaha it's very "he would not say that" … completely missing the beauty and artistry of the manga!! It's quite egregious at this point, isn't it? Of course Amane loves Tsukasa, so painfully he can't look at him for long. So many scenes, and then all of Aida-sensei's doodles … I think it's just a kind of stubbornness. Some people wanna double down on their first impressions forever, I think! Especially if they made them super emotionally, or their friends did xD I think there's a kind of 'lowest common denominator' thinking that is sort of falsely elevated on the pretense of it simply being the "least risky thing to say". A lot of people these days communicate in like, big group chats, very social platforms with a lot of spectating … so what floats to the top is … the same 'safe' things to suggest or infer, you've heard 1 million times before, but everyone will 'yeah!' to. In that environment, it's best to double down repeatedly on what you've all socially already agreed on being 'the take' … you don't get a lot of "I reread the whole manga from top to bottom, and, actually I think everything we've been thinking is wrong, based on new context?" ahaha....

anyhoo…. thank you ^^!!! I really.. would make my posts even if nobody liked them at all….. but I am happy to entertain hehehe. It's such a fun manga!!! it's such a good time!!!! hope you have a lot of fun too coming back to it :DDD

[neriyon]

Oh right I said something about giving my opinions on the expansion so uh, I guess I should start writing them out now.

Obiviously spoilers for the entirety of Dawntrail MSQ!!!

Tbh I don't know where to start iuefhiuefh.

Uhhh graphical update turned out nice! Out of the 3 of us, me and Shu kinda questioned if the update even happened since Hawu'li and Dre were virtually same as before, and Nana (player) kept mentioning how cute Nana (character) looks now. My only complaint is that Hawu'li's eyes are like one or two shades darker than they used to be, and I'm currently kinda debating if I want to bother using fantasia to fix it.

Enviroments look nice, and while I'm yet to go to many of the old areas (I sent Shu to go look at Il Mheg while me and Nana sat in que and it looked very nice), new areas are gorgeous! All of us literally screamed out loud when we noticed that the grass bends when you touch it haha. I'm also personally fan of the little tilt thing mounts do now if you strafe - it's very satisfying and I keep strafing around just to see my bike or flying mount tilt (❁´◡`❁)

As for story: I'm genuely surprised to see posts that some people didn't like it? I wouldn't call it my favorite expansion, but to me the story was good and the characters enjoyable. Only thing I'd complain about is that the pacing is very funky at times: first few areas are fine, then it slows down to a crawl, then speeds up very quickly to again slow down to almost complete halt before things pick up again. I still fail to care too much about the "cowboy area" - it felt very disconnected from everything else. Kinda same with the moblin area, but at least that place had some connectivity to the competition (+ the kidnap plot).

Meanwhile the "blue area" (sorry about the terms iauefhhu I don't have game open rn and I am chronically incapable of remembering any names) felt rushed: we wander in, no one wants to talk to us, then suddenly the big antagonist up till that point just goes "hey uh our culture's fucked, if you wanna change it I'll help". Imo that could've used some more time. Maybe have the Wuk Lamat instance happen earlier, and have the big lizard man think about things a bit longer, just to make it feel like he didn't change his entire worldview in like, half a quest.

As mentioned, cowboy area felt incredibly boring to me and I honestly don't know why. Catboy tribe was fine - I'd rather go spend more time with them. Their whole thing was pretty rushed, and while I have a small feeling that they'll be part of the patch storylines, I'd liked if we had been given a bit more time with them before things went to hell again.

Heritage found, Solution 9 and all that was better paced and the storytelling there was great! Like seeing one of the npcs forget about the old dead lady within seconds felt very horrifying. Shu and Nana haven't gotten that far yet (I finished the story on my own after returning home), but I remember spamming groupchat with "what the fuuuuuck that's so fucked" and stuff like that lol. Attack on Tuliyollal too, I think I have a few screenshots saved of npcs I noticed crying after dead loved ones on the streets right after it. Devs did great job portraying how scary the entire thing was.

What else uhhhh.... oh right the last area. Absolutely gorgeous again, and I do get the lore reasons, but damn does it suck having the areas go all lifeless if you want to finish story. I was looking forward to taking pictures there in the future :/ I did try and take some quick shots everywhere before going forward, but I'm sure I missed something. Probably have to get new game+ to that point when DT gets added there just for more screenshot locations.

This is already getting long but idc I'm rambling about characters too. Erenville sweet baby boy I am so sorry the entire last half became a personal nightmare for you (┬┬﹏┬┬) But we got to see him smile! Like actually smile not just tiny smirks! (I should have screenshot of that too lol) They better not write him completely out after this, I wanna go on adventures with him - something that doesn't leave him traumatized maybe.

Also pushing every Wuk Lamat disliker out of the way to hang out with her more. She was a very fun character, and I loved the fact that she actually went and did things on her own, not waiting around for WoL to save her every time like many of the npcs tend to do. She and Hawu'li are besties now.

Green G'raha Koana was a positive surprise too! Smart and a bit snobbish catboy who's bad with his feelings, but makes effort to learn and grow for his people and sister. Absolutely loved him getting very angry when Wuk Lamat was in danger - nerdy cat can go little feral, as a treat. Definitely added into Hawu'li's ever growing polycule - not into his bracelet yet, but they defenitely kissed during msq and probably started (casually) going out after.

Sphene... I really like her dress lol. Uhh I personally felt she was very sus from the start, but I feel like Hawu'li would've not picked up on those. Her plan would've come as complete surprise to him, and made him very very sad. Hawu'li's very "there's always a way if we just try hard enough" type of person, and being told that it's either having everyone else in the universe die or having the Endless die would've seriously got him feeling down for some time. Being a WoL means killing people to protect others sometimes, he knows that, but still. Luckily he had people there with him, who will keep supporting him, but he'll most likely need a little vacation after all this. (Luckily the Tuliyollali inn room is perfect for that haha)

Aaaand lastly, some random thoughts all tossed in no particular order since I can't ramble in the tags:

"This old man (Ketenramm) has more HD face than all of us combined D:" - me

*him saying something about being more than a guest to Gulool Ja Ja* -> me, quietly whispering in vc: "old man yaoi..."

Whomst the fuck did Zoraal Ja get his kid with??? There wasn't a single other lizard in Solution Nine, and I don't remember seeing any in Heritage Found either. Hell, none of the Alexandria flashbacks show any lizard people either. Did he just get some random hyur lady off the street? If yes then what happened to her? Did she die in childbirth? Got killed by Zoraal Ja for whatever reason?

Tiny jumpscare when milalla lore started saying stuff about "calamity that froze everything" and "came from somewhere else" and I, for a tiny second, feared they'd give some canon lore regarding Sixth and I'd have to go rewrite bunch of things in my own lore for the place. (luckily saved by msq mentioning the most likely came from source)

Happy that they gave us the alpaca mount for free! It's so adorable.

Sad that I had to use 7,5mil gil to get the purple bike mount 😑 I mean Hawu'li is swimming in money since I rarely buy anything (last "big buy" was that golden sheep), but muh money. At least it's a neat mount

They really went "you feel like you aren't needed healers? say no more, heal checks for everyone!". Last time I had to sweat that much on trial fight was Zeromus - DT made every trial pretty intense to heal.

That last trial holy fuck my brain is NOT big enough for it. I somehow survived with only one death (we wiped within like first 30 seconds lol), but god it was so stressful

Dungeons were generally neat, but I noticed a distinct "fuck mages and anyone with long cast times". So so much movement in almost every fight.

"En Avant saves lives" is true for the whm dash skill too. That skill is the best thing we've gotten in ages, it's saved me so many times when I notice I'm in wrong spot at the very last second.

SCREE BOSS! I was so happy when I save it omg. The boss before that sucked but seeing scree made it all better. (Our party immediately went "scree!" in chat lol)

Haven't seen all dungeon drops yet, but craftable/vendor gear is a bit meh. Happy for people who like those Mad Max bondage sets, but I'm not a fan. 98 gear being recolored Ironworks gear was not on my bingo list, but at least the healer top was nice for the few levels I wore it during leveling.

Login ques haven't been too bad! Idk how it goes on NA servers, but on Lich longest que I've seen after the launch (right after launch we had 2,8k que) is like, 40.

Dungeon ques were nonexistent on whm during msq, but now that I'm trying to level dps I regularily get 40 minute waits. Kinda debating if I should just switch to sch and level summoner with that, then swap back and learn to play it on like last dunegon or something.

Fates seem to give like half a mil exp (exp boosted ones give double iirc), so I've just been doing them while sitting in que.

Yet to try picto or viper but they look fun.

Azem mark on the key thing just before the final fight made me immediately think about Eleos coming to help his lovely little shard again 🥺

Koana has very nice jp voice, but I can't shake the feeling I know it from somewhere. Apparently I managed to get a screenshot of credits where his VAs are shown and *jazz hands* his seiyuu is Kaito Ishikawa. So it's probably his role as Iida (BNHA) that I'm recognizing since I've been watching bnha while eating for past few weeks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh right and since I mentioned that N'jinh would go with Hawu'li this time: I'm slowly putting everything together after MSQ but I think he'll come along right from the start. Tural catboy lore doesn't fit him too well lol.

[elvenbeard]

AAHHH!!! I *finally* got to play a little more Phantom Liberty today öahjsdföasklfasfhdfs

First I wanted to riot slightly cause GoG didn't find my install anymore (but rescanning folders did the trick).

Man OH MAN. I'm really just rambling about how fucking cool this game is below the cut, but beware of spoilers!!

"How the fuck do I keep ending up in these situations..."

I played all the way up to meeting Reed and agreeing to work with him back in the President's hideout. This was also the point up until I'd seen the gameplay at Phantom Liberty Tour back in August, but I also saw a loooot of new stuff o.o The demo back then started at entering the Stadium (when V walks through that area with cyberarms hanging from the ceiling) - stopped at meeting Myers in the crashed plane - continued at arriving at the hideout with her and then ended, as I said, with shaking hands with Reed.

SO. The whole "how do we get the president to the hideout" sequence was completely new to me AND MAAAN. That Chimera fight was so good like?? The whole setup and everything, I didn't expect such a big and epic boss fight so early on in the expansion at all, really sets the tone I guess xD First V gets his face bashed in by the President, then gets his ribs broken by this thing, things can only get better from here on. That whole section gave me such Bioshock vibes actually like... the Art Deco architecture the "amazing city that turned out so awful" vibes, it's impeccable, and I love it so so much. Really gotta take some time to properly explore everything (and now I gotta wait for Reed to call me back so, best opportunity).

I saw that thing under the tarp and was like "oh yeah, later on in the story this is gonna come back to bite me in the ass" - only that in this case "later" was "five minutes later" not "10 story missions later" as I anticipated XD

Also, I gotta say, I really don't trust Myers or Songbird much at this point with their intentions. I mentioned this previously... how convenient for Songbird to know to contact V via the Relic, but how the hell did she know about it in the first place, that he had it, where he was at, etc.? And then, in the Space Force One Wreck there was the shard with the answer! They knew about the Konpeki heist and two involved mercs through an informant potentially working at Arasaka. Yet, when I then deliberately chose a dialogue later on where V was like "yeah, I got Arasaka's Relic stuck in my head" Myers was all "oh, what really! how peculiar!". And maybe she really didn't know and I'm reading too much into it, but I'm really not liking her vibes atm at all XD (as a character though she's so cool, not at all how I'd picture a typical NUSA president, and I get the impression she doesn't really like the role all that much - I wanna read up on her background lore as soon as I'm done playing XD). AND. The shard on the plane specifically mentions Johnny on the Relic AND I'M CALLING IT NOW like I called it before, I BET they're really after Johnny's engram to do some experimenting with it for some fucked up Militech scheme. And in return V gets to live or some crap. URGH. I hope I'm wrong but I said it before "Phantom Liberty" (if you read it as in "a ghost that was freed" or "no real freedom") screams to me that this all boils down to something happening to Johnny in a messed up way in the end in exchange for V's life. Analogue to the Devil ending, but instead of Arasaka you have Militech/NUSA (if I'm wrong, please don't spoiler it to me, and if I'm right or close, please don't spoiler it either XD I wanna see just how far off I am myself XDD)

Songbird being MIA is hmmm... Not quite suspicious, but I'm wondering if she is still alive or maybe also doomed to be a construct now, but I'm really not sure. It would be kinda disappointing, I'd like to meet her in person still and am excited to see what she is gaining in all of this. I like the tragic "gifted criminal kid turned government asset" trope a lot and I'm curious to see how her story develops.

I'm also loving all the lifepath specific dialogues so much, I'm actually learning something new now and then about what Vince's Arasaka job was actually truly like at the core!

Also Myers roasting him for not having had a high enough security clearance to know about Reed xDD So rude! But I'm so so so curious how Ex-Arasaka agent with occasional homesickness to the corporate world and FIA-Sleeper agent with a big Arasaka-grudge are gonna work together o.o

I feel like, they're either really gonna see eye-to-eye very much or will continue to clash over and over and V is gonna come out as the loser at the end of this xD But currently, me as the player I'm trusting no one, and Vince as being caught up in all of this tries to play nice and be on everyone's good side but behind the scenes does not trust any of them one bit either xD It's really more a one hand washes the other kinda deal for him with no long-term obligations.

I'm also LOVING Johnny in all of this so far like... Vince and he don't get along that well most of the time for a variety of reasons. And so far, even though I got the Sun ending as my canon (as of right now), I feel like Vince acted more out of desperation than real trust or anything in going down that path and not any other. So I think Phantom Liberty *might* be the storyline that has been missing for me personally so far to really legitimize to myself that Vince would trust Johnny enough to let him take over his body for that last mission or go on a suicide run through Arasaka Tower with him. They are really seeing eye to eye on a lot of the stuff that's going on, both paranoid and suspicious, both not liking to swear any oaths or work for the FIA or anything like that. Bonding over their shared dislike for all the secrecy and scheming xD

Speaking of timelines, I found an ingame date for the 16th of June about an meeting Myers was to attend and another meeting scheduled for June 18th - sounding like the 16th is already passed at this point and the plane crash probably happening on the 16th or 17th or something like this... which completely throws my previously established timeline overboard :D But also stretches the canonical timeline a bit, if my assumptions are right, which would be nice and a lot more realistic than "like, a month, for all of that to happen". (For reference, in my timeline for Vince without PL I put the last quest on June 9th).

But that's only speculation ofc!

Then I also had my first vehicle gig for Muamar and omggg I loved this little convo with him so fucking much?? Like, this really built up his character so nicely, and the whole car stealing scheme would also be super down Vince's alley XD

And this exchange I LOVED sm:

Vince, car nerd surpreme, offering to fix the Cap's car, and Muamar's response: certain things I don't do halfway -> my clothes, my cut, my cars. Vince 100% seconds that sentiment XDD Like, so far I have to admit Muamar never really grabbed me that much as a character and I felt like he and Vince probably didn't have much in common. I was wrong XD

I also wanted to pay Mr. Hands a visit in his funky pyramid, but he wouldn't let me in yet. I'm so looking foward to finally playing his gigs now :D And seeing what else Dogtown has to offer in terms of stories and side jobs :o

Others mentioned it already, but I'm loving this place's design so so much... it feels like a different city altogether, the style of the buildings and everything is so unique and it's such a biiiig sprawling place o.o

And a random little thing I noticed, there's a lot of little cinematic moments now (the contextual removal of the HUD for conversations for example is such a good new feature). And occasionally the camera will automatically pan to interesting events or V's optics zoom in automatically - it was a bit weird the first time it happened but I really like it in a way? I noticed it during the part of rescuing Myers where you had to sneak past the huge Barghest drone (also such a good good moment, I'm loving all the stealth, parkour, and whatnot, the level design is *so good* hhhhh).

And finally, when I decided "okay, I'm gonna go to bed now" and was just about to close the game... I got a text message from Kerry I didn't know yet :DDD

(the fucking emojis with noses, Kerry pls, your age is really showing)

Like... I did not expect new texts from the LIs, and yeah, this got me really excited xD (and yeh I obviously had to read all the different outcomes and there *are* some differences depending on what you text back. I love it sm). AND. Then I called him. And there's new conversations about the events of PL too??? Hello?

Man I wish there was something like that for the other missions but obviously, with how late-game Kerry's romance is that sadly doesn't make much sense. So this is also something that made me tremendously happy (and also adds some new depth and bits and pieces to Kerry's character, which I'm always so here for XD). Exicted to see if there's more to talk about with him as the expansion progresses - I doubt it, but I'm ready to be surprised, maybe also by the other main NPCs that you're not in a relationship with.

That one V will definitely bear in mind for whatever is to come. Hhhhh I'm so excited!!

[laciefuyu]

NXX Feat FFXIV

(aka I am blasting my niche)

Apologize in advance for long text LOL

People who follow me before my new obsession aka Tears of Themis definitely know I keep using FFXIV quotes for my Jedi gifset (which I will willingly attest that it has some of the best writing in the media.) 

Anyway if I didn't make it my niche aka Tears of Themis x FFXIV that won't be me. So let's ramble about NXX members and what they will play (race and main jobs) and faves NPCs in the game and whatever popped up in my mind.

Main Character/Rosa

She was thinking of an idea for team bonding because they are friends and she wants to do something together

Luke proposed FFXIV because it's an MMO (so they all can play together) and has a good story.

She looked up and immediately agreed after seeing the glams of the various wol (warrior of light/playable character)l.

She was thinking of playing as a female miqo'te at first but she saw how jacked female roegadyn is, immediately steering to it with the speed of light.

She knows she wants to avoid tanks and healers because that is too much responsibility when she just wants to attack.

She ends up with arch/brd (archer/bard) for starters because 1) physical range means away from big mechanics 2) she just wants to shoot the boss from far.

Later end up becoming the main mch (machinist) because 1) cool gun 2) she is learning to shoot irl so it makes it more fun for her 3) she can PEW PEW in the game.

Always going blind to any dungeon, trial, and raid.

Because FFXIV can make you play all jobs if you will it, she tried it all eventually but she prefers being dps especially range dps

Sometimes she fights with people on forums because people keep saying mch is a useless job, and she will not stand for it!!!!

Likes to collect glams so she often drags NXX boys to farm a certain raid and dungeon to get variations.

Her favorites are Minfilia and Lyse. She really loves their characters.

She is also fond of Aymeric and G'raha. 

Used to dislike Emet-Selch but then she sobbed over him. After that, she will clown Emet-Selch whenever he shows up on the screen.

She loves Venat after Endwalker.

Artem Wing

He chose to play Elezen. He actually prefers duskwight elezen but seeing the psychiatrist stating he is going to play duskwight, he detracted from his choice because he doesn't want to ruin the mood.

Rosa casually mentioned isn't he want to play as duskwight because he was looking for the lore, and because Vyn has brain cells he put it together and gave Artem a dirty look. 

(It's just a feeling, but I think Artem in general is not sure where to put himself in a friend group especially when one of them previously had some kinda bad blood between them.)

They Have a Fun Talk™

Anyway in the end Artem still played as wildwood elezen but at least the air between the two is no longer silly and tense.

(The younger trio wanna know so badly what they talk about but neither is relenting)

Because Artem is Artem he is looking up the game stuff after the idea is proposed. He is not used to playing games all that much and feels the need to know how to do it correctly so he won't end up being a bother.

Funnily, he looked up the race lore and the twelve but managed to avoid spoilers because there is always a preface of warning when it reaches that territory of expansion spoilers.

He actually studies mechanics before they enter any dungeon, trial, or raid. 

Artem ended up playing tank as main because the younger trio preferred main dps and they needed a tank. Luke is an all-rounder but he avoids healer and tank roles when possible.

He chose gld/pld (gladiator/paladin). He studied the starter tank role and found that he would like to play that job the most.

He also played dps as either mch (because it feels right since he can use a gun) or blm aka black mage (he finds it fun to get a spot and to Not Move and deliver big damage)

Actually really into the story, and take notes while cutscenes play. 

(This left the other three confused while Rosa giggled to herself because she already knows it's his mockingbird self that is surfacing.)

Is actually a really good tank because he always does his rotation and mitigation correctly. Not without stumbles but he keeps improving to the point he can play tank with ease.

Multiple times saving a normal trial/raid because he got good mitigation and clemency (healing button) and finished the raid/trial or saving healer before dying so the healer can save the rest.

His opinion of Emet-Selch is sympathetic but ultimately the damage is already done, and his end is inevitable.

He really likes Aymeric. Find it admirable that the man is able to stay in his conviction even when the place and people he wants to protect would not always stand by him. He is glad to see Aymeric people in the corner no matter how few there are. Artem hopes that he could always stay true to his conviction too like Aymeric 

Is actually crying at Venat's famous monologue. (Flabbergasted the team)

His favorite scion is papalymo therefore it made him sad when he died.

Also loves watching countries' leaders growth, especially for Merlwylb and Nanamo.

Vyn Richter

He chose to play Duskwight because he finds them fascinating and also finds that they deserve better and should be given more fleshed-out lore.

He has a Fun Talk with Artem because they are friends now and Artem needs to understand that. (Albeit Vyn thought they would be enemies longer but they are friends now he needs to make it clear.)

(He would still annoy artem time by time but that's different vibes)

For him there was no other choice but play as a healer. This just makes sense to him because he in fact has an MD. Thank you very much, he would emulate this energy in a game too.

Vyn learned healing in the game very fast. 

His starter job is arc (arcanist) but immediately steers to sch (scholar) as soon as they get lvl 30, and he actually finds it funny when the fairy jank.

His main job is sge (sage) later on. It is interesting that the attack can heal, and he wants to master it.

He actually can play all healer but he finds whm (white mage) a bit mind-numbing, and while ast (astrologian) is fun with keeping up healing, cards, and attack he prefers something more reliable like sge.

He still plays because when there is a fairy jank, he finds it fun to play. It was also his first healer job, so he was kinda attached to it.

(And because he loves the barrier healer job. He will have to heal but he loves that he could mitigate or prevent the damages.)

He sometimes argues with Artem because of his use of clemency.

("Have more faith in your healer or play healer yourself, Artem." Vyn said in annoyance.

Artem sighed, "I canceled the clemency, Vyn.")

That said, sometimes he had to hand it to Artem because his decision to save or to mitigate the healer was usually top notch.

He only ever tells him good job and does not elaborate.

The only non-healer job he plays is rdm (red mage)

He sometimes studies the mechanic before entering the dungeon/trial/raid, but sometimes he trusts his ability enough to wing it. (He said 'I will wing it' usually when they all played in the same room instead of playing in their own place. He found it funny when Artem gave him an annoyed, yet fond look.)

That said, healing the younger trio is actually more stressful than healing Artem who plays tank.

Both Rosa and Marius play main range dps, and they are always somewhere in narnia (as in a far-off range of the heals) and Vyn either had to use a rescue button or adjust his range.

Vyn never does this to Rosa, but he sometimes uses the rescue button to drag Marius straight to the killing mechanic.

("IS THAT NECESSARY?"

"Easier to kill you than healing you.")

Luke is a different kind of trouble for Vyn. He is always on range most of the time, but he is always trying to maintain uptime therefore sometimes he dies at the silliest mechanic.

Vyn, pulling a face: behave or else

(Never make your healer mad, folks)

His favorite scion ironically is Thancred.

He took a glance and saw a man full of contradictions and took it personally. He loves to psychoanalyze Thancred.

He actually hates Thancred. He is a Hater but Thancred is fun to analyze then he grows to like him as a character because the chara growth is unexpected and endearing.

He grows to love Thancred (bitter)

Vyn is also very fond of Cid. He can relate to Cid's story and how made the decision to step away from the Garlemald. Vyn hates Garlemald as soon as they are mentioned in the game.

He takes one glance at Ishgard and is immediately a Hater. Remind him too much of Svart. He thinks Aymeric is too soft and should take care of himself more instead of the ungrateful country.

He is pretty sympathetic to Yotsuyu albeit in the end, he knows there is no good end for her.

He hates Emet-Selch. 

He is very fond of Y'shtola because one sane person (in his opinion) and the sass along with intellectuals are fun to see.

He grows to like the twin.

He has a lot of Opinion™ on Venat but ultimately he could see it as a desperate gambit at the end of the world.

"This is why an ethical class is needed for scientists and the like. Also, Hermes needs therapy. His coping mechanism is to drag the world to hell."

Luke Pearce

He is the one who suggested FFXIV when Rosa suggested gaming as bonding time.

He is actually a veteran player but uses a new game+ mode so he can enjoy the game with them.

He has an alts which male sun seeker mi'qote but his main is a male midlander hyur.

He likes to say he plays all roles but he actually doesn't like healing as much even though he can do it very well and his habit as a melee player is always bleeding through when he is tanking which causes healers to get annoyed at him.

(He still gets healer annoyed at him as melee dps but he always delivers big damage so.)

His main from the beginning is pgl/mnk (pugilist/monk) and he is one of the few people who lament when the devs tried to remove some positionals. ("But that's the fun of playing monk!!!")

Is actually a melee jobs specialist, but his best damage has always been when he plays mnk.

Luke tried to not be silly for Vyn but his Positional Is Important™

("Sorry Vyn! But-

"-My positional is important."

"Yes." Embarrassed.

Vyn sighed.)

He is the one who calls out for extreme trials or savage raids.

He knows most mechanics, that's why he can clear things with ease, the only issue is that as melee, he is very greedy for more damage so all his dead usually is silly.

He knows the story is good, so he was looking forward to seeing all of them reacting to it.

Luke already predicted all of Rosa's possible reactions to it. There is something satisfying watching people reacting as expected in certain scenes

He is happy to know Marius also likes it, commenting on what he likes and also sobbing at some parts. He finds all of Vyn's comments either funny or very on point.

Artem was unexpected because Luke didn't expect the oldest to be very taken to the story, even taking notes and all. He provides thoughtful opinions that give him more insight into a game. Luke thought he already aced all the lore then there is Artem.

Luke is HELLA curious about what is written in the notes.

His favorite scion is G'raha, previously it was Minfilia. He likes their optimistic view, and he cried a lot over Minfilia's fate and G'raha's life during shadowbringer. Hope Punk all the way!!

He hates Emet-Selch's gut for a while but also pities him because Emet-Selch lost so many people he loves and Luke could understand the feeling.

The burden of memory, but he couldn't approve of the way Emet-Selch handled it either. It's complicated.

He is very fond of Hythlodaeus and thinks that kinds of people are needed in life. To not take life too seriously and enjoy it.

He loves Meteion and is very sad about her story. In the first playthrough to Endwalker, he cried at cutscenes before the Final Dungeon.

When he played the game again with NXX, he found he started to take Venat quotes to heart. 

He respects Venat as a character.

Marius Von Hagen

He was scrolling through the races and found the most perfect fit of the character he wanted. Male Viera.

He took forever designing his character to the point that Rosa and Vyn are actually bombing his dm to get faster. Luke uses his main, so he waited for them to finish and in the meantime does roulette for dungeon/trial/raid. Artem is already finished but also looking for mechanics and lore, and most gameplay. 

His starter job is arch/brd but it also became his main. His other DPS are dnc (dancer) and smn (summoner).

Marius always goes blind when doing dungeons/trials/raids. He and Rosa high-fived over this.

He and Rosa are also the most obsessed with glam therefore he always roped all of them to hunt ones. 

("Listen, I want this so badly, Artem!"

 "Me too! The phys ranger gear is so good in this one so please 🥹")

Both of them always roped Artem 1) Easier to convince (softie mode on) 2) Luke prefers to heal if he has to fill in either tank or healer 3) Vyn can be convinced but takes time.

Also the one who is most into PVP in FFXIV

"Killing people is so fun." About Frontline mode PVP

Payton almost had a heart attack hearing it out of context once. Marius has to explain it's about a game.

"C'mon let's play Rival Wing mode!!!" Marius every time they could have time to play together. Luke and he tries to outdo kills each other whenever they get on different sides.

He sometimes knew that he annoyed Vyn with his playstyle, but that only tempted him more. The result, ofc, the occasional dragged to killing mechanic.

("Worth it." 

Marius famous last words)

His favorite character is Guydelot. Rosa knows who Guydelot is because she also plays brd. The others find out of curiosity.

("He speaks to my soul you see."

"Being a drama queen?"

"Missy! How could you!")

His favorite scions are Alphinaud and Alisaie. He is really fond of their character growth. He also has a few things he relates to each twin (family legacy, finding his own path, unlearning some behavior) and he couldn't help but cheer for them. 

He loves Emet-Selch but will clown him whenever he is on screen.

("Making fascist empire to cope? Please be serious.")

Venat/Hydaelyn's last farewell made him really sad. 

He is also really curious about Artem's notes on FFXIV.

Also despite his first playthrough blunder, he is a really good brd. He always maintains his rotation if he doesn't die.

("I am a perfect support."

"Please fix your bad habit of going far off then.")

Miscellaneous

They sometimes end up using FFXIV as a reference for what they talked about and confuse people

Luke carries them through other contents such as Deep Dungeon.

Whenever Luke used the callout for the first time ex trial/savage raid, Artem was always confused about what even fisting the ground meant.

Vyn is such a good healer that it carries thru PVP 

Marius really loves giving ideas for group glams. Artem and Vyn used to resist it but now it is just a fact of life.

Rosa has tons of their gpose.

That’s what I have so far lmao. Anyone can agree or disagree, this is just my opinion after all but if this is actually a springboard for a fic where NXX finds out about Artem’s mockingbird persona? Hahaha… Unless? The NXX Idols AU is shoving guns to my temple now.

 Hope you all enjoy my niche LOL