#my beloved dlc. the besties are there.

[fluffs-n-stuffs]

Pokémon Horizons Episode 32 spoilers under the cut!

WHAT IS HAPPENINGJGNGNSUDFHS

[ciderbot]

pokemon presents in like 5 minutes if its 40 minutes of nothing i will be conducting widespread violence this is not a threat but a warning

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

watched the playthrough. thoughts and spoilers:

ryuji is really sweet but the game does him so dirty. for real

also funny how ryuji's persona progression was pirate (ok makes sense) >> the monkey king (i suppose it works thematically?) >> diego (mr worldwide?)

i shouldnt judge personal progression based on pokemon evolution but it is silly to me. just a bit. like makoto's was a bike that became a transformer that went back to being a cooler bike...haru's was a lady -> skull lady -> big dress lady

i wish ann's persona fit didn't. look. like that...i get why it could be justified narratively but like. come on

makoto is crazy useful gameplay wise but an absolute shit driver narratively

it's so funny how every single big bad here can be traced back to the biggest bad, a bald man with a political agenda

actually how most of the bad people from behind the scenes are just old rich men. accurate i suppose

also funny is how akechi is depicted as ultra handsome but he's just a cookie cutter anime twink

the protag is also a cookie cutter anime twink but because he wears glasses he just looks normal. superman clark kent type physics

he doesn't even need those glasses. what's the point

the gameplay itself was fun to watch. it was overstimulating in its excess of anime and sometimes bewildering in its mechanics but the music was good and i like the menu ui design

the romance options piss me off. why does the protag have the option to romance his teacher and not ryuji. sigh

poor haru. her confidant line involves her admitting she may or may not have a crush on the protag and the options essentially boil down to 'i want you' to 'die'...is there not a nicer way to let her down please

i love futaba she is just like. me. i want nothing but the best for her she is like a sister tome. also her splash art is so cute

the voice acting is really good. like i was watching with the english dub but the voice acting is really very good, especially akechi's va

they never explain how a phone app suddenly started letting people into the mind palace system. was igor busy typing out java on his thinkpad. did development get outsourced

akechi???

also i dont understand how exactly shido's support team somehow manipulated the metaverse to make everyone forget about the phantom thieves...there was some stuff about a god in there and a big cup but i think i blanked out during this part. or maybe they had nothing to do with it and im just jumping the gum

mona gets three fakeouts about his death so everyone has to feel sad about him three different times. ryuji gets one fakeout and they all beat him up in the street can we give this boy some justice

i like how p5royal gives the protag back his annoying ass toxic boyfriend but also a mentally ill girlfriend yayyy <33 diversity win your polycule is fucked up

mona only just finds out he can turn into things other than a bus in literally the last arc before they all lose their powers for forever, further proving his status as the most useless player on the team

i like how the last confrontation with dr maruki involves just slugging him as hard as you can

dr maruki's hair looks way darker to me in the anime cutscenes than in the game

'me and my emotional support toxic tulpa situationship boyfriend'

i finally understand why i kept seeing heartwrenching yaoi fanart every february second now with themes around departure death betrayal and guns etc

the ending is very sweet. though im a little confused on why they had to take separate cars to get to the train station so they wouldn't get tailed...who is tailing you? and why?

akechi???????????????

fuck that cat

tl;dr: it was fun. i am now sick in the head

watching a persona 5 playthrough

[madamegixxysticks]

Skylanders Trap Team Trappable Villains in a nutshell

(This was just because I was bored. Treat it like Vegetable Justice and don't be offended easy if I roast your favorite one.)

Life

Sheep Creep: The first baddie you shove in that emerald hammer, sorta like your first bug type with a pokeball.

Broccoli Guy: Useful... For everything not fighting.

Chompy Mage: Beloved old loon since 2012

Cuckoo Clocker: Where's the fighting element? No problem! Put him in life!

Shield Shredder: I guess they would've put you in tech, but all the chairs were taken.

Chompy: WHY ARE YOU DLC-

Water

The Gulper: A walking sin of Gluttony

Slobber Trap: Hey, boy! I think the Earth Element was that way.

Chill Bill: Was cool before it was cool.

Brawl and Chain: Somebody needs to give him a teddy bear, STAT.

Cross Crow: I guess water comes from your arrows...?

Threatpack: NEEERD-

Earth

Tussle Sprout: Hey, wanna swap elements with Cuckoo Clocker?

Chomp Chest: Yeaaah... That chest wasn't sus at all!

Grave Clobber: Why did you change to water in Imaginatiors...?

Golden Queen: Entitled to all the gold in Skylands, is female, and yells a lot... Is she Skylands' Karen?

Air

Buzzer Beak: Uhh... Okay.

Dreamcatcher: Oh... How she'd dream of having a better fight... Oh wait, Pain-Yatta and Hood Sickle have that? And they're in the same level as her?

Krankenstein: Are you trying to copy Jet-Vac? Is that why you're in Air?

Bad Juju: Why you don't mess with voodoo.

Tech

Bruiser Cruiser: Hey, your mech is kinda clever.

Shreadnaut: Double trouble!

Brawlrus: You gotta pick him!

Krankcase: Dude, you can take the hat off, you don't need to put that other hat ON TOP OF IT.

Trolling Thunder: How does THAT fit in the trap WITH him?!

Mab Lobs: What's with mirror people and facial hair?!

Magic

Bomb Shell: No another "Should be in tech"!

Pain-Yatta: Everything about you is great!... Expect the evolved form.

Rage Mage: Brocc but not useful.

Fire

Chef Pepperjack: How did you get into that baking contest?!

Scrap Shooter: GARBAGE DAY!

Grinnade: I'm sure Activision would've been sued if you didn't get a mouth.

Smoke Scream: Mr. "I have the best Skystone", which is better than KAOS.

Undead

Masker Mind: Green is not a creative COLOR.

Hood Sickle: I think my bestie has a crush on you.

Wolfgang: First you break others' eardrums, now you copy off of Snap Shot in Imaginators?

Bone Chompy: HOW ARE YOU NOT DLC?

Light

Eye-Five: You're lucky I'm convinced you're a living plushie.

Blaster-tron: Systems indicate: You are a very cool bot.

Lob Goblin: Not again with another "should be in tech"!

Luminious: Actually, I got nothing. You're good.

Dark

Eye-Scream: Would I need to call a dentist or an eye doctor...?

Fisticuffs: I guess you're meant to be like the Pokemon version of the Dark Ty- er, Element?

Tae Kwon Crow: WHO DARES PUT ME IN A NUTSHELL?!

Nightshade: ...Now I'm going to give the "Worst Doom Raider Fight" medal to you. And that's because I can't think of any way to fix yours!

Kaos

.... Basically the Joker, but bald, the size of a dwarf, and has nothing to do with clowns... He's a metamorphic one.

[ol1verdrawsyt]

CALLUM'S THOUGHTS ON DA DIALTOWN DLC!!!!!

major spoilers under the cut!!! if you haven't played the dlc n don't wanna be spoiled, then don't read this lol

OK SO FIRST THINGS FIRST, THE SPRITES ARE INCREDIBLE! I love how Roger carries his stupid lil briefcase around with him everywhere. Roger is so autistic coded and nobody can take that away from me. Also this route made me love Rogergingi more than I already did so :P

Peter is the guy ever. I love that despite how grumpy he is, he genuinely does care about Roger and wants to see him succeed. Also I wanna see what his wife looks like cuz he mentions her a lot. May or may not have a design for her but yk.....

JOEEEEEEE ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️i love him so much im actually screaming, i missed him so much. he was one of my favorite characters from the franchise we do not speak of and I'm so glad I can love him again w/o it being associated with that!!!

I got all the endings, with my 2 favorites being the good ending and the good ending and the one where the green civilian shows up

IM ACTUALLY SO HAPPY THAT THE GREEN CIVILIAN HAS A NAME NOW BUT I AM. NOT CALLING HIM THAT!!!!!!!

The good ending was so fucking sweet, dude. The music being a quiet, calm version of the funfair literally made me cry, and then Roger showed up and he went with Gingi and UGHHGSJDFKDSF

with that being said, I'm a lil confused about Peter in the good ending?? Why was he suddenly like "HHAHA I TRICKED YOU TO TAKE OVER THE FACTORY!!!"???? I didn't see it coming at all, and it's not like a good twist imo. It feels so out of nowhere. Peter is Roger's best friend, the whole thing was wanting his friend to succeed, why did he suddenly switch to some 'master manipulator' who' tricked Roger into handing the plant over to him'? Idk if I'm just bad at processing things and I missed something, but I'm so confused abt that

but other than that THE GOOD ENDING MADE ME UGLY SOB, ROGER DESERVES EVERYTHING. Coming from someone with experience with that shit, Roger is such a good rep of how constant berating and basically verbal abuse hurts someone and changes how you think and act. ALSO HIS TALK WITH GINGI. OH MY FUCKING GOD.

I LOVE GINGI DEPTH. I LOVE WHEN THEY SHOW EMOTIONS THAT ARENT PRIMAL RAGE AND HORNY. I LOVE WHEN MCs ARE GIVEN MOMENTS LIKE THIS THAT SHOWS THEM BEING VUNERABLE!!!!!!

gingi n roger have so much in common and i can't wait 4 the fanfics

also the evil endings.... holy shit dude. Those were fucking awful to get, i felt like such a pos for having to do that. I do love evil gingi in the mingling tho

THE CALLUM HINTS???? HOLY FUCKING SHIT??? MORE GINGI = CALLUM CONFIRMATION??? I CALLED IT??? I love the callum images that show up, hes so goober shaped and i need 2 make those my discord pfp

NATHAN HANOVER IS THE BEST. THE NEW OST IS SO GOOD AND I NEED IT RELEASED NOW SO I CAN LISTEN TO IT ON LOOP FOR THE NEXT WEEK OR SO

SIDE NOTES THAT IDK HOW TO CATAGoARIZE:

i love all the bg characters introduced!! fabron n omair are so rad :D

the bgs are rlly cool

i love gingi waving shit aroudn

GINGI STIMMING CONFIRMATION????

roger and peter are the besties ever

the new randy sprites were rlly cute hes so cringefail boyloser

OLIVER MY BELOVED FREAK

yorik...

its actually tragic that norm didnt appear

bunny n abel fighting!!!!!

but most importantly

GABBY!!!! GABBY MY BELOVED!!!! IM HER N1 FAN!!!!! I SCREAMED WHEN SHE SHOWED UP!!! I WISH SHE WAS IN EVERY SCENE AND GOT HER OWN ROUTE AND WAS THE MAIN CHARACTER AND

[cdfreak]

♧ :-)c

hiiii i got up out of bed and turned on my shut off sleeping laptop to answer this ask for you.#Love

You’re my: longest running replacement older sibling figure (bestie westie beloved friend)

How I met you: also coreys server . help me god my pirated sims 4 dlc are all tweaking right now omg im not gonna make it

Why I follow you: i have to or ill die

Your blog is: pretentious masturbatory and hard to understand (positive)

Your URL is: really good and whoever helped you decide on it is probably really like cool and smart and creative but also strong silent and brooding. and hot

Your icon is: #TheyThem

A random fact I know about you: literally born on a dark stormy night

General opinion: overwhelmingly positive to a degree that i cannot communicate

A random thought I have: every time i go to the frozen vegetables aisle at the grocery store and see the green giant i think of you

[aimlessarchery]

TOA Anniversary Munday!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

tagging: anybody/everybody!

----

Name: Maddie

Pronouns: they/she

Birthday (no year): January 12

Where are you from? What is your time zone? US East Coast, EST

Roleplay experience: probably about ~10 years on-and-off between forums, chat rp, and tumblr

----

Got any pets? two dogs! Seamus is an Australian Shepherd, and Keegan is a rescue mutt. I love them both very dearly

Favorite time of year: Fall

Some interests and things you like: drawing/painting, RPGS, video game music (listening to, finding notation of + transcribing for piano)

Some funfacts & trivia about you: i'm left-handed and an eldest sibling, which means i accidentally taught my younger sister how to play guitar hero backwards

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? oh man. childhood favorites that stick with me are Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy. I've dipped into Tales of, though the only one I've completed is Vesperia (beloved game). Octopath Traveler 1 and 2 are both amazing. Splatoon is my favorite shooter. I've gotten lost in Pillars of Eternity for hundreds of hours. I think my fav Elder Scrolls game has become Oblivion for some reason. Sometimes I dive into sim games like Planet Zoo or Two Point Hospital for a bit. I like video games!!

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: hard to pick a type, but some of my favs are Ampharos, Ivysaur, and Furret!

----

How did you get into Fire Emblem? downloaded the Awakening demo and played it like 10 times in a row. decided that buying myself the game was going to be my first "treat yourself" purchase when i moved out for college

What Fire Emblem games have you played? completed: Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening, Shadows of Valentia, Three Houses (VW, CF, most of AM) actively in progress: Blazing Blade, Three Hopes, Silver Snow route of 3H started, but only barely: Gaiden, Genealogy, Shadow Dragon (DS), New Mystery of the Emblem

First Fire Emblem game: Awakening

Favorite Fire Emblem game: Tellius Duology (hard to separate them for me haha), with SOV as a strong contender as well

Any Fire Emblem crushes? ...and if I was also a little aquiver with python from lukas's performance in the SOV DLC what of it

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? - Awakening: Stahl - Fates: Azama - Three Houses: Shamir

Favorite Fire Emblem class: hmm...archers and mages, maybe. it's always satisfying when the chip damage is enough to save a front liner from retaliation, and even more satisfying when a crit or adept procs and the ranged unit is like "nah dw i got this"

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? my gut says wind mage. idk why tho besides the lack of athleticism needed for a physical class lol

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Golden Deer!

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? I have not played engage but i want a ghost ike to be my bestie...

----

How did you find TOA? Lucius was over at my house and pitched it to me one night while we were reminiscing about FERP on tumblr. pulled up the rank chart on my computer to explain it to me and everything lmao

Current TOA muses: Python and Caspar

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? Python was my first! He's definitely the one I'm most confident in, and I see him as kind of my "bedrock muse" for now.

Have you had any other TOA muses? I had Reyson for a short-ish time!

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? I think I'm still feeling out the difference between "types of characters i gravitate toward liking" and "types of characters I gravitate toward writing". I do think I feel most comfortable writing supporting characters with enough backstory for me to tease out and build up from there!

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I love character connection. Whether it's spoken aloud or not, I like little moments where I can have my muse compare a character to someone else they know, or see each other in a different way. I also love when characters have conflicting views and motivations and have to deal with that in one way or another!

Favorite TOA-related memory: KKE Team Guard coming together for that crazy rapid-fire chat that Ree sprung on us for the finale is definitely a strong one! It was so fun seeing different characters shine throughout the conversations, and on my own end I loved having an opportunity to let Python lose his cool for once >:3

How do you pronounce TOA? each letter pronounced individually: tee-oh-ay

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day in TOA that you’d like to share? I've only got fleeting thoughts that I would have to let simmer longer, especially when I would have to let someone go to fill the slot (I have accepted that 2 is my personal limit). That said, I've got a few guys hidden behind my back on the off-chance that I feel like it's time for a change ;0

[chronicas]

GAMES (And DLCs) PLAYED 2023!!

10. The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. I am NOT! The Visual Novel enjoyer. BUT MAN!! WHAT A DELIGHT!! It honestly brought be around in the genre again after DR3 muddied my enjoyment of it. Totally unexpected and so so SO enjoyable. Which is why I’m giving it a spot on the top 10! Play this game!! It’s free and awesome! I’ve even had people with know knowledge of Sonic tell me they liked this game! I’m serious! Go play it!!!

9. Bastion! LOVED this one! A beautiful game! I honestly don’t have much more to say on it though because it’s kinda just another really good game from Supergiant. I love how many styles of combat exist as options in this game, like, more than Hades had which felt like a lot compared to Transistor (which also had a lot of cool options but you can only use a sword so many ways). Good game! 8/10! Definitely recommend!

8. Frospoken. I’m being generous to this one because despite the super lackluster story. THIS WAS SO FUCKING FUN TO PLAY!!! I literally had such a blast with this one!! The abilities made running around the world so so so fun!! Of course I am disappointed that it didn’t live up to my expectations after following its development through the years, but honestly, they can’t all be bangers and I’m fine with that. Some games are just fun and have sick as fuck boss fights, and sometimes that’s all I need. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it though.

7. Sonic Frontiers: The Final Horizon. Okay I didn’t think they were gonna fully redo an entire level of the game. When they said “new story content” I thought that was gonna be like four new basically Cyber Space levels and that’s it. ALSO IM SORRY!! I’M SORRY FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT THE DIFFICULTY I’LL BE DIFFERENT NEXT TIME. All in all it was solid as hell. Like I’ve always said with Frontiers, this one GETS Sonic. This is what it’s all about. But Christ this was hard to beat….

6. Kingdom Hearts. The first one. BANGER!!! SUPER FUCKING CUTE. Also Cloud and Yuffie are there :]]]!!! The whole concept of Final Fantasy meets Disney still feels like an absolute buck wild concept to turn into such a well beloved franchise but hey! It’s good shit!! My favorite level overall was probably the Little Mermaid one! I love unique level mechanics!! Excited to play more of these games next year!

5. Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Cannot believe I delayed playing this one for so long! IT WAS SO GOOD!! These games are doing so right by my boys Miles and Ganke. The Spider-Verse movies could never (Taking shots at my own favorite movies). I’m REALLY glad I didn’t skip this before 2 came out. I loved the side quests on this one most of all! Really made you feel like a Friendly Neighbor Spider-Man instead of just Spider-Man. Also Haley I love you so much my sweet girl Haley :]

4. Destiny 2: Lightfall. This might be the lowest a D2 expansion has scored on this list in years. But that’s entirely because the other games this year were FUCKING SWEEET! But GOD. UAGH. I LOVED THIS ONE!!!! IT WAS SO GOOD!!! WHAT THE HELL… Nimbus my best friend Nimbus. AND GRAPPLING HOOK??? YEAHHHHH!!! God Strand is a fun subclass. It definitely doesn’t beat Stasis for me right now but it is SOOOOOOO FUNNNNNN. I loveee itttt. It was so exciting to start unraveling more about the Witness. Also the seasons this year? Mostly bangers!! We got a Pirate Season AND a Dragon Season?!?! WOOOOO!!!!!

3. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. MOTHER!!! FUCKING!!!!!! DRAGONS!!!!!!!!!! DRAGONS!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! DRAGON BOSS FIGHT!!! WOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!! LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO! 10/10 THIS GAME ROCKS. BEST ZELDA GAME. DRAGONSS!!!!!!!

2. Lethal Company! God this game rules. Enough to surpass the other games on this list purely because it’s gotten me through this whole month. It’s designed in a way that it’s always fun to come back to and it’s just been hours of fun with my besties! Plus it looks fucking stellar. Literally peak. 10/10, cannot recommend this one enough.

1. SPIDA-MAN!!!!!! 2!!!!!!!!!!!! Was so fucking good HOOOLLLYYYYY SHIT! I literally have raved on and on about this game and honestly I could just keep going. The gameplay was PHENOMENAL!!! The characters were so good. It was SUCH a good take on the Black Suit and Venom AND a really cool take on Kraven’s Last Hunt!!!!!!!!! Literally I couldn’t have asked for more from this game! It’s earned a spot as one of my all time favorites!!! :D

[loopingpyre]

yeah thats something i noticed about persona spin offs too I really enjoyed the dlc personally i think it feels different because of just how short it is

cause there def was a short period in the beginning of p5t where while i enjoyed erina and toshiro them sure but i probably wouldn't have cried for them the same way i felt at the end of p5t

(though this could also partially be because i see joker as being someone who's slow to warm up to people outside of his friends he's not uncaring but he just cares about his friends more)

The DLC wasn't bad, it's just got issues like.

Akechi and Luca talk about codenames and Kasumi doesn't get involved. It's sidestepping around royal spoilers that could be very interesting to examine. And there's not nearly enough of the tension and rivalry that I think really nails the royal trio.

But you get that opening act, of just Joker and Erina (feat. regrettably Morgana to talk for Joker), and then start collecting your cast back with Toshiro, before the main story really begins.

Lots of good setup there, which the DLC doesn't really have time to do because of the small set cast and small campaign, as you say.

I don't personally have many Joker headcanons, but those do make sense. Eri Eri my friend my beloved my bestie Erina, really struck a sweetspot with me, which led to similar reactions at the end to you.

The DLC just doesn't have the time or length to do that without adding new cast members and maps.

[blighted-elf]

Had some time to finish Wrath of the Righteous in between clients and thought I’d give my Opinions, like I did for Kingmaker, but this time, with much kinder things to say!

May as well start off with the bad because there are so few:

- I preferred the map travel in the first game. They shortened the time it takes to get exhausted for no good reason omg. - The character backgrounds are quite literally useless as far as dialogue goes. Didn’t get to talk about being an Acolyte once, and only got to talk about being a Pharasma worshiper three times (incidentally, NOT when you actually meet her?). Such a wasted opportunity. Games like PoE incorporate backgrounds much more successfully imo.

Now for the good/great:

- Finally a game that lets you play as Anything-But-Lawful-Good successfully? A fantasy game that doesn’t try to force you to be the hero? Fuck yes. I had a great time being Chaotic Neutral - Chaotic Evil. There’s so many games where doing that will result in all your companions leaving you, being locked out of quests and any decent endings. But not this one!

- The story and antagonists were truly great. Getting banished to the Abyss the second you get some footing? Stressful but fun. The overall pacing was much better than in Kingmaker too. Areelu was so similar to my Commander (power hungry knowledge seeking creatures of chaos, let’s go), despite me not researching anything about her prior to the character creation. I almost considered saving her, but when she spoke about defying Pharasma, I had to stay in character. So, my commander sacrificed her but only out of duty, not necessarily out of personal want.

- The Mythic paths made the Commander feel very personalised. Trickster was a bit memey at some points, but generally a bit of fun. Like, I turned a powerful demon lord into a mirror instead of fighting her. Then slept with Socothbenoth, after pledging allegiance to his enemy... in front of all my companions and a bunch of other demon lords. Also, I still have each member of the council’s soul in a cauldron because I didn’t use it then skipped town, which may be the biggest prank of all. - The companions. Good god, I fell in love with so many of them. Woljif, my beloved rogue tiefling template. Arueshalae, the literal succubus, who just... stops being a demon as soon as Desna/the Commander shows her love and support (or you can make her evil again). Opposingly, Camellia, my “irredeemably evil” bestie, gets even worse when you show her love and support and I genuinely loved that because it’s such a rarity in this genre. And just... the entire Daeran romance. The hold that this fictional man currently has over me 😭 Like, I originally wanted to go for Arue but Count Sass started flirting while insulting me and my Commander was like ohh I’m going to ruin his life in the best way. Confession time part 1... Accidentally got the bad ending for Sosiel, but he married some guy and lived happily ever after still? He was just mourning his brother? Sorry to a fellow cleric. I’ll do better next playthrough and pay closer attention. Confession time part 2... I loved Wenduag but killed her in her last quest because In Character, and regretted it for the rest of the game. Definitely going to keep her alive next time. Soz Wendy.

But yeah, I highly recommend this game and desperately need multiple story DLCs to come out soon!

[infiniteanalemma]

So, this is about Dragon Age, which means it's a long essay of a post. The question was which companion was my favorite.

Okay, so first of all, asking me to pick only one favorite? In a BioWare game? Cruel. 😞 How can I pick just one across three games and multiple dlcs? Impossible. I'm too indecisive for that.

Instead, I'll do one per game, which is still hard. Long post ahead. You've been warned.

Origins first, as God intended. If I have to pick only one (*sob*), it has to be Sten. Don't get me wrong, I love Alistair and he was my canon Cousland's romance. But as the player, Sten's my guy. I love a strong, silent type who'll talk philosophy with me, so what can I say? Maybe we don't always agree on everything, but that's half the fun of a philosophical debate. It was through talking with him and hearing his thoughts that I started to be interested in the qunari, which wound up causing me pain in DA2, but I don't regret it. Plus, my dude likes art -- truly a man of culture and taste.

It was a little bittersweet at the epilogue, knowing he would return to Par Vollen. Despite the Warden becoming his kadan, if he ever did see any of them again, it would probably be in war. However, they had a mutual respect and the hope that any war would be pushed back beyond their lifetimes.

Honorable mention goes to Nathaniel Howe in Awakening. Although the Warden killed his father, in the end even he could agree that his dad had it coming. Despite the shortness of the story, he actually had a fairly nuanced character arc. It felt especially satisfying to me to have him and my Cousland become friends. Something something, healing of old wounds, something something, found family.

DA2 is probably the hardest for me to pick just one. I loved them all, and all for different reasons. It comes down to a three-way battle between Varric, Fenris and Carver. But, since only one can win, it has to be Fenris. Sorry, sometimes I am just a basic bitch.

The thing I really appreciated, especially in Fenris's rivalmance, was the exploration of trauma and coping. My canon Hawke is a mage, and their relationship really showed how two people can hit each other's vulnerabilities and trauma, but still love and care for each other. It really shone a light on Fenris's character flaws, but also showed him grappling with them. That's how real-life trauma works. It wasn't an immediate "love conquers all" situation. It was a deeply wounded person lashing out and hurting someone they care about (and who cares about them) because that person inadvertently stepped on their trauma. Fenris winds up being very cruel to Hawke at times, which he later regrets, but it was a dysfunctional coping mechanism that he has to unlearn. And that takes time. He screws up, regrets, and tries to do better. Not just once, but many, many times. That's real.

Really, that's the thing that makes him win out for me over Varric. I love Varric, but no matter what happens, he's still Hawke's bestie. They never really have any serious conflict. While that's great for Hawke, it also means we never really get to see Varric's flaws and insecurities in action or have him overcome them. This makes sense, as Varric is the one telling the story -- a story that isn't about him, but it also slightly flattens his character. Carver (and Bethany), on the other hand, never really gets the screen-time to build up their relationships in the same way. I love them both to pieces, but there's so much with them that we never get to see. Really, I wish we could have gone more in-depth with everyone, but I guess that's what fanfic is for.

Inquisition is another game where I could write an essay on every character and, once again, I'mma be a basic bitch. Solas, Solas, Solas, my beloved egg, my problematic fave. Like with Sten, I enjoyed the philosophical bent to his conversations with the Inquisitor. Also, as my canon Inquisitor was a Trevelyan mage who gained his respect, I enjoyed the meta knowledge of how much their friendship was tearing Solas apart.

I liked that, once you know what he is, you can literally see the anguish he experiences as the story goes on as he grapples between what he personally wants and what he has to do to achieve his goals. I find it a satisfying thought-experiment to try to delve into a character's mindset and understand their motivations, and Solas is an interesting character for that. It's a fascinating window into his character to realize that his pride is such that he can't give up on his goals, because to do that would render all he's done and sacrificed to be in vain, and he can't allow that. He's doing it all "for the People", so he can't allow himself to "be selfish" enough to stop, so he condemns himself and tells himself it's noble to martyr himself this way. He's fascinating to me, and I want to pick his brain and study him like a bug.

Second honorable mention goes to Cullen, who is technically a companion, if only briefly. I know Curly is divisive within the fandom*, but I feel like that speaks to the complexity of his character. Personally, I'm glad he's not the unproblematic, idealized love interest. Perfect people in fiction are boring, anyway. Granted, the fans have to fill in a lot of places where BioWare could've handled things better. That said, I do think you can love someone and also be critical of their actions. I think you can care about someone, want them to grow and overcome their traumas and indoctrination, while also pointing out that they've said and done things that were really messed up. Even someone who wants to change can still have subconscious, problematic views that they don't even realize are still affecting them. I wish BioWare had leaned farther into that aspect, actually, instead of trying to smooth things over and make him less problematic.

*I do kind of find it funny that the range of opinions on him go from "I love him sm" to "he's terrible" to "he's the most boring, generic white guy of all." The Dragon Age fandom is ... definitely something.

[sunsets-and-phantoms]

For me, it’s Re7 for the same reason lolol I tried playing RE2 Remake but I didn’t vibe with it that much. Have you played Cyberpunk yet? I’m going feral over it it’s so goood

YASSSS Cyberpunk!!!!!!!!! That bitchy old man that lives in V’s head is my bestie my babygirl my beloved

I haven’t played it since the last big update tho, and I’ve not played the DLC — I’m planning on doing a big replay for it >:) I love V so much, she might be one of my favourite protags in recent games

[voxmilia]

8.) BylethBalthus (fire emblem three houses) EXPLAIN

ask me about my wips

OKAY SO

YOU HAVEN'T MET BALTHUS YET BC HE'S IN THE DLC WHICH I DO HIGHLY RECOMMEND FOR A FUN SELF CONTAINED STORY AND ACCESS TO 4 NEW CHARACTERS AND SOME DELIGHTFUL NEW CLASSES

THIS IS HE

He's an ex-nobleman from the Leicester Alliance who gave up his position as heir. He's the self-proclaimed King Of Grappling. He's the very definition of a himbo. He's the oldest student unit you can recruit at about 26 at the start of the game. He's childhood besties with Hilda's big brother Holst. He has impossible abs, a massive gambling problem and Tons of Debt

He's also one of the only people, especially early on, who challenges Byleth's view point. So many characters put Byleth up on a pedestal or use their power to further their own agenda, even as they come to care for Byleth as a person. Balthus, by contrast, immediately challenges them to think for themselves in their very first support conversation. Recognizing that Byleth is very likely going to end up a merc leader like Jeralt but is that what Byleth wants?

I love that, I think it's both refreshing and necessary to have Byleth be urged to choose their own path. So I have a little post S support/proposal fic for them, because Byleth deserves to have someone at their side who encourages them to think for themselves and they deserve to do One thing for themselves, like spontaneously elope despite their lofty position after the war (not spoiling bc you haven't finished)

So have a little moment of vulnerable Byleth and her favorite himbo!!

"You okay, pa- uh, my…beloved?" The smile returns, small but no less fond. "I don't mind if you keep calling me pal," she admits, nudging her forehead against his hand playfully, like the kittens she used to feed around the monastery. "It suits you. Beloved, my love…they feel forced." "Yeesh, remind a guy he's low-class, why dontcha?" he laughs, even as Byleth quirks a brow in confusion. "You know I'm a mercenary right? I'm not exactly comfortable with noble endearments myself." "That's not what Claude tells me." He lifts Byleth as if she weighs no more than a sack of flour and sets her on the window sill of the Goddess Tower. It brings them closer together in height and Byleth can't hide the way her eyes go dull at the reminder. "... I was hoping not to tell you yet," she admits softly. "I know I'm not the King of Matrimony yet but isn't keeping secrets from each other a big no-no?" He doesn't sound upset, at least, though his eyes probe hers for answers. "Talk to me, sweetheart. What's goin' on?" She blinks, surprise and fondness rushing through her, washing the anxieties aside like the tide. "Sweetheart," she repeats, tasting the word like a new food. "That one suits you better." He kisses her then, holding her face between his hands as if she were a precious treasure. She's not…used to such delicate, tender affection but she lets herself sink into the unknown, rather than balking at it. "You're so fucking adorable but you're not gonna weasel outta this, sweetheart," he teases, peppering kisses around her face to elicit a quiet giggle from her.

[mothbeasts]

school is so mean to me why do i have to do assignments. why cant i just be a little guy and play my games all day.

[queen0fm0nsterz]

Mother of Mine.

[somepunaboutspace]

Head scientist Ellie, specializes in robotics, bioengineering and flipping your ass from her wheelchair

just an older design I did of Ellie for my ff because I adore her character and she doesn’t get nearly enough appreciation