#mislead the game

[henreyettah]

03/10 🦊

More foxes here

[yamsgarden]

All those dandori issues are causing some real brain damage

[revueofmalice]

something quick ^_^… i really like drawing nicole her hair is fun.

[sewerdraws]

New pinned and meet the artist wooh !

So hi i guess, welcome to the sfw part of the art cave, also known as Sniper in Situations because i tend to have unhealthy obsessions for men with sideburns.

I post my art here tagged as #my art but also reblog random shit, friends art and a lot of tf2 related posts in general !

The nsfw good stuff is over there, way less active but i'd like to pick up the pace so go show it some love i guess idk. MINORS DNI WITH THIS ACCOUNT.

FIC WRITERS you are encouraged to seek me out through dms to translate, beta-read or confirm french in fics ! I'm very passionate about translation and you will never bother me, please do it !

Commisions slots : 3/3 Taken

Request status : Closed

currently doing : 2 sketched out

I take requests and suggestions for my interests listed under the cut ! I don't do self-shipping or ocs (nothing against them, im just here to draw my canon blorbos), and asks with thought-out elaborate prompts or situations are more likely to be prioritized !

Interests, tags and random stuff under the cut

Art from mutuals and friends is tagged #frens art

Textposts or rbs with comments are tagged #rambles

Requests and answers to questions are tagged #asked

Shitposts are just #shitposts

Although i'm currently consumed by tf2, i have a ton of interests that i'm always happy to discuss. These include : tf2, gta V, the walking dead, homestuck and the intermission fandom, ff XIV, abc's Lost and way more.

I have The Autism and The Anxiety so i apologize if i sometimes get awkward or can't get my point across but im also rly chill so you can tell me to fuck off if needed !!

My dms are open but please understand i'm a real person with feelings and an outside life, i might not always answer when or how you would like me to.

[beefcliff]

i may be a smart art boy but i am also the biggest Bethesda apologist i know. todd howard is my dad in spirit . Fallout is my home and if i think about starfield for too long i make unflattering noises.

[figofswords]

hm

[kcamberart]

throwback to that time someone reuploaded Uncle Panko to itch.io like 6 months after i released it but instead of just swiping my cover image as well they used this instead

[jolikmc-thoughts]

So, I just got done playing this little game by Hitsuji over the course of a year. It's called "NEET Girl Date Night". It's pretty rad.

You play the role of yourself as you try and navigate the precarious paths of engaging with your friend's cute cousin, Kara Eklund. As the game title suggests, she is a NEET and maybe a little bit of a shut-in, too. But, she's definitely interesting. Cute, too~

This game is really well written. I think it accurately portrays the kind of things it's going for very well. Plus, Kara is actually really cute on all fronts! She's just a genuinely lovely person.

You can find the game at Hitsuji's itch.io page, linked above. It's a good way to spend an hour or so. Also? It's free*.

* It's actually "pay what you want", but $0.00 is an option…

[reel-fear]

Looking at my old bendy posts is so sad. I used to post dissections of the story and fun things in it, I'd still like to do that but Mike sucks out so much of my energy but I also constantly feel the need to post about whatever dumb shit he says so I can explain to people why it's bad and shouldn't be supportive. On his youtube post a ton of people are being so kind to him and I'm just baffled. This rude asshole who has been nothing but bigoted towards his fans who want to see more diversity gets to be seen as some massive victim because HE said some dumb shit and people didn't like it? What about the young queers who were devastated to find out they'd never be represented in Bendy? What about the people of color who had to witness the graphic novel be filled with almost nothing but white people, with the only canonical person of color now being a book-exclusive [aka Non-Canon] character? Why do they matter so little to so many people? Why do the feelings of Mike, who has literally earned every bit of hate he's ever gotten, matter more than those of the people he's hurt? Why do I have to be the one who constantly updates tumblr on the new stupid shit he's saying no matter how tired and upset it makes me to have to constantly talk about the awful things he constantly says and then gets away with.

I miss being able to talk positively about Bendy, when most of my posts were just talking about cool things I thought about from the franchise. But being honest, I don't think I can ever go back to that time either. With stuff like the bendy books being no longer canon when they contain the best writing in the entire franchise and the way Mike shits himself at any critique he gets... I just can't speak positively of Bendy without some sort of "But..." Anymore, this franchise just fucking sucks currently.

I could make the posts I wanted to about stuff like how much I love Norman but I don't like Game Norman cause he lacks the interesting bits the books added and Book Norman has an awful design now thanks to these assholes! I could make all the posts I had wanted to about BATDR and its story, but I don't like to speak positively of the games anymore cause I don't want people to support them! I could make more posts on the books but then I'll be reminded that all this great writing Kress did, the bendy devs are completely ungrateful for! I literally can't speak purely nice of this franchise anymore cause at every turn I'm faced now with just how much it's been ruined and how much of that happened recently. I miss being able to make a causal nice post about Bendy but now I feel I can't do so without it being misleading or not the full story, Mike has tainted this fucking franchise with his presence and the fact Meatly lets him speak for both of them without stopping him or challenging him makes me assume he thinks the same way Mike does. Ughhhhhhhhhh

[animezinglife]

He's so sweet to her. 🥺

[bunabi]

Not pre-ordering because these past few years have been SO full of games that make huge promises they don't make good on and games are released too early and in shambles - it's a digital release, they're not going to run out. So mostly I'd like to give it at least a week to a month to make sure the game, you know, functions, and isn't a mess before spending the significant amount of money that a AAA release is nowadays

Mmhm after pre-ordering DAI deluxe on PS3 I totally understand 🫠

Though this time, since the first act of DAV is clearly really polished and they've had ten years of experience wrangling the Frostbite engine, I'm a lot more optimistic

But I'm still worried whether they have time to comb over act 2 & 3 just as much before Halloween, considering the layoffs & the fact they had to shift gears from live service to single-player only three years ago

[funkbun]

favs so far

[abitterberryblog]

i don't mean to be that fandom person but every time The Will of the Many gets described and recommended as "fantasy hunger games!!" an angel loses its wings. i promise you i say this as a big fan of both medias

[oh-look-clouds]

did yall know i bought cotl thinking the followers could have children. i had already thought this was a feature. i am so excited for tomorrow 11 am.

[batsplat]

You cannot imagine how giddy I get when I see you've posted a nice long thesis on the riders. And the timezones work as such that I see it during breakfast and it MAKES MY ENTIRE DAY. The content just keeps tumbling around in my brain the whole day. Thank you!!!💛💛💛

this is so incredibly kind that I really don't know what to say... so I'm going to fire off a random undercooked take that is very very far away from thesis territory. featuring the 2015 season

in 2022, jorge gave one of his own regularly scheduled takes on the 2015 season. he offered up a bit of an unusual opinion by focusing on the argentina clash that year - which he that "crucial" in the collapse of the marc/valentino relationship:

(god, can you imagine having a workplace falling out so bad that seven years later it's still an active topic of speculation what exactly the precipitating event was, and several of your coworkers enjoy regularly weighing in with their thoughts? like man they'll never be allowed to rest)

I find this really interesting coming from jorge. one of the fun things about that season is the degree of genuine ambiguity that exists about all of the major on-track flashpoints. was one of valentino or marc responsible for the argentina crash? was the cutting of the chicane at assen premeditated by valentino? and, of course, did valentino really kick marc at sepang? that being said... the argentina one has always been the one where it just seemed... unfortunate timing, shit happens. it's more on marc, he made a misjudgement and also just took a bit too much risk in the context of the title fight, but complete racing incident. that's the reason why this is a slightly odd take from jorge. it's the one incident nobody really has pinned on valentino, certainly not the commentators or the commentariat or otherwise or anyone

to be clear - this post isn't about figuring out what 'really happened' at argentina 2015, it's more about... well, how it was perceived at the time, and what that tells us. but, just to quickly get this out of the way: from the outside (and with the obvious caveat of 'what do I know'), it's a little tricky to see how you'd solely blame valentino for the collision. valentino is by this point clearly ahead of marc, he's literally just been bumped into by marc so may also not have been 100% in control of the bike, and he's taking a regular line into the next turn... when marc essentially rides so closely to him that valentino turning the bike takes out marc's front wheel. even if vale's deliberately trying to ride defensively against marc, he's perfectly entitled to do so. I know jorge doesn't actually specify valentino crashed marc out deliberately, but given the specific situation, I feel like that's what you're implying when you're saying he's "responsible". you're suggesting valentino knew where marc was and essentially purposefully moved the bike across to wipe out marc's front wheel and... look. I suppose it's possible, though valentino's also allowed to some extent to deliberately make the life of the guy behind him harder. more likely, this is just what happens when two hard racers race each other and insist on practically sitting on each other's bikes when they're on track together - sometimes it'll go wrong. except, of course, that won't stop controversy from breaking out... especially not when it's these two. here, from one of the write ups of the race, is a description of the two of them I've always been fond of:

which is very them, yes. same type of guy, slightly different flavour, both with carefully cultivated reputations. but look, the main takeaway is this: we don't know their actual intentions. I don't know if valentino deliberately made contact with marc. let's be honest, marc doesn't know if valentino deliberately made contact. only valentino knows that. jorge lorenzo certainly doesn't know that. so why is this the incident he brought up?

in part, I'm curious how jorge even got that impression that marc was mad, and also why he thinks valentino was to blame. the latter, okay, jorge isn't naturally inclined to be generous towards valentino's particular style of racing, not least because he's fallen foul of it a fair few times over the years (though I'd say valentino on occasion was rather less subtle than that against jorge lol). but why is this the thing jorge brings up? I mean, you'd think he'd point to assen as the turning point, given he was literally sitting in that extremely awkward post-race presser and clearly very much enjoyed the whole thing. does he know marc was mad at valentino for argentina? that marc "didn't like it"? was this some kind of paddock rumour at the time? would there have been any basis for that rumour?

so, marc himself was quick to publicly deny that he was angry at valentino, something he reiterated at the next race in jerez. immediately post-race, he said the following:

and the official statement:

it's still far from the snarky digs of the post-assen presser, but to me this is a little open to interpretation. I always find 'learn' a very interesting verb. casey over the years was particularly keen on using that word, typically in relation to valentino, to the point where when you see that his tweet commemorating valentino's retirement includes the phrase "I learnt a lot from you".... well, that can be read in lots of ways, not all of them positive. it kind of depends on what you're learning, right? when casey uses it, the implication is basically that valentino was an asshole and casey had to learn to play his games and be more selfish fighting vale. marc uses the word four times in the interview, plus again in the statement. valentino has a certain reputation, a reputation marc is of course more than aware of. he is known for... not being a cheat, necessarily, but being a little underhanded in his tactics, a little devious. yes, valentino did a good job in managing the race, but also in the "melee". "you learn different things and different strategies". what kind of different strategies, marc? are we sure he's talking about tyre preservation here?

(speaking of tyre preservation, one of the reasons why marc was probably feeling particularly disinclined to let valentino go without a fight was the fuckery with the tyre choices. long story short, tyre choice was a big talking point due to the extreme wear they'd had the year before and the extra compound bridgestone had developed. marc made a bit of a show of faffing about with a late switch that he kept concealed until basically the last moment, presumably to fuck with his competitors who were tensely waiting to see what he'd pick. valentino, who had opted for the hardest option, said after the race that he'd ignored what marc was doing because he knew there was only one choice for the yamaha anyway. so in the end it didn't really work to unsettled his key rival and also... well, I mean, marc was two laps away from the tyre choice working in the race, but not quite! just couldn't build up the lead he needed to prevent valentino from reeling him in)

also, "in the end you can see perfectly what happens" is not technically the same thing as saying valentino was not to blame for the incident. it's a phrasing that shies carefully away from actually giving marc's own take on the incident. basically telling the viewer to draw their own conclusions from what they've seen on tv - even though of course marc does make clear he sees it as a racing incident. it's the kind of vague statement that marc has occasionally popped out over the years, at times perhaps implying more than outright stating he has a problem with a certain incident, which does make you maybe raise an eyebrow or two at how he words it here. it's just... listen, it could be 100% innocent and the whole thing isn't flirting with disaster as much as assen is, far from it, but it's the kind of thing where with 20/20 hindsight you do kinda go. hm.

there is a little more evidence that marc was indeed mad at valentino for what happened at argentina... if valentino is to believed and marc's manager told him so directly after sepang:

(why, if you are marc marquez's manager, do you go to valentino rossi after sepang 2015 to tell valentino you think marc was angry at him for losing him the title. why would you do this. what are you trying to accomplish here)

do I believe this conversation happened? yeah, kinda, because it feels like an odd and very specific thing to make up. that's just a gut feeling thing - I have zero evidence either way obviously. I think at most it's plausible valentino misinterpreted what alzamora was saying. of course, the words "as much" do set off an alarm bell or two, maybe suggesting alzamora didn't directly tell him the bits about argentina and assen. but, y'know, it's also entirely possible marc did think valentino had deliberately taken him out in argentina, especially in the heat of the moment - and his team would very much have been aware of his feelings on the matter. not fun to crash out of the penultimate lap. not when clashing with the championship leader, who is also your hero and who you've generally gotten the better of... not easy not easy

anyway, again, this is definitely a bit of an undercooked take, but it's always nice to get a little bit of insight into what the paddock vibes were at the time. if there are many people - and if there were many people back then - who think that valentino had deliberately taken out marc, that he should have apologised to marc, that marc was mad at valentino.... if it got back to valentino through alzamora, did he hear it from other people too? to what extent was this kind of thing common wisdom within the paddock, or are these takes literally nobody but jorge believes in? we don't know, but it's interesting! argentina is kinda the unloved child of 2015 divorce incidents. partly because it does look so innocuous, partly because it's harder to ascribe ill intent, partly because the two parties are far more pleasant to each other in the aftermath. that's why jorge coming back to this specific incident has stuck with me... in all honesty, I don't really trust jorge to be a particularly good judge of marc and valentino's interpersonal chemistry at any given moment in time, but did he see the cracks beginning to emerge so early in the season? to what extent did argentina already make things visibly less comfortable between the pair of them? why does jorge think marc wanted an apology?

if marc really was particularly angry, then it does go to show how quickly he flipped the switch himself when it came to valentino, swiftly reappraising him as a serious rival who should be treated as such. also, let's put aside a minute what valentino's actual intentions were... it's revealing if marc did think valentino was deliberately fucking him over here. (which, given he's repeatedly using the word "learn" - if he does think valentino's responsible as jorge suggests, then he also doesn't think it was just an innocent lil mistake. you don't 'learn' from your hero making an error, you learn from them riding in a way that wins them the race by crashing you out.) like, y'know how in this post I was saying marc obviously was perfectly aware of valentino's past history, including the feuding and controversy of it all? I mean, if you want proof of how aware he was, look at assen 2015! he's clearly immediately suspicious of valentino and his motives... because he knows what valentino's like, because he knows that 'planning to exploit a grey area in the rules by deliberately allowing marc to make contact before cutting the chicane' is absolutely the kind of sneaky shit valentino is renowned for. what if marc does share jorge's belief that valentino is responsible for the argentina crash? if marc thinks valentino did so deliberately, then that tells you something about how marc sees valentino, no?

obviously they both massively over-correct when they arrive at jerez, which is how we get 'in bed remains the same' and lingering hugs feat. hip-stroking in parc fermé, all that stuff. if it did plant a little seed of suspicion, a little seed of doubt, then that maybe helps explain why they were focused on each other more than they were on the guy who won the next four races - even when it became increasingly clear jorge was the championship favourite. which is what it comes back to for me - the fact that such a seemingly innocuous incident was allowed to blossom into so much more shows there was already something there between the pair of them. the championship might be one thing... but somehow, if given half a chance, they were always going to see each other as their number one rival

[nightingaelic]

Quite frequently we see that entire groups of Asians (well, Chinese) get turned into ghouls. The submarine in fallout 4 for example, not a single member of that crew died due to radiation they all turned. So. A thought my friend and I had. What if that one special thing that determines if your die or ghoulify is Gengas Khan's genetics. Its the only genetic link I can think of that would explain this kinda distribution, at least without getting into racist pseudoscience wich hopefully the series itself doesn't do.

I don't think you're off-base in thinking there must be some genetic marker that predisposes someone to 1) ghoulification rather than death, and 2) the length of time spent sentient prior to becoming feral, but I personally don't think it's related to Genghis Khan's bloodline. Prisons and military installations full of ghouls are effective set pieces, and I think the groups of Chinese ghouls found in the games are there primarily to illustrate the forces of war that literally could not care less about the people caught up in it. More under the cut.

There are quite a few instances across the games where Chinese ghouls are living in groups, either sentient or feral, but these groups typically occurred for one of two reasons. The first reason is imprisonment, which includes the Turtledove Detention Camp in Fallout 3's Point Lookout DLC, and the Little Yangtze concentration camp in Fallout New Vegas's Old World Blues DLC. Both ran American programs of torture and experimentation prior to the Great War, and both were in close proximity to toxic waste that permeated the soil and water, which ghoulified the surviving prisoners after the bombs fell and their captors abandoned them.

The second reason is jingoism. This covers the Chinese remnants at Mama Dolce's and a couple of listening posts in Fallout 3, and the Motherlode Acquisition Facility in Fallout 76. The Motherlode Acquisition Facility is sitting right on top of what looks like an ultracite fissure site (which I can say from experience is not great for one's health), but besides that the sentient ghouls in each are doing what the Enclave does - carrying out covert military operations and extending the war past the point of nuclear annihilation. Ghoulification is practically a bonus in this case as it extends lifespans and eliminates the threat of radiation sickness, allowing agents to better carry out their missions on American soil. Whether or not the Chinese remnants all submitted to this process voluntarily is obviously up for debate - there is at least one spy in the Motherlode Acquisition Facility that doesn't want to be there. You also pointed out the Yangtze-31 submarine in Fallout 4, which touches both reasons - a Chinese nuclear payload that contributed to the Great War, and naval mine damage that caused a reactor leak which ghoulified the crew and shut the vessel down. Still, Captain Zao harbors no ill will to peaceful investigators, so it's safe to say he and his crew were primarily the victims of circumstantial imprisonment.

But for imprisonment by either the state or circumstances, there are plenty of documented instances where the populations affected weren't primarily Chinese. The Californian residents of Vault 12 in the first Fallout game, a vault whose door was designed to close improperly, is one such case. Vault 34 in Fallout New Vegas saw a chunk of its own Mojave Desert population mutate thanks to a damaged reactor. The beached FMS Northern Star in Fallout 4 has a Norwegian ghoul crew. The remaining inmates of Eastern Regional Penitentiary in Fallout 76 have become emaciated and feral, and they were Appalachian criminals and union organizers.

Ghoulification for the sake of America is a little harder to find, but I would argue that mutation is still a tool of those who are dragging the nation's corpse around. The Enclave classifies all mutants, ghouls included, as subhuman and worthy of extermination, but they're still willing to exploit Fallout 2's super mutant Frank Horrigan for their own purposes. If they viewed ghouls as useful, I have no doubt they would have ghoulified their own ranks.

Really, what we have in the case of the Chinese ghouls on American soil is a display of writer-induced survivorship bias. The setting draws heavy inspiration from the Red Scare and McCarthyism, where instead of the Soviet Union, Communist China has hidden within the United States to further its own goals. While the games make use of environmental storytelling elements like holotapes, journals, and propaganda, it's just more interesting for the player to occasionally happen upon a populated secret base or prison or submarine to see the extent of the Chinese infiltration and America's paranoia. Oh, it's been 200 years since the bombs fell? Well, lucky for the writers, they have this in-universe explanation for why someone might have lived long enough to meet the player character. If it weren't for the preserved groups of Chinese ghouls, we probably wouldn't see the pre-war Chinese people at all.