#like there's a lot of story threads from the first game that have been being woven

[exilethegame]

hiii pheo, from what i remember you play dragon age too, how are we feeling about the upcoming game??

Oooh so many mixed feelings. Rn for me it's a classic case of I **want** to be excited... but then EA is the one publishing the game so like... 🧍🏻

I'm def planning to keep an ear out for reviews before buying. However, I'm also in the camp of not letting nostalgia ruin the potential for a new game, especially since it seems they're changing a few things re. combat mechanics and the general format of the RPG. I'm also not saying I am a little scared for Varric in this game for some reason but... 👀

He's v much giving me "long-time companion character who's lived out his hay-days and will now die a tragic death to inspire the player." Also... I'm very curious about the Alistair/Hawke/Stroud Abyss storyline in DAI b/c there were so many theories surrounding that, esp. w/ Hawke + the Abyss but...

Imma be so fr I have like zero faith in that ever being acknowledged canonically 💀

[onelastkiss4you]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Just Went From A Good RPG To One Of BioWare’s Most Important Games

In light of BioWare scattering some of its most foundational veteran talent to the winds, Dragon Age: The Veilguard sure reads like something made by people who saw the writing on the wall. The RPG leaves off on a small cliffhanger that could launch players into a fifth game, but I’m skeptical that we’ll ever get it. The quickness with which publisher Electronic Arts gutted BioWare and masked it with talk of being more “agile” and “focused” shortly after it was revealed The Veilguard underperformed in the eyes of the power that be makes me wonder if BioWare was also unsure it would get to return to Thedas a fifth time. Looking back, I’m pretty convinced the team was working as if Rook’s adventure through the northern regions of this beloved fantasy world might be the last time anyone, BioWare or fan, stepped foot in it. But that may have only made me appreciate the game even more.

Yeah, I might be doomsaying, but there’s a lot of reasons to do so right now. The loss of talented people like lead writer Trick Weekes, who has been a staple in modern BioWare since the beginning of Mass Effect, or Mary Kirby who wrote characters like Varric, the biggest throughline through the Dragon Age series, doesn’t inspire confidence that EA understands the lifeblood of the studio it acquired in 2007. The Veilguard has been a divisive game for entirely legitimate reasons and the most bad-faith ones you can imagine on the internet in 2025, but my hope is that history will be kinder to it as time goes on. 

A Kotaku reader reached out to me after the news broke to ask if they should still play The Veilguard after everything that happened. My answer was that now we are probably in a better position to appreciate it for what it was: a (potentially) final word.

The Veilguard is just as much a send-off for a long-running story as it does a stepping stone for what (might) come. Its secret ending implies a new threat is lurking somewhere off in the distance but by and large, The Veilguard is about the end of an era. BioWare created an entire questline essentially writing Thedas’ history in stone, removing any ambiguity that gave life to over a decade of theory-crafting. As a long-time player, I’m glad The Veilguard solidifies the connective tissue between what sometimes felt like world of isolated cultures that lacked throughlines that made the world feel whole. But sitting your cast of weirdos down for a series of group therapy sessions unpacking the ramifications of some of the biggest lore dumps the studio has ever put to a Bluray disc isn’t the kind of narrative choice you make if you’re confident there’s still a future for the franchise. 

Unanswered questions are the foundation of sequels, and The Veilguard has an almost anxious need to stamp those out. Perhaps BioWare learned a hard lesson by leaving Dragon Age: Inquisition on a cliffhanger and didn’t want to repeat the same restriction. But The Veilguard doesn’t just wrap up its own story, it concludes several major threads dating back to Origins and feels calculated and deliberate. If BioWare’s goal with The Veilguard was to bring almost everything to a definitive end, the thematic note it leaves this world on acts as a closing graf summing up a thesis the series hopes to convey.

Pushing away the bigotry that has followed The Veilguard like a starving rat digging through trash, one of the most common criticisms I heard directed against the game was that it lacked a certain thorny disposition that was prevalent in the first three games. Everyone in the titular party generally seems to like each other, there aren’t real ethical and philosophical conflicts between the group, and the spats that do arise are more akin to the arguments you probably get into with your best friends. It’s a new dynamic for the series. The Veilguard doesn’t feel like coworkers as The Inquisition did or the disparate group who barely tolerated each other we followed in Dragon Age II. They are a friend group who, despite coming from different backgrounds, factions, and places, are pretty much on the same page about what the world should be. They’re united by a common goal, sure, but at the core of each of their lived experiences is a desire for the world to be better.

This rose-colored view of leftism doesn’t work for everyone. At its worst, The Veilguard can be saccharine to the point of giving you a cavity, which is far from what people have come to expect from a series in which Fenris and Anders didn’t care if the other lived or died. It also bleeds into a perceived softening of the universe. Factions like the Antivan Crows have essentially become the Bat Family with no mention of the whole child slavery thing that was our first introduction to them back in Origins. The Lords of Fortune, a new pirate faction, goes to great lengths to make sure you know that they’re not like the other pirates who steal from other cultures, among other things. I joked to a friend once that The Veilguard is a game terrified of getting canceled, and as such a lot of the grit and grime has been washed off for something shiny and polished. 

That is the more critical lens to view the way The Veilguard’s sanitation of Thedas. To an extent, I agree. We learned so much about how the enigmatic country of the Tevinter Imperium was a place built upon slavery and blood sacrifice, only for us to conveniently hang out in the common poverty-stricken areas that are affected by the corrupt politics we only hear about in sidequests and codex entries. But decisions like setting The Veilguard’s Tevinter stories in the slums of Dogtown gives the game and its writers a place to make a more definitive statement, rather than existing in the often frustrating centrism Dragon Age loved to tout for three games.

I have a lot of pain points I can shout out in the Dragon Age series, but I don’t think one has stuck in my craw the way the end of Anders rivalry relationship goes down in Dragon Age II. This is a tortured radical mage who is willing to give his life to fight for the freedom of those who have been born into a corrupt system led by the policing Templars. And yet, if you’ve followed his rivalry path, Anders will turn against the mages he, not five minutes ago, did some light terrorism trying to free. In Inquisition, this conflict of ideals and traditions comes to a head, but you’re able to essentially wipe it all under the rug as you absorb one faction or the other into your forces. So often Dragon Age treats its conflicts and worldviews as toys for the player to slam against one another, shaping the world as they see fit, and bending even the most fiercely devoted radical to your whims. And yes, there are some notable exceptions to this rule, but when it came to world-shifting moments of change, Dragon Age always seemed scared to assert that the player might be wrong. Mages and Templars, oppressed and oppressors, were the same in the eyes of the game, each worthy of the same level of scrutiny.

Before The Veilguard, I often felt Dragon Age didn’t actually believe in anything. Its characters did, but as a text, Dragon Age often felt so preoccupied with empowering the player’s decisions that it felt like Thedas would never actually get better, no matter how much you fought for it. While it may lack the same prickly dynamics and the grey morality that became synonymous with the series, The Veilguard’s doesn’t just believe that the world is full of greys and let you pick which shade you’re more comfortable with. It’s the most wholeheartedly the Dragon Age universe has declared that the world of Thedas can be better than it was before.

Essentially retconning the Antivan Crows to a family of superheroes is taking a hammer to the problem, whereas characters like Neve Gallus, a mage private eye with a duty-bound love for her city and its people, are the scalpel with which BioWare shifts its vision of how the world of Thedas can change. Taash explores their identity through the lens of Dragon Age’s longstanding Qunari culture, known for its rigidness in the face of an ever-changing world, and comes out the other end a new person, defined entirely by their own views and defying others. Harding finds out the truth behind how the dwarves were severed from magic and still remembers that she believes in the good in people. The heroes of The Veilguard have seen the corruption win out, and yet never stop believing that something greater is possible. It's not even an option in The Veilguard's eyes. The downtrodden will be protected, the oppressed will live proudly, and those who have been wronged will find new life.

That belief is what makes The Veilguard a frustrating RPG, to some. It’s so unyielding in its belief that Thedas and everyone who inhabits it can be better that it doesn’t really entertain you complicating the narrative. Rook can come from plenty of different backgrounds, make decisions that will affect thousands of people, but they can never really be an evil bastard. If they did, it would fundamentally undermine one of the game’s most pivotal moments. In the eleventh hour, Dragon Age mainstay Varric Tethras is revealed to have died in the opening hour, and essentially leaves all his hopes and dreams on the shoulders of Rook. After our hero is banished to the Fade and forced to confront their regrets in a mission gone south, Varric’s spirit sends Rook on their way to save the day one last time. He does so with a hearty chuckle, saying he doesn’t need to wish you good luck because “you already have everything you need.” He is, of course, referring to the friends you have calling to you from beyond the Fade. 

Varric, the narrator of Dragon Age, uses his final word to declare a belief that things will be okay. This isn’t because Rook is the chosen one destined to save the world, but because they have found people who are unified by one thing: a need to fight for a better world. But that’s what makes it compelling as a possibly final Dragon Age game. Reaching the end of a universe’s arc and being wholly uninterested in leaving it desecrated by hubris or prejudice is a bold claim on BioWare’s part. It takes some authorship away from the player, but in return, it leaves the world of Thedas in a better place than we found it.

The Veilguard is an idealistic game, but it’s one that BioWare has earned the right to make. Dragon Age’s legacy has been one of constantly shifting identity, at least two counts of development hell, and a desire to gives players a sandbox to roleplay in. Perhaps, as Dragon Age likely comes to a close, it’s better to leave Dragon Age with a game as optimistic as the people who made it. I can’t think of a more appropriate finale than one that represents the world its creators hope to see, even as the world we live in now gives us every reason to fall to despair.

In my review for The Veilguard I signed off expressing hope for BioWare’s future that feels a bit naive in retrospect. Would a divisive but undeniably polished RPG that felt true to the studio’s history be enough when, after 10 years of development, rich suits were probably looking for a decisive cultural moment? That optimism was just about a video game. Having lived through the past 32 years, most of the optimism I’ve ever held feels naive to look back on. I think I’m losing hope that the world will get any better. But even if we haven’t reached The Veilguard’s idealized vision, I’ll take some comfort in knowing someone previously at BioWare still believes it’s possible. - ken shepard, shepardcdr.bsky.social

[felassan]

Some Bluesky posts by David Gaider:

David Gaider: "So prepare yourself for another series of threads (easy to ignore that way, if you're not so inclined) where I discuss the journey - from leaving BioWare and then Beamdog, to doing what seemed impossible and starting the studio, to now!" [x]

DG: "The Road to Summerfall - Part 2 I guess the best place to start is with leaving BioWare. Right off the bat, I'll say I enjoyed working there - a lot. Until I didn't. I started in 1999 with BG2 and ended in 2016, 2 years after shipping DAI and after spending a year on the game which became Anthem." [x]

Rest of post is under a cut due to length.

"Things at Bio felt like they were at their height when the Doctors (Ray & Greg, the founders) were still there. We made RPG's, full stop. We made them well. Sure, there were some shitty parts... some which I didn't realize HOW shitty they were until after I left, but I'd never worked anywhere else." [x] "To me, things like the bone-numbing crunch and the mis-management were simply how things were done. I was insulated from a lot of it, too, I think. On the DA team, I had my writers (and we were a crack unit) and I had managers who supported and empowered me. Or indulged me. I'm not sure which, tbh." [x] "It's funny that Mike Laidlaw becoming Creative Director was one of the best working experiences I had there, as initially it was one of the Shitty Things. You see, when Brent Knowles left in 2009, I felt like I was ready to replace him. This was kinda MY project, after all, and who else was there?" [x]

"Well, it turned out this coincided with the Jade Empire 2 team being shut down, and their staff was being shuffled to the other teams. Mike had already been tapped to replace Brent... Mike, a writer. Who I'd helped train. There wasn't even a conversation. When I complained, the reaction? Surprise." [x] "It was the first indication that Bio's upper management just didn't think of me in That Way. That Lead Writer was as far as I was ever getting in that company, and there was a way of Doing Things which involved buddy politics that... I guess I just never quite keyed into. I was bitter, I admit it." [x] "But, like I said, this turned out well. Mike WAS the right pick, damn it. He had charisma and drive, and he even won me over. We worked together well, and I think DA benefited for it. I think I'd still be at Bio, or have stayed a lot longer, but then I made my first big mistake: leaving Dragon Age." [x]

"See, we'd finished DAI in 2014 and I was beginning to feel the burn out coming on. DAI had been a grueling project, and I really felt like there was only so long I could keep writing stories about demons and elves and mages before it started to become rote for me and thus a detriment to the project." [x] "Plus, for the first time I had in Trick Weekes someone with the experience and willingness they could replace me. So I told Mike I thought it was time I moved onto something else... and he sadly let me go. So, for a time, the question became which of the other two BioWare teams I'd move onto." [x] "Both needed a Lead Writer. Mass Effect Andromeda was just gearing up, and while I liked everyone out in Montreal I didn't really want to move. So I joined the new project that the former Mass Effect team in Edmonton was cooking up - the one that became Anthem but, at the time, was code-named Dylan." [x]

"That was a mistake. You see, the thing you need to know about BioWare is that for a long time it was basically two teams under one roof: the Dragon Age team and the Mass Effect team. Run differently, very different cultures, may as well have been two separate studios. And they didn't get along." [x] "The company was aware of the friction and attempts to fix it had been ongoing for years, mainly by shuffling staff between the teams more often. Yet this didn't really solve things, and I had no idea until I got to the Dylan team. The team didn't want me there. At all." [x] "Worse, until this point Dylan had been concepted as kind of a "beer & cigarettes" hard sci-fi setting (a la Aliens), and I'd been given instructions to turn it into something more science fantasy (a la Star Wars). Yet I don't think anyone told the team this. So they thought this change was MY doing." [x]

"I kept getting feedback about how it was "too Dragon Age" and how everything I wrote or planned was "too Dragon Age"... the implication being that *anything* like Dragon Age was bad. And yet this was a team where I was required to accept and act on all feedback, so I ended up iterating CONSTANTLY." [x] "I won't go into detail about the problems except to say it became clear this was a team that didn't want to make an RPG. Were very anti-RPG, in fact. Yet they wanted me to wave my magic writing wand and create a BioWare quality story without giving me any of the tools I'd need to actually do that." [x] "I saw the writing on the wall. This wasn't going to work. So I called up my boss and said that I'd stick it out and try my best, but only if there was SOMETHING waiting on the other side, where I could have more say as Creative Director. I wanted to move up. I was turned down flat, no hesitation." [x]

"That... said a lot. Even more when I was told that, while I could leave the company if I wanted to, I wouldn't have any success outside of BioWare. But in blunter words. So I quit." [x] "Was it easy? Hell no. I thought I'd end up buried under a cornerstone at Bio, honestly. I LIKE security. Sure, I'd dreamed of maybe starting my own studio, but that was a scary idea and I'd never pursued it. I had no idea where I was going to go or what I was going to do, but I wanted OUT." [x] "Which led to me at home after my last day, literally having a nervous breakdown, wondering what kind of idiot gives up a "good job". How was a writer, of all things, with no real interest in business supposed to start his own studio? It felt apocalyptic. Within a year, however, I was on my way." [x]

[original thread, following thread]

Follow-up Q&A Bluesky posts:

User: "Were David Gaider still at Bioware, I am certain you would have showed us exactly how Mythal was transferred to Morrigan. You would have paid off on all those years of growth since DAO" David Gaider: "You can be certain I would have *wanted* to, for sure. Whether I'd have been able to is something not even I can be certain of. During my time at BioWare, I had to settle for less-than-ideal results lots of times - that's just how it goes, when it comes to making games." [x]

User: "jesus fuck that is a revolting way to treat any employee" DG: "The thing that got to me most was the apparent assumption that I needed "success". That this was the most important thing to me, to work on projects that sold millions of copies. I like that, sure, who wouldn't? But he obviously didn't know me at all." [x]

User: "Could you elaborate on the anti-RPG sentiment? Was it like the team didn't want narrative choices or game mechanics that affected dialogue? Did they even want dialogue choices?" DG: "There has always been an element within Bio that quietly resented the idea we could never quite get away from being a studio that "just" made RPG's and that our writing was more celebrated than our action. So, yes: more action, less story, less cinematics, and less dialogue all around." [x]

User: "I mean, that's the team (Ship of Theseus!) that made ME2, right? ME2, which was like ME1 if you added more loyalty quests, more romance options, and made the good ending more dependent on doing the loyalty quests?" DG: "When I say an "element within BioWare", I don't mean the entire team... we're talking about a group of devs, many of which worked on ME2 yes, who gained traction because their views likely aligned with what EA also wanted. Speculation on my part, largely, because I wasn't on that team until Dylan." [x]

User: "Gods that is some really shitty corporate culture to say 'You'll ammount to nothing outside of Bioware!'." DG: "From some perspectives, I haven't. I make indie games that sell thousands of copies, and from a triple-A perspective that's... basically nothing. But I'm happy, I enjoy what I'm doing, and I feel creatively fulfilled. Not everyone thinks those things equate with success, though." [x]

User: "Hold up. Jade Empire was gonna get a sequel? How did that not happen?" DG: "The team worked on it for quite a while. First it was Jade Empire 2, and then they rebooted it as a different game altogether which was kind of "modern Jade Empire but minus anything Asian"... and then they cancelled it. Happens a lot to projects as they spin up." [x]

User: "What do you think began the conflict between the Dragon Age and Mass Effect team?" DG: "I honestly have no idea. Competition for resources, I suppose? One team's plans were always being cut short because the other team suddenly needed all their team members for an upcoming release." [x] User: "That makes sense. I can't imagine how it must feel to have your project side lined or reduced because of another team. Do you think the ME team were more entitled because they perceived their franchise as having a bigger cultural impact?" DG: "I never got that sense, though I was never in the meetings where these things were hashed out. They tended to always get what they needed, however, because EA always expected that each ME game had way more *potential* for huge sales than DA did." [x]

User: "Wow.... this makes so much awful, shifty sense. It has seemed to me, from the outside, that there has been a preference for ME over DA. The launch of DATV and the residual layoffs seemed more of a hit job from inside than just a troll problem." DG: "While I was at BioWare, EA *always* preferred Mass Effect, straight up Their Marketing team liked it more. It was modern. It had action. They never quite knew what to do with DA, and whenever DA outperformed ME, ME got the excuses. If you ask me, it was always just shy of the axe since DA Origins." [x] User: "Can I ask a follow-up question ? Is them not knowing what to do with DA the reason why every DA game was different ? While I love all the games I've always wondered where that originated from" DG: "Maybe in part? I'd say the biggest reason was that, while I was there, the BioWare teams were bad at overreaction. They'd take the feedback/criticism to heart - both our own and the fans' - and generally fixed that but also overcorrected. And then there was EA's influence on top of that, yes." [x]

User: "Is that why DA games never got a remaster/remake?" DG: "There's a lot more that goes into such a question, I'd say, though I honestly have no idea. I can't imagine it helped." [x] User: "Do you feel EA will perhaps sell off DA to another developer like Larian (Baulders Gate) or Playground (Fable)? Considering the reception of Inquisition and Veilguard?" DG: "I suppose anything is possible, but to me it seems unlikely if EA thinks there's any chance they might just sit on the IP until they can reboot it later on." [x]

User: "I've always gotten that vibe from the games department, yet I also saw Dragon Age getting a LOT more attention than Mass Effect when it came to the peripheral material like books, comics, lore books, etc. Do you know why?" DG: "I don’t think that was ever true? ME was so much easier with logo branding, and the N7 hoodie was ACE. 😅" [x]

User: "Was there ever any pressure put on the DA team to move away from RPGs?" DG: "Not initially. Initially Ray & Greg said they were fine with having two different styles of RPGs. After they left, there was pressure to emulate ME more and more because, again, it was the “future”." [x]

User: "May I ask for timeframe? Did you work on Joplin at all, or did you move before it even entered planning stage?" DG: "Joplin wasn’t really being worked on while I was still there. The DA team was finishing the last of the DAI DLCs." [x]

User: "i don't think it was just EA, was it? i recall several instances of ray muzyka praising mass effect in interviews or open letters but i don't recall once him doing it for dragon age." DG: "I can’t say. Ray was a big fantasy fan, so I doubt it." [x]

DG: "In terms of the remasters, I suspect the major difference between the two wasn’t favouritism but rather the engine. All three ME games were made in Unreal." [x]

User: "If you stayed, would you be able to persuade BioWare/EA to push DA4 on the success of DAI or would it be cancelled/delayed like Veilguard did?" DG: "I was a sub-lead, not even a senior lead. I would have had as much influence as I did when I was there, which is to say very little." [x]

User: "Anytime I see ex-BioWare people talk about Anthem, I can’t help but wonder if that game should have been axed early on - it never felt much like a BioWare game, even in the marketing. Or would you say that the game itself could have been fine, but it was the management of the IP that was the issue?" DG: "The initial version I worked on still had some RPG in it, but you could see where the winds were blowing. I think the team leads just convinced themselves it was good and would all work out somehow. Through “BioWare magic”, I guess." [x]

User: "Every time I hear about this or see it, it always sounds like the ME team were just a-holes. No great way but to say it bluntly. Nothing to be done." DG: "I wouldn’t say that. Most of them were lovely. We were always competing for very finite resources, however." [x]

[original thread, following thread]

[vexwerewolf]

Should I read homestuck

tl;dr: no

actual answer: yes, but with some extremely important caveats.

Firstly, because Adobe shitcanned Flash, you can now no longer experience Homestuck in the form it was intended upon release... unless you download the Unofficial Homestuck Collection. This act of unbelievable, nay, saintly generosity by Homestuck's most dedicated fans allows you to experience Homestuck as it was intended - as close as is humanly possible.

"As close as is humanly possible" is the key phrase here. One indelible part of the original Homestuck experience was UPDATE! Homestuck would sometimes go weeks or even months (and later, years) between updates. I wasn't on Tumblr back in the day, but at the peak of Homestuck, even if you knew nothing else about it, you'd know when an update dropped because Tumblr's net traffic would increase something like three to fourfold. People would go apeshit bananas about whatever new revelations the Huss would drop on us.

You also need to realise that Homestuck is a product of its time and while its takes on sexuality and gender identity was pretty progressive (for its time), Huss did use the r-slur a bunch.

While we're on the subject of the author, Andrew Hussie (of whom my current understanding is that they have not changed name but go by they/them nowadays) is, in the most diplomatic possible terms, a very unique person. They are, at times, a visionary storyteller with genuinely fascinating ideas. At other times, they come off as kinda spiteful towards their readers.

Without meaning to dip into spoilers, some story beats seem (in my opinion) almost intentionally calculated to upset, irritate or mock certain fans. It never rises to the sheer vicious contempt that Steven Moffat had towards Sherlock's fanbase, but it does leave a bad taste in my mouth whenever I go back.

Additionally, and this is where a sort of birds-eye-view spoiler is unavoidable, the story suffers from the Game of Thrones pitfall of repeatedly increasing its own complexity by adding new plot threads without resolving existing ones, eventually leading to fatigue on the part of both the reader and the author. The arcs of a lot of characters just straight up get abandoned, while a couple of characters take an unnecessarily large amount of screen time.

There's one character in particular that the author openly states within the narrative (the author exists within the world of the story. It's... a whole thing) that they favour, and whose behaviour the story is warped to accommodate. You'll know exactly who I'm talking about almost the moment they show up.

Another reason I say that it's not really possible to read Homestuck as it was originally intended is because a lot of the shit that happens in it fits into the zeitgeist of the internet at the time any individual update was written. There's a whole section in the late middle third that is inextricably and very specifically tied to how it was like to use Tumblr in 2012.

Additionally, a lot of things have soured with time. There was the whole Hiveswap debacle (it was first announced in 2012. We got the first act in 2017. We got the second act in 2020. We do not even know if the third act will ever come out.). There were the legal threats. There were the Epilogues and Homestuck 2, which were... how do I put this? Not universally liked. There's been nearly a decade of discourse since Homestuck ended, and a lot of things haven't grown better with age.

All of that being said.

You should read it.

I cannot express to you just how big an impact Homestuck has had on internet culture. Even people who claim to hate Homestuck unconsciously use slang that it invented. Its unique ideas on storytelling, character design and narrative chronology have, in both subtle and unsubtle ways, changed the way millennials and Gen Z tell stories.

A lot of people were inspired to tell stories because of Homestuck - one example I always give to Lancer players is that Kill Six Billion Demons started as a comic on the MSPA forums (before it was homestuck.com, it was MS Paint Adventures), so Homestuck is in an indirect but demonstrable way responsible for the existence of Lancer. The sunglasses that Gideon Nav from the Locked Tomb wears have been explicitly stated by Tamsyn Muir to be Dave Strider's. Toby Fox made music for Homestuck, and worked on large parts of Undertale while living in Andrew Hussie's basement.

We also know someone in the Bluey creative team is a Homestuck, because...

There are subtle but direct references in Bojack Horseman, Hazbin Hotel, Steven Universe, Adventure Time - and those are just the ones that it's easy to prove! In a more general sense, I think there's a lot of cartoon series, movies, games, etc. that would either be very different or wouldn't exist if Homestuck hadn't happened.

It's certainly influenced my work.

I think, being very cautious to manage your expectations, that you should read Homestuck. At the very least, a lot of things people say on Tumblr will start to make, if not sense, a different kind of nonsense.

[woso-dreamzzz]

Injured (Alexia's Version) VI

Alexia Putellas x Teen!Reader

Summary: Alexia tries to talk to you

TW: discussions of eating disorder

It's reminiscent of that night all those years ago when Alexia came home and was shoved against her own wall by her sister.

It's funny how history repeats itself.

Alexia, back to the wall and unable to understand why and Alba, absolutely furious, being the one to hold her there.

"Alba?" Olga shrieks, standing up from her spot on the sofa.

Alba had one of the spare keys but usually, she didn't use it. Today she had though, bursting through the door like a woman on a mission and shoving Alexia up against the wall.

Jaume never saw the first time but he's heard about it. He couldn't have lived so long in this family without finding out about what happened when he was a baby. But, still, this is the first time he's seen Tia Alba angry at Mami and he watches with wide eyes from the top of the stairs.

"She's skin and bones!" Tia Alba hisses," I watched her today! She could barely stand up!"

"I know."

"And she...Wait, what?"

"I know, Alba." Alexia is calm even though her sister still has a tight grip on her shoulders, pinning her to the wall. "We know. We're trying to work out how to help."

Alba lets go of her, stepping away. "You know?"

Alexia nods. "We know. We're just trying to work out how. She always finishes dinner."

Guilt settles low in Jaume's gut as Mami, Mama and Tia Alba start discussing your eating habits.

You'd always been a bit peckish. You were never much of a big eater.

Jaume was the opposite. He was a growing boy. He ate a lot, especially on days with football training. He hadn't thought much of you offering your food to him, grateful that he wouldn't have to rifle through the fridge when Mami and Mama left the kitchen.

The topic of dinner comes up again and Jaume lingers on the bottom step, threading his fingers together anxiously.

"She..."

The three women fall silent as he steps into the light.

"What is it, Jaume?" Olga asks.

"Mama," He says, throat bobbing and tears welling in his eyes," I didn't...She never...I didn't know, Mama."

"Didn't know what? What is it?"

"Bambi...I..."

Alexia has always been his idol. She's a legend at Barcelona, captain of the club, captain of the country. Her trophies seemed endless and so did her awards. She was a World Cup winner. One of the greatest to ever play the game.

He wanted to be like her.

Her approval meant everything to him.

"Jaume," Alexia says," What is it? About Bambi? Tell us."

"I've been eating her dinner," He admits," When you and Mama turn your backs. She gives it to me."

Tia Alba noisily blows out air, hands cradling her head and Jaume can see the heartbreak on absolutely everyone's faces.

"Thank you for telling us," Alexia says," You're a good boy, Jaume."

Jaume's throat still feels tight though and guilt still swirls in his belly. "Is she...Is she going to be okay?"

No one answers.

It's a delicate situation to work around.

Alba drops hints during your weekly lunch. Olga keeps an eye on your snack breaks after school. Alexia tries to heap more food onto your plate.

You don't notice anything wrong though, apart from the fact that Jaume is suddenly not hungry anymore. He doesn't want your leftovers.

Alexia's the one to confront you, slipping into your room as you finish up some homework.

"Hey," She says.

"Hey." You finish off your last sentence before spinning around in your chair. "What's up?"

Your room has changed since you were little.

Most of your train tracks and little sets are packed away in the attic but your favourite models still litter your shelves. Your bed has gotten bigger and the bookshelf that used to be covered in children's stories is now full of textbooks and little dancing knickknacks like dead pointe shoes or worn-through ballet flats.

A desk has been moved in for you to complete your school work and your closet is now full of clothes you wanted to buy rather than what Alexia used to want you in.

Gone is the little girl with full, round baby cheeks and in her place is a teenager who's lost weight at an alarming rate.

Alexia can hardly believe it.

"I bought us ice cream."

She waves the tub teasingly at you and you pull a face.

"Sorry, Mami," You say," But I'm not hungry right now."

You spin your chair back to your desk.

Alexia spins it back.

You huff.

"Even just a little bit?" She asks," I can't finish this all by myself."

"Jaume's always hungry. Eat with him."

Something prickles down your spine.

Mami is acting weird like she knows something about you that you don't want her to know.

You stare across at her from the bank of a river. You're on one side. She's on the other. The river rushes between you, a gaping chasm that's getting more and more dangerous as it splashes at the banks.

"I can't eat with you?"

She's pushing now and you snap.

"Why does it matter? I'm not hungry! Drop it!"

Alexia's façade drops as well.

"You've not been eating," She says bluntly.

The water laps more furiously at the banks of the river, rushing towards to a waterfall. Alexia looks at you from across the bank. You stare back at her unblinking.

"Yes..." You say, frozen in place," Yes, I have. What are you talking about?"

"Are you an athlete?"

"What?"

"Do you consider yourself an athlete?"

You scoff, standing up. Your stomach swirls as blood rushes to your head. You feel a little woozy and light-headed but you force your way through it.

"Is this your way of saying that dance isn't active enough for you? Yes! Yes, I consider myself an athlete."

"Then why aren't you fuelling yourself like one?"

Alexia's being gentle about this, trying to coax you out of the corner you've found yourself trapped in. She should have been more subtle though, she realises with a jolt, because you're seconds away from bolting.

She reaches out for you across the bank, a simple hand.

You want to take it. You want her to throw a rope across for you. Something for you to hold and clutch as you swim over to her, to safety.

But you just can't.

Safety means questions and you don't want to answer her questions. You're sure she'll hate you for what she unearths. You're sure she'll look at you and not see her daughter looking back.

If you can't be perfect for her, if you can't be perfect for yourself then you're not worth anything to her.

Jaume has common interests with Mami. He plays football like she did. He plays well like she did. He's going to be world-class like she was.

You have little in common with Alexia but it doesn't make her love you any less. She adores you. She'd drop everything to make sure you're alright.

She doesn't care if you're not perfect. She doesn't care if you decide to quit ballet altogether. She just wants you to be alright.

But you just don't believe that.

You need perfection in yourself. You assume Alexia needs perfection from you as well.

She's staring across the bank from you, arm still out.

You reach for it but the river has gotten more aggressive. The mud on the bank is slippery.

You go straight in.

You try to inflate your lungs but all you can do is breathe in icy cold water as you're battered against the rocks.

You look at Alexia, still holding a tub of ice cream.

She looks at you.

You bolt.

Out of your room. Down the stairs. Out the door and down the street.

Alexia would run after you but she knows. She knows you so well. You'll just run from her and you're much fitter than she is right now. You'd get away quickly.

If she lets you go now then she'll at least know where you're going.

If she runs after you then you could go anywhere.

You're scared. Alexia has scared you.

It's a difficult conversation to have so Alexia lets you run. You need time to calm down, to prepare for this.

She's not happy. She can't be happy when you are starving yourself for reasons still unknown but she can be content with her decision to let you go for now.

You'll have run to somewhere you feel safe.

Alexia can be content.

Or, she's content for a few hours until she gets that call.

"Is this Alexia Putellas?"

"Yes?"

"Hi, I'm just calling because you're put down at y/n's emergency contact? I'm afraid she's passed out in one of the practice rooms."

[dduane]

Hello! I have been a long-time fan of your work in Star Trek, and then while watching Transformers G1 I was startled to see your name appear on the title screen of Webworld. Most of the episodes of G1 are a little all over the place, but Webworld GOT me. It’s so fascinating to see Cyclonus essentially bring Galvatron (against his will) to a mental health clinic?! My question is, how did you get involved to help write an episode of Transformers? What was it like? Thank you so much for all the amazing work that you do!

You're very welcome!

About my work on Transformers G1: Developmentally speaking it's kind of a complicated story, so bear with me here while I set the scene.

In 1985 I was a pretty busy girl. The Door Into Shadow had just published. Deep Wizardry had gone to press for publication in Delacorte's fall-'85 schedule. My first computer game, Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative, launched (in the Rainbow Room on top of 30 Rock...) in the summer of '85. I was then scripting my first comics work for DC (the "Double Blind" two-parter and "The Last Word"). And after taking a brief breathing space from four or five years' worth of animation work across a number of shows (scroll down here for details), I'd just turned in an episode of My Little Pony.

In memory all this work tends to get tangled together somewhat (which is probably no surprise). One thread that shows persistently through the tangle, though, is how much time I was spending in New York at a time when I was living in Philadelphia.

A surprising amount of that has to do with the research surrounding Deep Wizardry, which required specialized materials not readily available anywhere else. Because I had a contract for that book, in early 1984 I applied for (and was granted) access to the Frederick Lewis Allen Memorial Room at the main branch of the New York Public Library. As a result, for the guts of a year I was "up in town" at least every other week or so, sometimes for two or three days at a time—taking notes from the Woods Hole oceanographic resources there, drawing copies of them (like this one) when xerography wasn't available or when otherwise necessary, and—when there was time—writing.

But on those stay-overs my evenings were my own, and fortunately there were some really nice people to meet up with, every so often. Back when 666 5th Avenue (now 660) was DC Comics' home, a lot of the writing and editorial talent had a habit of heading down to street level and around the corner on Friday nights, to meet up and relax at the bar in a local steakhouse on the E. 52nd Street side (IIRC: that neighborhood's much changed now). That's almost certainly where I first met Len Wein—most likely introduced to him by my editor on the Trek comics at DC, Bob Greenberger—and we quickly got to be friends. Each of us was interested in the writing (and kinds of writing) the other was doing, so we had lots to chat about.

Now during this period I'd recently finished work on that My Little Pony script. A production company called Sunbow was then handling the screen side of the property, along with shows based on various other IPs. To this day I can't remember who it was over there who said to me, "So listen, now that you're done with that, we've got some slots unfilled on another show—would you be interested in doing a Transformers?" My answer was naturally "Sure, why not?"*

So shortly I was talking story, in a general way, with my new story editor over there, Steve Gerber. The thought of doing something a bit personal, and getting into some of the characters' heads a bit, was as usual on my mind. The idea of getting Galvatron some psychiatric care had already crossed my mind at that point... though I had on first impulse pushed that (for the time being) onto the back burner due to possibly being a little too "on the nose."

At some point pretty early on in this process, though, a different idea hit me as it had hit me before. Len was plainly perfectly cut out for animation storytelling (as other comics writers have also been: but the fit has rarely seemed quite so perfect, to me at least). And he'd have a party with this, I thought. Why not invite him along for the ride and let him get a feel for how it's done?

So I did. To my great pleasure Len promptly said "Yes!" And having cleared this with Steve Gerber, we dove in as co-writers.

Collaboration can sometimes be a rocky road, but I've always been lucky in mine, and that lucky streak held true with Len. I have rarely had a co-writer who right out of the starting gate was more willing to stretch hard to get things right, and one who was more effortlessly funny... even when the humor turned dark (as it repeatedly did in this episode). He unquestionably brought things to that script that I wouldn't have thought to try, or would have been nervous about my ability to pull off, solo.

...So after a couple/few weeks we turned "Webworld" in, the checks cleared, and we both went on to other things. But that episode keeps coming up as many people's favorite... and I can't say that I mind a bit. :) (If you want to look at it, the whole episode's online: just follow the link.)

BTW, because people do ask "Why does Len's name appear first on the credits screen?", the answer's simple: Because I insisted. He was the newbie here, after all. I thought it only right that the junior partner in this medium should be put in pride of place on that credit, his first time out. (I routinely do the same with @petermorwood, for anyone who's watching. Collaborator of thirty-plus years he may be, but he's still newer at this than I am. Heh heh.)

In any case, I wear that particular joint credit with great pride. It's an honor to be associated with someone who went on to become—entirely separate from his already-stellar career in comics—one of the strongest and most prolific animation writers of the last few decades.

...So that's how it happened. (And as for the story of how Bob G. and I dragged Len out of that restaurant one night and made him buy his first computer [an early Macintosh]: that's true too.) :)

*Also, after this they asked me the same question again, but this time about a show called GloFriends. Same result, due to the house rule: "If someone offers you work, take it!" :)

[ajastu]

good morning. i still cant get over that fucking 'wanton massacre' post from yesterday

Like, don't get me wrong. I do agree that it would be interesting to revisit the whole architect plotline n maybe explore some more the consequences of darkspawn being able to be 'awakened'.

but oh my god. im going to chew this bone a little bit, as a treat

There are a lot of reasons why this take, worded like it is, is bad. Nothing against OP, obviously, i just want to put my thoughts into words. for funsies. this is enrichment in my enclosure

First of all. we do have to establish that this is a game we're talking about, and games have to conform to certain requirements for the sake of gameplay design. Having darkspawn as an enemy has been a staple of the franchise for as long as it existed, and so there is nothing 'weird as hell' with the fact that veilguard continues that trend.

Now, if we talk about purely just the lore, not looking at gameplay...there is a huge difference between a darkspawn and someone who is tranquil. The main one being: tranquil people do not try to kill other people on sight. They are also not able to infect someone else with the blight. And, if we look at the definition of 'wanton' in this context...

The lore never presented non-awakened darkspawn as harmless or able to be reasoned with. It has also never presented the tranquil as a danger to other people.

So, killing the tranquil? that Would be a wanton massacre. Killing the darkspawn? I'm afraid that's just self defense.

The fact remains that it takes a certain process done by a certain guy (The Architect) to 'awaken' a darkspawn. Even if he could teach someone else to perform the ritual, we are still talking about the few vs however fuckoff many darkspawn there are in the world. Not to mention, it is not guaranteed that the awakened darkspawn will even choose to remain peaceful, as was the case with The Mother in awakening.

And the existence of The Architect and his group of peaceful darkspawn isn't even common knowledge in Thedas.

So, even if the game did decide to go into all that and maybe pursue the avenue of awakening the darkspawn etc etc etc....what should the people of Thedas do in the meantime? Because that will not be a quick and easy process. And the darkspawn are not going to just stand patiently in line to The Architect's Awakening Kiosk.

Again, I do agree that it could be a fun story to explore. It would also be a whole another game that will require a completely different plot direction, and it is kind of unreasonable and unfair to present this as a failure on veilguard's part. For a story to be coherent, it has to follow a certain thread and theme, and that becomes even more strict and difficult to navigate in an rpg game like dragon age, which has to account for different player choices.

Hell, even some of the choices we are presented with in veilguard could mean wildly different outcomes for the state of the world (keep archive or not, return griffons to the grey wardens or not...even taash's quest-line, while not making you choose that particular aspect directly, has very different implications for the future of the antaam). And i honestly don't know how easy it would be to navigate if we do, by some divine miracle, get da5 one day.

It is similar to the criticism of "well why couldn't we choose to tear the veil down!". There is a story that needs to be told, and it needs to account for a lot of player choices, and so something as radically world-altering as tearing down the veil simply cannot exist in the canon of the franchise. It will lead to two completely different games down the line. there was only ever going to be one choice possible: either keep the veil, or destroy it. Not both.

And, arguably, veilguard actually opens the door to the possibility of exploring a different side of darkspawn with the ending where you convince solas to bind himself to the veil.

'I cannot kill the blight, but i can help to soothe it's anger'

Like, you see what im saying here? This could be argued as a possible beginning to the reform of how the blight works, generally. So, instead of relying on one guy to awaken all the darkspawn, perhaps the blight itself would let them 'awaken' on their own once it's sufficiently soothed. Of course, this is all theory and speculation and just a fun thought exercise etc etc etc, but it's the best shot for the possibility of exploring this topic properly in-game. Not that i think that this is the direction that will be chosen necessarily, but you know. nothing is certain at this point.

IN CONCLUSION, I think that this once again comes down to how people let their disappointment over a game not meeting their expectations cloud their judgement. If you think about it without letting your emotions control the narrative, it is quite reasonable that veilguard would not be exploring the darkspawn awakening aspect of the lore. There's just no space for it in the narrative that was required. Hell, they obviously had to cut it as much as they possibly could afford to, thanks to the development hell the team was put through. Exploring this plotline in a way that would do it justice would have been impossible in the game, and it would have cheapened both this concept AND the overall narrative.

Criticizing veilguard for this is similar to criticizing, i don't know, a cheese store not selling your favorite candy. Not the best metaphor, but you know.

It could be a fun discussion. It could be a fun project, to really sit down and work out the logistics of this whole thing. It could become a creative endeavor, but instead it's used as a way to dunk on datv for no reason, and i just think that's a fucking shame

[utilitycaster]

I've been thinking about this since watching the C2E2 panel but Marisha said something about the value of coming in with other characters and having pre-existing relationships and actually? I somewhat disagree for longform campaigns.

I think for shorter stories, it really doesn't matter because in a very brief game, you have to come to the table with a very complete character idea. Candela, Thresher, and the Calamity/Downfall/Divergence trio have all managed to have consistently excellent character work regardless of whether people have known each other since literally before time (Downfall), whether they have a longstanding but not infinite pre-existing relationship (several relationships in the Circles of Needle and Thread or Tide and Bone; Calamity; Fiedra and Crokas in Divergence) or whether it's something relatively recent or even a first-time meeting (some Candela relationships; some of the Divergence relationships; Thresher). A nebulous "yeah, we've worked together" also works well for lighter series (ESO Blackwood, Wildemount Wildlings, The Menagerie) in terms of quickly getting to the story.

For longer stories, a longstanding pre-existing relationship can be strong; but it can also keep those characters from branching out and mixing, and unless that's explored it can really limit the story. I think the CR fandom especially tends to put a certain degree of weight on how good the twins were without realizing that they work not because they are twins and family, but because a big part of their story is realizing that they have people other than each other now. [I keep thinking about this actually w/r/t my thoughts about Veilguard - there are a number of reasons I consider my first run to be the "canon" one for me, but a big one is that romancing someone out-of-faction made me feel more integrated into the team because I suddenly had two really strong connections rather than just one.]

Part of why the Mighty Nein, in my opinion, are so compelling is that everyone ends up with an interesting and deep relationship with everyone else. And a big part of that is that we don't come in with any relationships longer than about 8 months, and indeed, that relationship barely ends up influencing party interactions because Molly is very outgoing, Yasha is frequently absent, and then Molly dies. So we have Caleb and Nott/Veth, who are also very much a story of people realizing they have more than each other now (and that neither of them really knew each other that much going in!); and Fjord and Jester, who have known each other for like 6 weeks and who spend some significant time apart (and both of whom are also fairly outgoing and quick to interact with other people). Beau and Caduceus being free agents did quite a lot as well. We don't just see an existing relationship continuing; we see relationships grow and change onscreen as the players find not just the relationship but the characters themselves, and that's what makes it compelling.

As mentioned with Vox Machina, the twins are great, and so are Pike and Grog; but Pike's absence means we see a lot of Grog and Scanlan (who don't have a very longstanding relationship prior to Vox Machina's formation), and the romances are all between people who didn't know each other well beforehand. Even the conflicts are ones that grew from people who met relatively recently (Keyleth and Percy's friendship and arguments being a prime example).

I think the twins were great and you should revisit Campaign 1 if you want that again, but as someone who felt Campaign 3 really struggled in terms of mixing up the pre-existing relationships to the detriment of party cohesion/conflict and an interesting dynamic, I'd much rather see strangers or near-strangers in longform campaigns, and save people coming in together for shorter works.

(I also, iirc, think this came up in the context of session zero, and that might be a factor because again the main campaigns seem to not do the same level of session zero as the shorter ones, and if they did that might fix the issue and make a pre-existing relationship better; part of why the twins work so well is that Liam and Laura essentially did their own mini-session zero on their own.)

[huxhsz]

— weightless paradise

transmigrated non-mc!reader x caleb

prev ch: 28 - life┆series masterlist ┆next ch: 30 - messages

This isn’t how the game was supposed to go. You're not supposed to be here. You're an anomaly. But if you’re already here, then… can’t you just enjoy it for now? Just for a little while? Before the main story begins? Before everything inevitably falls into place? ...Right?

note/s: i just realized i don't leave notes here… whoops. but yes, i do read your comments n reblogs (i'm also very much scared to reply to any of them, but i'm thankful for all your support! it always makes me happy to see all of your comments <3 thank you to all my readers ilysm!!)

first of all, we're almost at chapter 30, which was the original amount of chapters this fanfic was supposed to have. but look at us now! it’s been such a wild, emotional ride, and i’m so grateful to every single one of you who’s been with me along the way. seriously, you all have been such a huge part of this journey, and i can’t believe how far we’ve come. i can’t even put into words how much your support, comments, and enthusiasm have meant to me. it keeps me going every single time i sit down to write, knowing you’re all out there enjoying this story with me.

the fact that we’re getting close to chapter 30—my original goal—feels bittersweet. it’s like i’m reaching a big milestone, but at the same time, i’ve realized this world, these characters, and this plot have so much more to offer than i ever expected. i’m not ready to say goodbye just yet.

but i also want to take a moment to say thank you for sticking with me. the fact that you’ve all embraced these characters—especially the mess that is our trio—makes my heart feel so full. i know i throw a lot at you all with the emotional twists, the tension, the slow-burn, and even when things get a little ooc (seriously, thank you for being so patient with me!), and i love reading how invested everyone has become. your reactions have been everything. i’m so glad you guys are still enjoying this story—i am too, even if sometimes posting every day gets a bit stressful (but in a good way, you know? like a good kind of chaos).

we’ve got a long way to go before the main story kicks off, and that’s exciting and terrifying at the same time, haha. there are so many layers and so many places i want to take these characters. and even though the pace might feel like it’s picking up, there’s so much more to explore, so many more revelations and emotional beats to hit. i can’t wait to take you all on this journey, and i hope you’ll stick around until the very end!

thank you so, so much for your love and patience. it’s honestly the best feeling to know that there are people out there who love these characters and this world as much as i do. you all inspire me to keep going. <3

cross-posted on ao3! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

CH. 029 — UNCHARTED WATERS

The room feels colder now, a chill that isn’t from the air outside but from the uncertainty crawling down your spine.

You never meant for this to happen. You only wanted to write—just to get it out of your head, to sort through the tangled memories of Love and Deepspace and make sense of it all. But somewhere along the way, the lines blurred. The past you remember from the game, the present you’re living now, the future that looms ahead like an unanswered question—it’s all starting to bleed together, tangled and messy, refusing to stay in their separate boxes.

Chronosight has always been a mystery to you—more of a curse than a gift. You’ve seen glimpses of the future before, scattered images that you were powerless to stop. And yet, as your thoughts drift further into the past, as you think of the game, of Caleb, of all the moments that led you here...

You feel it.

That subtle pull in your chest, the hum of power just beneath your skin. A thread waiting to be tugged.

This time, you don’t turn away from it.

Maybe you’ve been avoiding it for too long. Maybe you’ve been afraid—not just of what you’ll see, but of what it means.

But now, as the weight of your silence presses in, you wonder if maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop running.

So you close your eyes.

And for the first time, you reach for the past.

It’s like stepping into a memory, but it’s not your own. It’s distant, old and unfamiliar, but it’s clear.

You see it, vividly, like you’re standing there. The lab is dim, lit only by the pale light of the long hallways and the distant glow of monitors. It’s summer, hot and still. The hum of the air conditioning is the only sound, a gentle reminder of how long you've been here. Caleb is standing beside you, the both of you wearing the drab lab clothes that marked your childhood.

You watch yourself—yourself. You’re holding something in your hand, a piece of fabric or paper, but it doesn’t matter. You can feel the nervousness, the anticipation bubbling up inside you. Caleb's eyes are wide, his expression a mix of wonder and restraint, the way he always held himself back even when he was desperate to break free.

He’s looking at the door—the one that leads to the outside world. You’re standing just behind him, your face half-hidden in the shadow of the corridor. His hand reaches for the handle, but you can already see the hesitation in his movements. The weight of the rules, the years of confinement, pressing down on him.

You’ve never seen the outside world, have you? you think to yourself, watching him, knowing the truth even as you see him there.

You’re here, at this moment, because you know Caleb. You remember him before all this—before the lab. You know the boy who couldn’t wait to escape, who could barely sit still even as the world outside was nothing but a dream.

And you... you’ve read about this in the game. You’ve seen it, the way the characters interact, the choices they make. But it’s different now. This is real. This is you and Caleb, standing on the precipice of something new.

You’ve never stepped outside yourself, not in this world. Your memories, your knowledge of the outside world—of Earth—are fragments, flashes of a life you lived before all of this. A life that doesn’t belong here. You weren’t supposed to remember any of it. And yet, the details of the outside world are seared into your mind, from the moments you lived before this world, from the things you learned from the game.

You can’t explain it. Maybe it’s the power of Chronosight, showing you things you shouldn’t know. But somehow, you know things about the outside world that Caleb never could.

"Ready?" you hear yourself ask in the past, your voice shaky, uncertain but full of excitement.

Caleb hesitates for a fraction of a second before nodding. “Yeah,” he says, his voice tight, “but we can’t stay out too long. We’ll get caught.”

“You won’t get caught,” you say, your words brimming with something like defiance. You don’t fully believe them yourself, but you want to believe it. You want to believe that for once, you can be free.

The door opens slowly, creaking like it hasn’t been used in years. Caleb looks back at you, his eyes wide and glowing with excitement.

You step forward, barely breathing, waiting for the rush of cool air that comes with stepping into the unknown.

But then, it’s all shattered.

The sound of footsteps echo down the hallway. The door swings back, and you feel the weight of the world come crashing down. The guards.

Caleb’s hand freezes on the door handle. You can almost hear his heart pounding in his chest. His shoulders slump, his dreams of freedom evaporating in an instant. He looks back at you, frustration, helplessness written all over his face.

"Let’s go," you whisper, a tug of disappointment in your chest. There’s no time. No escape.

You both step back into the shadows. Caleb’s face is tight, his jaw clenched in a way you’ve seen before. The door shuts with a soft thud behind you.

But you remember that moment. You remember his eyes, his first taste of freedom. You remember how, for the briefest moment, he felt like he was outside, like he could breathe again.

Eden wasn’t with you that day, you realize. She was always kept apart from you two, carefully kept away from your plans and your escapes. She would have been the one to giggle and prod, urging you on.

But the reality is, she wasn’t there. Not because she couldn’t join you, but because she was the youngest, the one who was still learning about the world and still too innocent to fully understand the weight of what you were doing. She would have pushed you both to escape regardless of the consequences, but she wasn’t there that day.

She was probably off somewhere else, being kept busy and away from you and Caleb's rebellion. You imagine her dragging a guard around, asking too many questions, looking for trouble in her own way.

But that didn’t matter, because at that moment, it was just you and Caleb. Just two kids dreaming of the world beyond the lab’s cold walls.

And now, as you stand here, watching the scene unfold before you, you feel something strange. A sense of nostalgia, perhaps. A longing for something you’ve never truly had.

It’s strange, seeing your world through the lens of Chronosight. You’ve lived through this moment before, seen it from a distance, but this is different. This time, you’re an outsider—watching them, watching Caleb, knowing how it all turned out.

You wish you could have changed something. Done something differently.

But there’s no going back.

You blink, the vision fading away as Chronosight flickers and weakens. The weight of the room settles back in around you. The past is gone, and you’re left with nothing but the present, the steady ticking of the clock.

And the question still lingers in your mind—What does Chronosight really do?

Is it just glimpses of the past, the future, and the present? Or is there something more?

You stare at your hands, feeling the weight of time in your grasp. You have so many questions, and yet no answers.

And somewhere in the distance, you wonder if you’ll ever truly find your way.

The weight of the room settles back around you, but you can’t quite shake it—what you just saw, what you just felt.

And for once, it doesn’t feel like you’re dreaming. It doesn’t feel like a memory from a game. It feels real.

Because it was.

And that’s when it hits you.

You’ve been so stupid.

This world—it isn’t some scripted backdrop. These people—Caleb, Eden—they’re not just characters on a prewritten path. They breathe, they hurt, they remember. They choose.

You press your palms to your face, trying to suppress the wave of frustration swelling in your chest.

God. You’ve been walking around this entire time like this was just some elaborate simulation. Like the world would pause when you looked away. Like you were separate from it. Like you didn’t matter.

But you do. You’ve always mattered.

Your presence here has been shifting things, hasn’t it? A little at a time. Subtle, quiet changes that snowball the longer you stay. Every conversation you weren’t supposed to have. Every moment you stole. Every time Caleb looked at you like that—like you were the center of his world.

You thought it was just part of the game.

But it’s not. He’s not. None of this is.

You groan into your hands. “I’m such an idiot.”

Because for all your supposed knowledge of Love and Deepspace, for all the lore you memorized and hours you poured into obsessing over it—you still treated the world like it was flat. Like the only cities that existed were Linkon and Skyhaven. Like the story couldn’t possibly stretch beyond the parts that were shown on-screen.

Auris wasn’t even in the game, you remember thinking earlier. So what the hell is it doing here?

And now, looking back, that thought feels so laughably narrow.

“What, did I think the world only had two cities?” you mutter to yourself, pacing now. “Do I think video games describe every single place? Does the story need to spoon-feed me every corner of a country just for me to believe it exists?”

You’re frustrated with yourself. Embarrassed. But under all of it, there’s something else.

Fear.

Because if the world is real—if this timeline is diverging, shifting, rewriting itself with every step you take—then what does that mean for you? For them? For the ending you always assumed was set in stone?

You think of Caleb. And Eden.

You’ve been telling yourself their story would unfold like it always does. That no matter how close he is to you now, eventually he’ll look at her and remember what’s “meant” to be. That all of this—his protectiveness, his warmth, the way he softens when it’s just the two of you—would fade once the main plot starts. That you’re just a placeholder. A detour.

Because Eden is the heroine. Right?

But the way Caleb looks at you—it’s not the way he looks at Eden.

And it terrifies you.

Because what if the universe tries to “correct” itself? What if he realizes you're the wrong choice? What if none of this was supposed to happen?

…What if it was?

And you’ve just been too scared to accept it.

You grip the edge of the desk, knuckles white. You can’t deny it anymore. You’re here. You’ve always been here. You’ve changed the story just by existing. You’re not watching from the outside anymore. You’re in it.

Not an NPC. Not a temporary stand-in.

A main character.

...No, not that either.

You're real. And so are they.

But even now, even as your chest tightens with everything you’ve realized—you still can’t say it out loud.

You don’t want to admit what you're feeling. Not about him. Not about Caleb.

Because he’s your friend. Just your friend.

Because even if he’s the only one who truly remembers the lab like you do. Even if his laughter used to be your only comfort in that nightmare. Even if, when the silence stretches too long, it’s his voice you crave hearing.

Even if you already know that you’re falling. Slowly. Stubbornly. Stupidly.

You still believe, in some deep, bruised part of you, that the story will begin for real soon—and when it does, you’ll be left behind.

[shithowdy]

New Vegas Divide and Big MT Locations

A lot of discussions I find on the matter tend to ultimately be met with the answer of, "It's a fake place somewhere in Death Valley, it doesn't matter exactly where". I can understand not needing this information to enjoy the story, but unfortunately, I'm roleplaying a prequel set in 2276 so I want some goddamn specifics 💅

SO. My own speculation on The Divide's more precise location below the cut. Apologies if anyone has supplied this theory before, I got a little tired of browsing reddit threads full of incurious wiki-thumpers.

(tl;dr it's a developed Fort Irwin)

The Divide and the named places in it obviously don't correlate as directly with real locations like the rest of the game, but this makes sense. In a differing timeline where the nuclear arms race seems to have only shifted in players, not ethics, it's easy to imagine that the area surrounding desert military operations and nuclear development sites would grow in importance (I similarly have mentioned Los Alamos being a much bigger city in our RP for the same reason). The Mojave was a hub for nuclear R&D and even today houses one of our warheads, of course it would boom (pun unavoidable). So the first thing I did was ignore cities, even "Ashton". A location named Ashton does exist further north beyond the Nevada border, but nothing about it geographically matches what we interact with in game.

Instead, I thought about the geography itself. What we know about the Divide is that the detonations there made CA-127 unusable, forcing NCR supply chains trying to reach Hoover Dam to enter via the 15 and Mojave Outpost.

We also know it was east of established NCR territory, west of the main NV game map, and north of the 15.

This means its radius is limited to something like this.

Looking at the overlay, and knowing that the "default story" courier had been for some time delivering supplies between the established NCR and Ashton/Hopeville, their route taking them from The Hub (formerly Lancaster), the industrial and trade center of New California, and this new city makes the most sense.

(As an aside, I have to say that I'm very sorry to classic players upset about the map retcon, because that damn geography doesn't even match what the text implies. The Necropolis is Barstow, not Bakersfield?? Anyway.)

Further evidence that the courier's route brought them from the Hub is a note by a merchant from there who appears to have found their old route after the bombs...

... and Nash explaining that the Courier was initially hired at The Hub in the first place, indicating an established presence there.

So we have the general radius. How do we get more specific? What I think a lot of people ignore when trying to pinpoint the area are the quakes set off by the subterranean bombs and the effect they had on the landscape: gaping geological scars that run East-West, indicating a sensitive fault line at this angle.

The immediately clear answer to this was the Ridgecrest fault.

Okay, so we have a good candidate for a fault line. What sits below it? In our timeline, the remote Fort Irwin and its surrounding military desert combat training sites (complete with simulated villages), and the Goldstone site satellite complex. If you were going to use existing infrastructure as building blocks for new and grander development in this region, the roads, electricity, water treatment, and radio towers here would be the ideal choice. Let's see if it lines up.

You know what? I'll take it. A circular central interchange that branches out through mountainous areas situated just below the Ridgecrest fault. So where does that place Big MT? We know it's south of Hopeville, but it can't interfere with I-15. This necessitates an area of (currently) high elevation with caves below surrounded by darker soil, canyon networks, but an otherwise flat landscape somewhere just south of the Divide radius.

Wouldn't you know, there just happens to be a lone mountain that sits atop an opal mine, which in a different timeline could have very easily been converted into a different excavation project. Opal Mountain, or the Black Mountain Wilderness (unrelated), is a perfect match.

So! This is obviously pure speculation based on me having the specific flavor of autism that brews when one grows up having their own brain fried by 120f weather and residual nuclear fallout. I did this for the purpose of RP, but if anyone finds it useful, yippee etc.

[gold-rhine]

so i finally watched the nod krai livestream, and it has some talk about nod krai, inspirations, factions, etc, the usual stuff, but the interesting part to me was about narrative reasons behind adding nod krai at all and also strategic change in storytelling direction

so, they said that basically they realized that they have shitton of unexplored lore and a lot of plotlines and character arcs that were planted in all the regions, but not advanced bc hoyo were rushing things. so they decided to take time and dedicate the nod krai timeline to "tying up loose threads". which is huge win , they should have been doing it long ago, but better later than never i guess. this also means mond quest is not a fluke, but a part of this direction and i think lantern rite that explored hu tao's backstory also fits

also, they said that they are reevaluating their methods of presenting lore, that long descriptions hidden in books are inaccessible to most players, and and they want to instead give players lore through gameplay experiences, and also they want to clarify their lore bc they see a lot of batshit theories. HUGE WIN, I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR AGES THEY NEED TO DO THIS. the dark souls method of storytelling doesn't even work for dark souls, the youtube DS\elden ring lore videos industrial complex is clear indication - like 95% players are not engaged in game, they either ignore it altogether or watch youtube videos with conspiracy theories. the puzzling together lore and plot from hidden descriptions is valid storytelling method, but not for all games. i love sunless sea, cultist simulator, book of hours where main gameplay is doing conspiracy board from cryptic texts and metaphors, and even more narrative oriented games like disco elysium and planescape torment can pull it off bc text is already the main gameplay medium in these games, but genshin is just completely different genre and they are not using the medium to its advantage with long text lore dumps in random shit.

also, they said they want to move away from sequestering stories into world quests and character quests, and have overarching interconnected main narrative. which is a tentative W depending on execution. isolating lore in story quests and so this lore not being able to to be used in main quests is a long time problem. in fontaine its excellent world quests would simply be fun to be included, but natlan id say suffers enormously from locking all saurian and dragon related lore in world quests. both archon quests and world quests end up feeling shallow. what the fuck was that abyss pyro dragon fight out of nowhere. but if they turn it into long ass boring blah blah sessions like hsr's amphoreues then no thank you. really will depend on execution.

they also said they want to explore things that only genshin can do, like having characters be present in the world and tell stories through interactions with them. previously they couldn't do that bc devices couldn't handle it, but now its possible. the traveler tales event was their first experiment with that. if you've been there, you know i LOVED that event, the way they weaved several interconnected narratives from casual quick encounters, explored characters' relationships, including the ones i never knew i needed to see, like cloud retainer and razor. or gave depth to previously only hinted things, like i always assumed qiqi and yao yao were hanging together bc they are two liyue kid characters, but their plotline really opened it up and the finale was so bittersweet and touching, and all that for characters i frankly never gave a fuck about.

but that type of storytelling will depend hugely on execution, you need to have a very firm handle of the narrative direction, pacing, sense of what is enough set up and when pay it off. if they do it right, this will be a BANGER, but with bad execution it might end up worse than traditional boring quests. idk we'll see

[carlyraejepsans]

UTY!Flowey, "lore" and how to criticize a fan prequel without being an insufferable pedantic, a guide by Biscia.

(for my muskless fellows, here's a transcript of my thread on Undertale Yellow that I posted on Twitter. enjoy!)

There's this really frustrating attitude in fan spaces i like to call "lorepilling" where people are substantially more concerned with encyclopedic knowledge of details & minutiae (so called "lore") in place of full-text thematic/narrative analysis as if the two are mutually interchangeable.

It's especially common in large franchises and story heavy videogames, and it's like... Are You Treating This Piece Of Art Like A Trivia Battle Or Are You Treating It Like A Story

This is coming from a person who is also deeply autistic about UTDR trivia btw, I'm just saying that when it comes to transformative *stories*, depending on the impact it has on character, themes, and narrative structure... lore is expendable.

Ultimately this is why most of the UTY criticism i see (on twitter specifically) falls flat. What does it matter if "lore" means Flowey couldn't chronologically be there when the justice human fell, as long as the game narratively justified his presence in the story in a compelling way?

The real criticism, in the end, is that it didn't.

He's a plot central, main cast character from the canon returning in a cast of mostly OCs and what does he have to show for it? An admittedly sick boss battle in 1/3 endings, sure but... not much else. He has no significant "presence" in the story, no tie, interaction, or even just... an opinion on the rest of the cast. Which is a huge miss when Flowey's meta role is to be Thee completionist player mirror. He's the OG lorepilled UT fan! He's an opinionated little shit!

This isn't to say that UTY *didn't* engage w/ his metanarrative. When me and @a-town-called-hometown first started playing the game (we were both skeptical of Flowey's inclusion), he immediately said "It would be really cool if they made it so this has been going on for a while and Clover has no idea". Which is precisely what the game did in the neutral ending, and what I will openly say was the most well written & well executed part of this game's story...

...a part we almost didn't see, because the pacifist ending disappointed us so much we lost all will to replay.

To put it in the words of my friend Mel @clowwwnbytes, there's a deafening hollowness to UTY Flowey's motivations & core principles where his guilt towards Chara—and resulting black and white thinking—should be. You're telling me Mr Kill-or-be-killed, "sacrificing yourself to do the right thing is stupid", would stand there after 1000s of failed attempts to make Clover survive, look on as they make the same mistake Asriel he did, and fondly call them friend? Cue the guitar, roll the credits?

He would lose it. Oh my god he would lose his goddamn mind, he would throw the nastiest temper tantrum in the world. Are you serious? How dare you. How DARE you. All this effort, all my patience, and you just let yourself DIE for a few worthless idiots? I should've let you ROT!

*clears throat* sorry got a bit too into character. as i was saying.

I can understand a UT prequel wanting to distance itself from the canon Chara storyline in order to form its own identity, but then turning around and choosing Insane About Chara The Character™ for a sidekick is... far from optimal. In the end, Flowey comes across as underutilized and inconsistent, with a whole lot of wasted potential.

This is an issue I have with UTY's character writing (original AND returning) and story structure as a whole. Lots of inconsistent character arcs, tonal dissonance, overuse of situational sadness... it's an amateurish work, after all, and you can feel it. There's no shame in that.

(Though, there ARE some issues that i take more seriously with its writing, especially when it comes to its two main female characters—Ceroba's lack of narrative agency and depth borders on misogynistic writing imo. But that's a topic for another day)

Over all, UTY was an incredible piece of collaborative transformative work, with gorgeous art and a genuinely incredible OST, which... would have benefited from more experienced writers. But hey, you can only ever learn by trying!

For all it could've been a better story, it certainly did not fail to entertain: both when my friend was playing it, and after in our many discussions of its writing, its faults and how it could've been improved (royal scientist!ceroba character fix you will always be famous. to ME!)

I'm sure this project served as an incredible source of experience for the developers: as individual creators AND as a team. I look forward to their future projects!

but also if i have to see another person say UTY is better than Undertale i might turn into The Jonker.

end of the essay! really couldn't stand any of the pedantic ""criticism"" I'd seen of this fangame so far, so i had to say my piece as someone more versed in analysis. happy to elaborate on anything in the replies or in my inbox!

[sogoodtoheritsvicious]

the sweetest devotion 🧸

summary: you and niall have a very special announcement…🍼

vicious speaks: my first niall fic and my first baby fic! thank you @pansexualdarling for the request, i hope this is what you had in mind 🫶🏼

niall masterlist

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liked by yourusername, maura.horan and 783,827 others

niallhoran Baby Horan coming April 2025 🤎

tagged yourusername

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yourusername I can’t wait to go on this new journey with you 🤍 ♥︎ by author

username1 NIALL AND YN ARE GONNA BE PARENTS, I’M GONNA CRY 😭 congratulations!!

⤷ yourusername thank you 💗

maura.horan You two will be amazing parents 🥰

⤷ yourusername ❤️

⤷ niallhoran Love you

zayn congratulations 🎈♥︎ by author and yourusername

username2 i just know fans who grew up with niall are crying tears of joy right now

yourbff i can’t wait to meet them <3

⤷ yourusername You’re gonna be the BEST Godmother

harrystyles ❤️ ♥︎ by author and yourusername

username3 having been a yn fan for years, i’ve watched her go through a lot in the romance department and to see her finally get her happy ending with a man as loving as niall has me crying so many tears. congratulations, you both deserve this happiness❣️

⤷ yourusername wow, this comment is so beautiful!! thank you for the support over the years and especially for this lovely message 🥹🫶🏼

greghoran00123 Ready for my Godfather duties 🫡 ♥︎ by author and yourusername

louist91 congrats mate! you’re both gonna be great 👍🏼 ♥︎ by author and yourusername

username4 all the boys commenting has me so emotional 🥹

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yourusername has added to their stories

replies:

yourbff “hello” 🥹 ♥︎

username1 baby’s nickname being ‘little love’ is so precious <3

yoursister cute cute cute

username2 they don’t even know they have global superstar niall horan serenading them

niallhoran ❤️ ♥︎

username she has two of the best singers in the game as parents, her lullabies are gonna go so hard

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liked by niallhoran yourmom and 1,064,382 others

yourusername we’re so excited to meet you, princess 💞

tagged niallhoran

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niallhoran my heart is bursting with so much love

⤷ yourusername same here 🥹

yoursister brb gonna run to the nearest mall to buy out all their baby girl products

⤷ yourusername real

⤷ niallhoran real

⤷ louist91 real

⤷ zayn real

⤷ harrystyles real

⤷ username1 what is this thread 😭

username2 niall being a girl dad makes so much sense

⤷ yourusername right?? the man was born to be a girl dad 🤷🏼‍♀️

⤷ username3 i love how she always takes time to interact with fans whether its niall’s or her own

yourmom she’s gonna have every single one of us wrapped her adorable little finger 💕 ♥︎ by author and niallhoran

yourbrother she’s about to have an overprotective dad and five uncles that are just as protective 💪🏼

♥︎ by niallhoran, zayn, louist91 greghoran00123 and harrystyles

username3 who knew niall having a baby would be the reason we’d be getting content from the boys after so long

maura.horan can’t wait to snuggle her!

♥︎ by author and niallhoran

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liked by yourusername, maura.horan and 2,852,974 others

niallhoran babymoonin’ 🏝️

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yourusername 🩷☀️🌊☕️ ♥︎ by author

maura.horan those smiles 🥰 ♥︎ by author and yourusername

yourbff you’re both glowing 🥹

♥︎ by author and yourusername

yourcousin have so much fun!! bring me back a seashell 🐚

⤷ yourusername 🫡

username1 you look so happy in that last slide 😭

⤷ niallhoran i was really excited for the coffee

⤷ yourusername can confirm his happiness was 100% coming from that damn coffee

⤷ username2 lmaooo

yoursister third pic is so cute 🫶🏼 ♥︎ by author and yourusername

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liked by niallhoran, yourbrother, and 9,492,532 others

yourusername Escaped from the womb! Wanted: For stealing her parents’ hearts on April 15th, 2025. Goes by the name of Emma Grace Horan. 4 LBS, 14 OZ, 18.5 inches. Last seen: the crib

tagged niallhoran

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niallhoran She must pay for her crimes ♥︎ by author

yourbff oh my God this is the cutest announcement ever 😭 ♥︎ by author and niallhoran

username1 when i’m in a cute birth announcement competition and yn is my opponent

⤷ yourusername lmfao

yourmom she can steal my heart any day 🥹 ♥︎ by author and niallhoran

yourbrother she’s definitely not hiding out at my house 🙅🏻

⤷ niallhoran police are on their way 🚓

⤷ louist91 i’ll help hide her

⤷ zayn same i have room

⤷ harrystyles what the hell sure

⤷ greghoran00123 i’ll hide her in my pocket

⤷ username2 obsessed with everyone going along with the bit 😭

maura.horan The cutest little criminal 💖

⤷ yourusername i know right 🥹

username3 guys she has two singers as parents, we’re about to get the cutest songs about her <3

⤷ yourusername i might already be writing something…🎶👀

⤷ username4 oh my God

⤷ username5 i’ll grab the tissues

yoursister i love her so much 🫶🏼

♥︎ by author and niallhoran

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niallhoran has added to their stories

yourusername has added to their stories

replies:

yourbff my angel 🥹🫶🏼

username1 she’s so tiny!!

yourmom: come by for dinner soon! i need my emma cuddles 🩷

⤷ niallhoran for sure. tomorrow?

username2 that looks so good, drop the name

⤷ niallhoran sending you their profile!! -YN

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liked by niallhoran, yourbrother and 187,993 others

yourusername “what i never knew i always wanted” is out now 🤍

tagged niallhoran

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niallhoran my whole world ❤️

⤷ yourusername we love you 💘

username1 “thought i was a happy on my own ‘til you came and proved me wrong” i’m crying

yourbff such a beautiful song 🫶🏼 ♥︎ by author

username2 “you’re stealin’ every bit of my heart with your daddy’s eyes, what a sweet surprise” 🥹🥹

maura.horan emma’s going to love this song when she’s old enough to understand it 🤗 ♥︎ by author and niallhoran

username3 “i didn’t know there was a hole, something missing in my soul ‘til you filled it up with your love” this song is so fucking beautiful!!!

yoursister i’m crying 🥺 ♥︎ by author and niallhoran

username4 your family is so precious 🫶🏼

♥︎ by author and niallhoran

yourmom on repeat!!

⤷ yourusername 💕

[sicksadgames]

As the Sun Forever Sets - Terror in the time of the Telegraph

It’s nuts I’ve been working on this game for over 4 years at this point. As the Sun Forever Sets is for sure my biggest and most capital G Game. It even has a publisher and everything. It’s also my first game! Wow! It's been tough, though. We'll get into it!

Britain, 1899

As the Sun Forever Sets is a survival horror sandbox based on the War of the Worlds, utilises the Forged in the Dark ruleset, and is about ordinary people surviving a Martian invasion of Victorian era Britain. We play to find out how they rise to meet the storm of destruction, the ways in which it shapes them, and if they survive to see a new world emerge, or die amidst the rubble of the old.

In the last years of Queen Victoria’s reign, the British Empire stretches across a quarter of the globe, and under the guise of genteel progress and civilisation, it commits theft and murder on a global scale. Britain itself is on the verge of the modern era, the Second Industrial Revolution pushing people into the cities to drive the factories and forges owned by the greedy industrialist class. But beyond the common causes of humanity and unbeknownst to the men who impose their rule over it, vast wheels have begun their inexorable turning. Across 40 million miles of void, the Martian invasion hurtles Earthward. Screaming across the stars, instruments of annihilation unlike anything believed possible lie ready for assembly, alongside the Martians themselves. They are truly inscrutable beings, but their intent is as clear as it is terrible – they will suck the literal and figurative blood from the Earth, and nothing less than the complete and utter subjugation of humanity will be enough.

If this sounds cool to you... well, you gotta wait, it’s not done yet. Sorry! But you can come and hang out in the Sick Sad Games discord, where I post excerpts and occasionally organise playtests.

The Hard Times of (Old) England

Be warned, this is a long one - over 4000 words (if you don't have a Tumblr account, you won't get to the end before it starts bugging you to register one, so go read this on Medium instead.) It turns out when you work on a game for a long time, you have a lot to say about it. Strap in, grab your gin and laudanum, and let’s destroy an evil empire just by existing.

Thanks to the wonderful @hendrik-ten-napel for taking a look over my disorganised thoughts.

(Potential) Spoilers for: The Bear, The War of the Worlds, The Last of Us, Children of Men, Threads, When the Wind Blows, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, The Thing.

Roleplay in the Pre-Post-Apocalypse

TTRPGs love a good post apocalypse. It's understandable - gas up and ride glorious on the legally distinct fury road, run a commune of like minded weirdos in the ashes of the old world, go digging through retro-futuristic ruins to find retro-futuristic treasures. Who wouldn't want to do any of these? But As the Sun Forever Sets is about an apocalypse as it begins, not after it’s over. 

There's a lot of crossover, of course. There’s a focus on similar things - disaster and spectacle, relationships and trust, scavenging and survival. But the bonus of the world not yet being over, is that we get to roleplay out dealing with that terrible, inexorable reality.

HG Wells wrote a book about blowing up all the places he used to live, and it's a banger. I was surprised to find there wasn't a TTRPG based on the War of the Worlds, being the tantalisingly public domain ur-alien invasion story it is. As the Sun Forever Sets is very explicitly an adaption of it, to the point that before I came up with the name it almost got released as The War of the Worlds: The Roleplaying Game (lol). I'm glad I didn't, doing my own thing has meant both me and the people playing are way more free to fuck around without the expectation that it must adhere to a canon.

The book is good, strikingly modern feeling in parts, and obviously massively influential - so much science fiction can be traced back to our nameless Narrators tormentuous trek across the south of England. But Wells’ prose is typical Victorian - overly wordy and florid (any book that contains the word “ejaculating” meaning “to shout” might be difficult for readers who aren’t used to the style), so when it comes to recommending an actual adaptation, there’s only one true king. Whenever I bring up Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds, the usual reaction from anyone outside of the UK is to say "... they made a what?"

My mom was very keen to get me into musicals, but nothing really stuck until she tried this, the secret best War of the Worlds adaption (sorry Steven Spielberg, but you were doomed from the start.) It's the bombast and drama you'd expect from a disaster film, the horror and pathos of Wells’ classic, all expressed through vivid narration and sick nasty prog rock - wailing guitar and crunchy 70's synths operating at full effect. It's not completely faithful to the book, it doesn't matter. It’s the best.

Ah yes, the film bro's favourite mid 2000's film. Did you see that sick oner? That’s six minutes without a cut, that means the film’s good right? Children of Men is a slow burn apocalypse, dressed up like a world that’s already ended. Plenty has been written about all the little ways the film is prescient about the state of the UK - the slow belly-crawl into facism and nationalist fervour, the particularly British decay and class divide exacerbated by the desperate times, even the willful ignorance and the explicit sense that everyone’s just given up, it’s all here.

All that thematic stuff seems like it’d be really relevant to As the Sun Forever Sets, right?

Unfortunately, we are in fact here to talk about the long takes. The unbroken moment-to-moment action scenes evoke The War of the Worlds to a tee. Theo navigates danger with the same fraught tactical tension as War of the World's Narrator - dashing between doorways, groping for an axe handle in the darkness, desperately trying to start a car as assailants sprint towards him. What’s the best way out of this situation? How do I get from here to where I need to be? He lives his life in rolling, fleeting 5 second intervals, because he’s forgotten what it means to think in the long term - about the future, and what it might hold.

I was always fascinated and terrified by the idea of nuclear war. I guess it comes from watching a lot of 90’s disaster movies, but those are often ultimately fun romps where the day gets saved at the end, or at least the main characters find themselves alive and well at the end of the saga of destruction. Instead, As the Sun Forever Sets asks you to reflect on the horror and sadness present at the end of the world. Things are going to change forever, and change is always hard.

There’s not many clips of Threads and When the Wind Blows online, so it’s a little hard to demonstrate their particular nuclear inflected pitch black darkness. They’re grim - Grave of the Fireflies grim - differing in focus but united in their horrible impact.

When the Wind Blows is a story of an elderly couple living in rural England when the bombs drop, based on the comic by Raymond Briggs. Yes, The Snowman’s Raymond Briggs made a film about 2 lovely grandparents dying of acute radiation poisoning. Jim and Hilda are completely unprepared for what’s to come, their only reference is the Blitz - terrible in its own way, but not a patch on the scale of death they’re about to experience.

They survive the blast and wait for the good old British Government to arrive to save them, as it did in the 40’s. Slowly liquifying in the nuclear fallout, they hold onto each other and keep their spirits up, eventually making the decision to clamber into the paper sacks they mistakenly believed might protect them from the blast. Clutching their medical cards and birth certificates (for the ambulance, sure to be along any minute now), Jim mumbles painfully through a final prayer that morphs into a misremembered Charge of the Light Brigade, and they slip into a perpetual slumber together.

The most tragic part is Jim and Hilda’s unshakeable faith that their government is there for them - ready to catch them when they fall - borne out of Britain’s post WW2 renewal but absent in the 1980’s of the film’s plot, and the Britain of today. It’s a masterful film, shockingly sad, but the shock is the point.

Instead of aiming for your heart, Threads aims for the head. It’s a drama that aims to be as accurate as possible to government research into what a nuclear war might look like, plainly and forensically setting it out without any thought of softening these hard facts for its audience. Rather than focusing on a personal story, Threads flits around several groups of characters - minor government figures and ordinary families. Like Jim and Hilda, they too are woefully unprepared for the end of the world, and those in charge know there’s no way the UK could ever be ready for such a thing.

As mundane life is quietly intruded upon by news updates detailing far off geopolitics and the subsequent escalation that leads to war, the tension rises subtly then suddenly, like a spacecraft on the launchpad. People we’ve seen pottering about their normal lives are maimed and evaporated in the subsequent shocking nuclear exchange, whilst stark statistics flash on the screen - the hundreds of thousands instantly killed, how long the millions more fatally irradiated have left to live, the woefully inadequate tonnage of stockpiled food to feed those who survive. Each zero hits like a gutpunch.

And when you think the film must nearly be over, it keeps going. 1 week later. 1 year later. Threads grinds to an excruciating halt 13 years after the bombs fall, after year upon year of failed harvests from a destroyed earth barely able to support a population level equivalent to medieval Britain. At one point, mute children watch a warped and scratchy VHS of classic kids educational programme Words and Pictures on a TV powered by a steam generator.

The friendly presenter spells out the word “cat” through the thick veil of static, accompanied by a picture of one - an animal the children watching will likely never see. As they watch with blank, emotionless faces, the image of the cat fades to one of its skeletal form. “A cat’s skeleton” the presenter enthusiastically intones. The unrelenting bleakness might feel like a punishment, but Threads doesn’t mean it to be. This is just what would happen, after all.

Love in the time of the Heat-ray

In fact, someone in a Reddit thread said As the Sun Forever Sets “wasn’t just endless misery” and I’m glad that comes across. I wanted there to be moments of tenderness, quiet joy, anger, frustration, love and loss to punctuate the action and the horror.

People are messy and complicated even at the best of times. Under pressure, this is amplified a thousandfold - a little crush becomes a whirlwind romance, small disagreements become full blown fights, and not fully understanding someone might transform them into an enemy in your head.

The little town Bill conspires to be left alone in ends up comparatively untouched by the horrors going on elsewhere, as untouched as anywhere can be in The Last of Us. He hated the world anyways - so he isolates himself as he prepares for it to end, and it makes sense that his life only really begins as the show does. When Frank arrives, Bill is forced not to just engage with the broader world outside of his little enclave, but in the act of truly living in it.

There’s no prepper’s guide to romance. A human heart can’t be field stripped for maintenance. By choosing to exist as a vulnerable, emotional being, Bill opens himself up to a different kind of apocalypse. Frank becomes the flowering vines that slowly crack the flat concrete wall of a world that Bill created, and when those vines die, the wall can only crumble. It’s so fraught and lovely, delicately yet absolutely gut wrenching. At least their apocalypse was one they decided to have together.

“I’m old. I’m satisfied. And you… were my purpose.” - "Long Long Time”, The Last of Us

While several of my TTRPG writing friends were gushing about how great The Bear is, Em Acosta, author of the wonderfully inspirational Exile pointed out something super interesting - a lot of the show is about how you deal with people you’ve found yourself stuck with. No matter how much they piss you off, or whatever they do wrong, there’s something that means you can’t ever let them truly exit your life. They’re there, like it or not, until the bitter end.

Turns out this is very similar to how As the Sun Forever Sets handles Player Character relationships. In both it and The Bear, nothing’s ever truly resolved between characters - every relationship is like a cooking pot perpetually simmering. You might’ve apologised, made a truce, or just ignored your issues for so long that they seem to disappear, but no matter what, you’ve got to keep your eye on that pot.

Because suddenly a crisis will hit, and someone says something, or a diceroll comes up bad and all of a sudden the pot boils over and things are once again fucked. You storm out, start screaming, throw a fork. Even in the worst case scenario where a Character leaves because they’re absolutely sick of the rest of the group, they might show up at the end of the game for one last scene. Who knows how you’ll all feel at the end - nothing is ever truly fixed, and only the dead are truly broken. 

“I quit, chef, is what’s going on. You are an excellent chef. You are also a piece of shit. This isn’t on me. Goodbye." - “The Review”, The Bear

I’ve talked about The Thing a little before, John Carpenters sweaty, paranoid antarctic masterpiece. Along with the incredible effects and the (mostly) restrained use of action and bombast, the thing that makes... The Thing work is that the staff of the stricken research base lack any and all emotional intelligence.

It’s sort of the ultimate reverse Dudes Rock movie. Nobody knows anything about each other, so when their bodies and minds are colonised by the titular chameleon from outer space, they’re just another stranger to the rest of the crew. I’d ask you a question only you would know the answer to, but uh.. I don’t know anything about you. Whoops!

Over the course of the film, the whole operation falls apart as they try their best to work together to deal with the alien interloper, but their complete lack of ability to trust or relate to each other - present even before the crisis they find themselves in - is their ultimate downfall.

That final excellent shot of MacReady and Childs sat in the snow at the end of the film as their compound burns around them is the subject of a lot of unnecessary theorycrafting youtube videos, which kind of misses the point. Each suspects the other, but ultimately it doesn’t matter if one of them’s a Thing. One stranger is the same as another. Why bother getting to know each other now?

“Well...What do we do?” “Why don't we just... wait here for a little while? See what happens.” - Childs and Macready, The Thing

Science Fiction Revenge Fantasy

I’m not a historian, but the parallels between 1899 and now are pretty plain to see. Increasing class disparity, a lack of political will to help those in need, rampant cronyism and profiteering. As long as you’re in the place for it, roleplaying in a fictionalised version of the past to air out the issues of the present can be super fun and cathartic. You’re not expected to get a degree in British history to make it work, either.

The title is a play on the phrase “The Sun Never Set on the British Empire”, and it’s plainly stated in the book that Britains Empire acted as a mechanism of genocidal oppression, and that the Martians are here to end it - intentionally or not. It’s appealing as a premise on the face of it, but it goes a little deeper. Memories of Empire echo across time in Britain like the ringing of a malevolent bell, a cause celebre for braying Tories and fascistic right wing cunts (two very close circles in the venn diagram.)

We used to be a great country before this woke nonsense. Things were better back in the old days. The DEI contingent is trying to destroy our noble past. Yada yada yada, fuck offff. I’m sure someone somewhere will accuse me of “wokewashing” the past for including explicitly trans and queer characters as part of the book, along with the historical facts around how we fit into the oppressive Victorian conception of sex and gender. Unfortunately for them, we’ve always been here.

To be a little pretentious about it, every game of As the Sun Forever Sets reaches back into the past and cuts the myth of a glorious and benevolent Empire, and the good old days enjoyed within it off at the neck, purely in the act of beginning one. That sparks a little joy for me. Destroying a racists dream is fun, even if it’s only in the abstract.

A horror game about the most literalist Victorian industrialist imaginable hearing the phrase “Eat the rich” and getting right on that. I’ve not played Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs despite fond (??) memories of playing The Dark Descent in a room full of jumpy friends, and seeing Dear Esther played live on stage, with a live orchestra and narrator - an exquisite way to experience that game.

The mechanical chops of Frictional Games mixed with the narrative verve of The Chinese Room, how could this game be anything less than incredible?

After The Dark Descent I fell off’ve the “scary guy chases you around” genre of game until Alien: Isolation revitalised it, and the reviews of A Machine for Pigs were mixed - kind of boring, middling gameplay, too dark - so I never went back. I was planning on writing a little about its vibe - dark, gothic Victoriana that rhymes nicely with As the Sun Forever Sets - but after a bit of research, Mandus’ quest for his missing sons strikes an unexpectedly resonant and terrible chord.

The writing and voice acting is phenomenal, Mandus’ split consciousness - the self you play and the other half of him that’s seen the horrors of the forthcoming 20th Century and is compelled to act, imbued into the myopic machine he built - is extremely compelling. He feels compassion for the poor and wants to save them, but they fill him with fear and disgust. He knows the industrialist class is killing the world, but feels a deep shame in the fact that he counts himself amongst them. So his machine grinds the rich into meat for the poor, who it distorts into grotesque pig homunculi and forces them to operate the machine’s inscrutable workings.

It’s Mandus’ twisted way of saving the world - kill the rich for their crimes, enslave the poor for their own good, all hail the new machine/god/manager of the 20th century. It’s a neat reflection of the way modern politicians contort themselves to the whims of big business and AI snake oil salesmen to avoid doing the simple and obvious things that’d better the world. It’s a nightmarish refutation of Victorian Liberalism, that only the upper class know how to fix the problems of the lower class. It’s brilliant, and we should play it. 

"Do you hear me Mandus? This is what you planned! This world is a machine! A Machine for Pigs! Fit only for the slaughtering of pigs! Whores, beggars, orphans, filthy degenerates. Pigs all. But I will purify the streets, cleanse this city, set the great industry free. I will clean the world, make it pure." - The Machine, A Machine for Pigs

Song of the Year, of the Century

Not long after I came out as trans, I was asked what (in an ideal world) would make transition easier. I replied - never having to leave the house. One day I'd shut the front door as a man and another day, months or years later, I'd open it again as a woman, neatly sidestepping the terror of being perceived in a notoriously transphobic Britain.

In 2020 I shut that door and didn't open it for 4 months. At work, I remember calling the nearby shelter to donate our excess hand sanitizer and toilet roll, figuring out at the last second how support workers could take calls from their already isolated clients via their mobile phones, and fixating on the steady stream of scared coworkers leaving early. Tearfully, I felt the urge to hug those that remained as we locked up, before we remembered we probably shouldn't.

I've never been more aware of the minutia of moving through a space on the way home - How many people had their hands on this handrail? Have I touched my mouth or eyes without realising? Is anyone in the office already sick? Or on this train? How many more people are going to die? - My heart was in my chest, I heard the blood whoosh through my head to the beat of my steps on the pavement. At home, I realised my boyfriend had to go into work the next day. After he went to sleep, terrified he might die, I cried.

"I remember I felt an extraordinary persuasion that I was being played with, that presently, when I was upon the very verge of safety, this mysterious death—as swift as the passage of light—would leap after me from the pit about the cylinder, and strike me down." - "The Heat Ray", The War of the Worlds

Writing As the Sun Forever Sets was my way of coping with the disconnect with the world I felt, the fear of both Covid and the rising transphobia kept me inside even as the lockdowns eased. That feeling of throbbing death creeping at the window took a long time to wrestle under control, and getting deeply obsessed with a big project became part of that process. It seems incredibly maudlin to make a TTRPG dealing with darkness and death during a pandemic that killed (and continues to kill) millions of people, but I suppose I’m kind of a maudlin person.

“I haven't written a song in a month, So I'm playing the same chords again. I know I need to get lost in the moment, But I get lost before it begins. Fingers stretching out into space. Reaching as a thought slips away.”

It also burnt me the fuck out. After years of constant work and testing (beginning long before Evil Hat picked up the game), I ran out of steam. I spent the months after Evil Hat’s public playtest ended not really able to write anything ATSFS related at all. The game kind of froze - I knew what I wanted to change or fix or add, but the moment the google doc opened I couldn’t make myself start typing. It was incredibly frustrating to have the switch flip from endless obsessive writing to constant nothing, and I don’t think I truly recognised the burnout I was feeling until recently. It turns out spending years staying up past midnight writing is bad, who know!

A lot of Forged in the Dark games don’t get finished (or more accurately, get stuck in perpetual development), something that the excellent and dearly missed +1 Forward podcast recognised in their episode collecting their thoughts on the FITD games they looked at back in 2021. I think that’s because, at least to me, writing a Forged in the Dark game is like trying to hold a plate of spaghetti without the plate. It’s deceptively simple at its heart, but the system squirms when you poke at it - write one thing and it affects 3 other things. Tug one piece of pasta out and you lose a meatball without realising it.

When I listened to that episode, I took it as a challenge. Part of me now wonders if it was a curse. I'm being hyperbolic, of course. But a little part of me did think it might be better to give the game up.

That’s not going to be As the Sun Forever Sets' fate, thankfully. Evil Hat has been there to support me when I’ve felt guilty about shifting another deadline or replying to a check-in email with another late “Not much progress this month, sorry!” The frozen writers block is thawing, and I’m so tantalisingly close to finishing the final text. This blog is part of that process, another chip in the icy dam.

The wheels of dread Martian terror turn once again, and it feels good. Part of that is down to not beating myself up about a lack of progress. The more important part came when I realised I felt able to return to the world again - living in it, not hiding from it. Staying connected to it, even when there's times I'm not able to inhabit it physically. Covid, Britains particular brand of transphobic brainworms, and the shadow of Empire all continue to exist, and so do I - a weird maudlin transsexual woman - in spite of them all.

“The day seemed, by contrast with my recent confinement, dazzlingly bright, the sky a glowing blue. A gentle breeze kept the red weed that covered every scrap of unoccupied ground gently swaying. And oh! the sweetness of the air!” - “The Stillness”, The War of the Worlds

You made it!

Thanks for sticking with my messy thoughts. If what I talked about here sounds cool to you, please stop by the Discord, we'd love to have you. Look forward to seeing As the Sun Forever Sets come to a crowdfunding platform of Evil Hat's choice (I assume backerkit) at some point in the future ♥.

[mediumgayitalian]

4 and 19 for the fic writer asks!!!!! <3

4. a story idea you haven’t written yet

uhhh what havent i outlined and left hanging. lol. but i can tell you guys about the OTHER hades & persephone au i came up with??? i come up with a lot of things lol. and you can tell im in a mood. ACTUALLY NO ill share this really heinous and evil fic outline i have immediately post titan war:

- okay. - so. - after the battle of manhattan there were injured. there were their injured, dryad injured, and luke injured. - and the apollo cabin had been whittled down to one. - will was twelve years old. he had the making of a great healer but there was literally only so much his physical body could take — healing annabeth drained the verve from his body; by the time kronos was defeated will had done the same so many more times there was nothing left in his body. and even then he had to find more to give. - but there is a limit. - there comes a point in the days of recovery where will physically cannot move forward. he drops where he is, throwing up the nothing in his stomach, skin blistering. he’s close to death himself. he will recover, but he has nothing left to give. - chiron, as scared as he was at the start of the war, puts him to rest. he has no healers left. he cannot afford to lose this one: his youngest. - will is sick and delirious and GRIEVING, most of all, he is sick with it. every moment awake is spent sobbing, in pain and in misery. he catches chiron’s hand, half-coherent, as he wheels by; “Shrouds. The shrouds, where are the —” - chiron swallows and points him in the direction of a stack of folded fabric. it is white, and worn; light, oft-repaired linen, thin with use. - old bedsheets. - and will heaves. this cannot he how his siblings are sent away. so with the last of his strength and the light from the moon he drags himself off his bed, crawling to the stack; it is rough, and plain, and he imagines his bright, beautiful siblings shroud in it and cries. he can’t.

- but his hands are shaking. and he can’t see straight. and all he can find is a curved needle and sutures, and he does not know what to do. - so he prays. - he curls against the wood of the nurses station and beds hera, the homemaker, and hades, herder of the dead: he asks for strength, and skill, and the gods take pity on him. quietly strings of deep blue light and copper tendrils wrap around will’s arms, around his fingers. he picks up the needle and drags the first shroud off the pile, exhaling, mind numbing, and sews. the tendrils of light glow gentle and cooling, like faucet water, and for hours he sits, and embroiders. his hands move quickly and carefully and by the time the weeping sun rises again in the morning, nine shrouds line up end to end across the creaking wooden floorboards, stretching shining skies of blue, golden swirls of sunlight and clouds in thread as gold as the stars. chiron comes in exhausted himself and has to steady himself: will, half-conscious, fingers pricked and bleeding, work of the gods in his hands. - chiron gathers them. quietly. apollo’s children are wrapped with the utmost care, one after the other: when they are burned it smells of hyacinth, of laurels. will drags himself from his bed and watches from the door of the infirmary, sobbing.

- when the embers cool there is thread, among the coal. gold, like the sun, and black, like the ashes that remained. - later he sits with his friends. and they are complaining about the gods, about hera, who has ruined their lives. and will is quiet. and they ask, and he says, softer than sunrise: i will owe her as long as i live. as will i the lord of the dead. without their strength i would have had no dignity to send my siblings away. - anyways

19. the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

jaunita's bar in nashville. for the road trip fic. it made me cry, actually. i am being so careful to be true to reality that it is kind of slowing my writing process. but thats okay. 

writing ask game

[bharv]

On defined vs customisable protagonists

Taking a break from DATV for some musings on this. This isn't really an essay, just a ramble, and I'm trying to steer clear of spoilers and heavy critical stuff.

I'll discuss the Dragon Age franchise, the Mass Effect franchise, and Baldur's Gate 3, Pillars of Eternity and Cyberpunk 2077.

Basically, I want to talk a little about ways in which a game's set up can help and hinder us in understanding our protagonist, the pros and cons of voiced protags, and what works in my eyes and what doesn't. I hope this also helps people to think about how they draw characters as well!

Firstly I want to say that people will have different reasons to prefer a more defined protagonist or a more open one. Ultimately it comes down to expectations from roleplay in my eyes. There's not a right or wrong answer in which is "better" but I think there are things that help us to engage with both types.

Establishing what we know (and being consistent with it)

Essential to both types in my eyes is establishing what is known. I'm going to use Commander Shepard as my first example here. We are told instantly that Shepard is an experienced officer, has an expertise in one area, and is being considered for a significant promotion. This allows us to infer that they get the job done, and that they have to have a degree of competency (whether or not they are by the book or more loose with the rules) and that they take their job seriously. The game then gives us some good flavour choices around family values, historical trauma, what they look like and what kind of expert they are, but make no mistake; this is a veteran soldier and you are on that road with them. It's a masterpiece in creating just enough freedom for ownership of a character while telling a very distinct story; if you are paying attention at the start, you know exactly what kind of person Shep has to have been to be considered for this role, which makes for a really clear path through.

Hawke in DA2, which was almost certainly designed to mirror the success of Shepard, follows a similar path. We know that Hawke is a refugee, and has a family, and fought in a recent battle. I would argue where Hawke is weaker to people who enjoy customisation is in setting them against their family; your Shepard could be a wunderkind or be eighty years old, have any number of emotional resonances in their personal life. Hawke is much more definite in age range, relationships and social status, which gives less freedom in making them truly your own. However, DA2 is highly consistent with Hawke. Perhaps you can only really customise the face and the attitude, but that attitude ripples through all of your interactions and creates a very distinct character that is easy to become attached to.

Dragon Age Origins does a very different thing by threading through the origins into inferences throughout the story. The knowns are that you will be the Warden and you will have to save the world. How you get there offers enormous choice. You can be a self-serving politician trying to weasel your way back into power, or you can be a devout Andrastrian on a path to martyrdom. A lot of this choice comes from the choice that is allowed with a non-voiced protagonist in sheer range of responses, a pathway that games like BG3 and Pillars of Eternity have continued.

It is essential you are clear with your player early in what is known about the character, both to help them establish them in a world and avoid disappointing their expectations. If your character is a rookie, say it! If they are an expert, make it clear. You can do this through action too - it doesn't have to all be written out.

To voice or not to voice

To me, personally, Shepard is one of the only truly successful voiced customisable protagonists. I have others I like very much (V in Cyberpunk 2077 and Hawke in DA2) but they are much more a slightly editable character on a defined narrative journey. The moment you put a voice on a character you are deciding tone, meaning and intention, and if your written choice doesn't accurately reflect your tone, it breaks immersion. Shepard walks a careful line that is aided by them being "on the job" for much of the time. Formality helps! It creates boundaries that we instinctively understand from our world.

If you have a voiced protagonist, then you have to either record a ton of lines allowing for anger, diplomacy, fun, inquisition and dismissal, and if you don't do that? You probably should have just set up a more defined character and told their story, and been clear in that expectation from your establishing moments.

Oh, Lore

One thing I really liked in BG3 is the way you could toggle on and off lore friendly options during character creation. It gave you the chance to say actually no, I don't care, or make sure you were creating within that world if you did. But regardless, if you have established lore, you have to carry it through. If you have a ton of backgrounds for characters, you have to make sure that's meaningful. A Grey Warden should be able to sense Darkspawn in their first encounter; it's a huge part of their deal. A Qunari character, if you have not specified that they are Tal-Vashoth and strictly from one background, should be able to reflect positively on their religion and cultural upbringing or see things through a non-Andrastrian lens. This is where it can be easier, even if it is disappointing, to set stronger boundaries in the creation of characters. For the most part, people are okay with limitations if it gives them something to work with. In Inquisition there were complaints about how much or little the backgrounds really added to the experience of being the Herald of Andraste, but they did choose backgrounds where there might be a rough knowledge of what was occuring at the conclave. It's okay to leave some things for people to fill in the gaps, but consistency is key.

Learning as the character learns

One clever way to establish connection but allow for discovery is for the characters to learn as we do. The Dark Urge in BG3 is an obvious example of this, but I'd also add in The Watcher in Pillars of Eternity too, and even V from CP77. Whatever they thought they are, they are something more, and it allows us to keep all of what we thought we knew about our characters and find out more along the way. It allows the game to take us down a path of the present, not the past (even though all of them ARE discovering events of the past!) by making it about what a person sees themself as, what they want to be, and what they have been. It sidesteps invalidation of ideas by creating narratives that are inherently biased as they are memory, allowing us to take or question the information we are given as we are given it. It trusts an audience and the player to invest their own opinions in the burgeoning narrative.

To do this, you need to make sure that the player has a good grasp, again, of what they do know. Good grounding is essential here. Think of the prologue of Pillars of Eternity, where we can establish a character's whole value system, or the pre-heist time with V which allows us to establish an enormous amount of relationship building and relationship to the world around them. Take that time, or it will fall apart.