#of the developers half assing companions just bc people want it

[wizardsix]

so I'm wondering what the general consensus is on the companion relationships bc from what ive seen so far they're so lackluster compared to the previous games.

(putting the rest under the cut bc this got unintentionally long...)

and you know what? yeah, I will compare it to bg3, bc I vividly remember so many developers, including bioware ones, being against bg3 being the standard. maybe they meant graphically or scale wise, but it's obvious that we meant the diversity of choices and quality/depth of the companions. larian made it a point that they wanted the relationships to be complex, it wasn't about pressing all the right dialogue for approval, and that sometime you have to challenge your friend's beliefs, sometimes you have to argue w loved ones. and when it came to romance, it was especially stressed that sex wasn't the end goal like so many other games have treated romance.

so yeah, the veilguard companions are disappointing, because it is a massive step backwards from their previous complex companions. you can't be friends, you can't be rivals, and you certainly can't have any kind of deep or complex romance. you don't even have a say in recruiting these people. there's no options for any kind of player, because bioware clearly only had a very specific player in mind. no matter what you do, it forces the illusion of friendship with characters you might not even like, it forces you to be nice and supportive no matter what, stripping the player of the agency and roleplay we were promised.

and there's the part I'm the most sore about. if bioware wanted a more linear game with a more fixed protagonist, fine, but 1) da2 exists and there was still more choice there, and 2) don't fucking lie about it. bioware lied up and down about this game for ten years straight and everyone just accepted it right up to release day. we shouldn't have to accept the bare minimum, especially from a $90cad game. that's money most people don't have to spare anymore, the least you could do is be honest about what people are paying for, especially when those who will buy it are faithful dragon age fans who thought this game was going to be faithful back and finally give them answers about the world they cared so much about.

(and don't get me wrong, larian isn't perfect either and I've made a lot of posts criticising them too, but bg3s success shows that people Do appreciate depth of choice and complex companions (see astarion's success))

to me, it feels like they only included romance bc the previous games had it and they knew people wanted it, but they didn't really care for it or just ultimately had no idea Why these romances worked. I don't get any feeling of care or effort went into these relationships (minus emmrich, but especially with lucanis') and it continues to puzzle me as to why writers even bother writing stuff they don't like or care for. and I don't want to assume it's just for money, bc I want to hope people actually do care about the work they do, so im not saying that, but it definitely doesn't feel good. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I would rather have a few characters with depth in friendship/rivalry with no romance, rather than ones that clearly have depth but is never explored. it's so frustrating to see wasted potential and it's even more frustrating to have my time and money wasted.

[moveslikejaggeria]

i got busy and didnt update but was just not busy enough to finish season three of the reboot. more thoughts:

episode 8: this episode bothers me only slightly bc the doctor is so mean to rose in this episode. i mean,, i understand why but rose is so human in this episode and the doctor Claims to love humanity so like…ig he does have to clean up a huge mess that his companion created. this episode also sets up a standard that other episodes completely disregard (sometimes you have to create an Extra Problem so that your characters cannot just do the Obvious Solution and doctor who is the king of doing this). i mean in episode 1, the doctor is like “the tardis doesnt fly, it just disappears and reappears” but then not even a couple episodes later, we see it flying, so like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i think the most important lesson in this episode is that rose’s dad is kind of an ass. i mean, he’s a sweet ass, but an ass regardless. this stays consistent. anything else?? eh. its not my favorite but its not an offensive episode. its really important for rose’s development, and so i’ll give it that.

episode nine and ten: ABSOLUTE CLASSIC. i keep saying it and its true!! eccleston’s one season is nothing but banger; hit after hit. not only do we get the slightly infamous “are you my mummy” but the bisexual legend captain jack harkness is finally here!! so apparently the two nationalities are British and American.

i couldn’t remember the ending to this episode and i think that’s bc its a bit of a weird one. i adore jack and i wish we had more backstory, but i’ll take what i can get. the effects in this one are…ambitious. i’ll leave it at that. i think the starting concept of a girl taking care of the homeless kids in her area is a Great story, especially bc she’s doing it out of mourning for her brother. the reason i probably didnt remember the ending is bc it gets a bit too shame-y for my liking and the teen pregnancy reveal is weird.

i forgot how often doctor who does two parters. im not offended by it in the slightest and it’s wonderful to get almost two hours of content, especially done well. i just didnt remember this one had a second part

episode eleven: this episode is an absolute delight. im so glad they got the one slitheen actor back because she is really good. her interactions with the doctor are so wonderful and i LOVE how she’s become a “real welshman” in her time there. the resolution sets up the season finale and grants the slitheen a bit of kindness, which i appreciate. i have lots of feelings about mickey that i’ll get into a bit later. they mostly culminate in that i feel bad for him

season finale!! (12 and 13): the beginning is incredibly intriguing! and while i did not grow up watching classic british telly, it’s still endearing to watch shows like big brother and weakest link be turned into modern adaptions (minus the “murder”. well ig it actually is murder in the end)

this is our last episode with jack for a while but it makes up for it because his parts in the first half are Wonderful. we should all strive to be captain jack harkness.

AGAIN, we meet my never ending complaint about the daleks. we’ll meet the cybermen soon, but at least they have an excuse for reappearing!! they keep getting reinvented! the dalek’s keep dying and then poof! more show up and its like. the doctor killed his people and planet for nothing. and this happens so often. i understand there is a desire for nostalgia and the daleks are interesting character and my complaints dont lie with either of these, its just that you cant keep going: “the daleks are finally gone for good!” and then they pop back up 2-3 times a season. i get you want a satisfying episode ending but like. it leaves an unsatisfying feeling across your whole season. ugh

otherwise i am also upset by the concept of this episode too!! the doctor should feel More guilty about not staying behind to help fix things!! he didn’t actually save the day all those episodes ago! you have negated those episodes!! theyre pointless now (except for world building for These episodes i suppose)

i should also specify that this is the same place and similar time to the forehead computer guys. except its about 100 years later and bc the doctor shut down the news network, the earth stopped getting news and went into an absolute panic and the result is a new network that has life or death gameshows that pick contestants at random. the doctor should feel guilty about not thinking this one through and ultimately needing to return to clean up his mess. the daleks would be there regarless but he wouldve learned about this 100 years prior and thus 1) prevented deaths and 2) set humanity back on track For Real

the bad wolf conclusion is also a bit anticlimactic i think. i mean it is epic that rose stared into the time vortex and survived and poggers that she comes back and saves the day, but why bad wolf? like specifically bad wolf? and why add it into everywhere else too? “it leads her back” she was already trying to go back?? bad wolf didn’t leave her any clues about what to do either. idk mann

i think eccleston’s death is a bit light and probably shouldve been more grand, but ig he was only there for a season and ik he wasnt happy with how things were going so in the end i am grateful for his season regardless. and am excited for tennant

i have been inspired by @becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys to rewatch Doctor Who because I find their chronological journey endlessly intriguing and endearing and has reminded me of my favorite episodes

going into it i have to say that my favorite doctors probably go 10-9-12-11 (even though im aware they’ve messed a bit with the numerics?? i mean tennant-eccleston-capaldi-smith) and my favorite companion by far is donna. her relationship and banter with the doctor is So perfect (esp post rose). rose is always great and she is an excellent foil to both 9 and 10. martha wouldve been so good!! if not for her crush on the doctor!! ruins her character and im so glad she eventually moves on and fulfills her badass-ery (although im not pleased it was the military -_-). amy was…i think a wet sock is truly a great description and rory is…worse. i think they did clara just as dirty as martha and i remember disliking her, but i dont remember much or why so maybe its just bc she was so poorly utilized. and bill. bill my beloved. she, too, deserved so much better.

anyway i watched episode one and. eccleston’s doctor is meaner than i remember. i think he needs more time to warm up to rose. and the reason i didnt like mickey is bc. he is useless and also treats rose poorly (which i think he improves as the series continues but, he is Awful in this episode). there are so many episodes i vaguely remember and get so excited to watch again!!

[hartigays]

rafebarry prompt: not canon compliant but rafe and barry are trying to get away from ward but barry gets hurt so rafe begs sarah + pouges (not on good terms w each other) to help them escape bc he loves barry<33

just a little something i thought about! totally up to you on how this all goes down if you decide to write it, anything you write is amazing !!

this was a stupid fucking idea. stupid, stupid, stupid. rafe knew from the beginning, he should’ve never agreed to this.

there aren’t many things that he and barry don’t agree on, surprisingly. even if they start off disagreeing about something, they generally always end up on the same page. but this plan had been something they’d gone back and forth on, never settling on a definitive decision.

in the end, barry had simply manhandled rafe over to the place he’d formerly called home - before ward booted his ass out - and waltzed them through the front door like they owned the place.

all to steal from ward, to get more money for coke and groceries (re: booze and hot pockets) and whatever other fleeting indulgences they could think of.

rafe had disagreed with this plan throughout its development and execution, not wanting to cross the one and only person in the entire world who scares him: ward cameron. and he’d been right to, because now barry is gasping for air, holding his side while blood spills from between his fingers.

they’re racing through the woods, trying to get as far away from ward’s long-range hunting rifle as they can.

rafe doesn’t know if ward knew he was barry’s companion in this little venture. he’d insisted they wear bandanas over their faces, but rafe is pretty sure ward would know his son in a heartbeat regardless.

he doesn’t even want to think about it. about the fact that ward shot barry, or that he probably would’ve shot rafe too if rafe hadn’t had the presence of mind to shove both barry and himself out of the nearest window, plunging into the bushes below before ward could get off another shot.

another shot on the person he more than likely knew to be his son.

ward had continued taking shots as rafe dragged barry across the yard and into the treeline, disappearing from view.

now, they’re back at the main road, barry collapsing against a tree as he clenches his hand around the wound in his side.

“let me see,” rafe demands, kneeling down and peeling up barry’s shirt despite barry shaking his head.

“ain’t got time, country club,” barry wheezes, trying to push rafe back so he’ll stand up and keep moving.

rafe doesn’t budge, just swipes at the blood with his shirt sleeve to get a better look at the wound. the bullet just grazed him, but it’s enough to warrant stitches at the very least.

“you’re not going to make it to the emergency room like this,” rafe comments absentmindedly, pulling out his phone a firing off a text to topper letting him know he’s going to need to borrow his car.

barry manages to push rafe back an inch this time, shaking his head furiously. “ain’t no way i’m goin’ to no damn hospital. i ain’t got insurance and your daddy done cut you off months ago. how you gonna pay for my little siesta in the ER with them empty pockets?”

and okay, he has a point. rafe will admit that. not to mention, ward has people all over the OBX, and if he sends out word about looking for his son, they’ll surely be caught if they’re trapped in the emergency room.

there’s only one other place rafe can think to go. one place where ward won’t know to look, one place where barry can get some medical help without having to shell out a fortune.

rafe may have to grovel a bit (or a lot), but he’ll do it. damn it, he’ll fucking do it because barry is going to bleed out if he doesn’t and that would really fucking suck because rafe was just starting to sort of like him.

he must’ve said that last part out loud, because barry manages to glare at him and say, ���quit that shit. we been dating for a year, dickhead.”

then barry sort of slumps to the side, and rafe has to all but carry him to topper’s place.

rafe has just gotten the keys topper keeps in the cupholder into the ignition when he looks at his phone, seeing a text from top.

can’t let u borrow the car tonight, have a thing in the morning. srry bud.

rafe glances over at barry, who’s blacked out in the passenger’s seat, fresh blood still seeping out of his shirt.

“sorry about this, top,” rafe says to himself, turning the key and hearing the engine roar to life. “i’ll get you back later.”

he peels out of the driveway, speeding down the familiar streets until they become more and more unfamiliar, figure eight bleeding into the cut.

he zooms past more and more unfamiliar houses, searching for the only one he knows, starting to feel hopeless, starting to really worry that barry might actually die in the passenger’s seat of his car.

or topper’s car, rather. it’d be super annoying to have to apologize for that on top of having to apologize for stealing it in the first place, to be honest.

then suddenly, rafe is idling outside a house that is both familiar and unfamiliar. the few times he’s been here before, he’d been fucked up beyond belief and fueled by violent anger. it seems almost foreign to him now, while he’s sober as a judge (only due to his current circumstances, mind you) and fueled by nothing but pure adrenaline.

rafe practically drags barry to the house. there are all sorts of lights on, both inside and out, and rafe can hear the sounds of music and laughter drifting out from an open window nearby.

he only hesitates for a moment before circling around the house and banging on the door.

john b answers the door with a smile, a small wad of cash in his hand, clearly expecting some sort of food delivery. his smile fades instantly when he realizes it’s not his pizza or what the fuck ever, and is in fact rafe cameron and a half-dead barry.

“no,” is all john b says before trying to shut the door. rafe kicks his leg out, foot jamming between the door and the frame, preventing john b from closing it.

“fuck off, rafe,” john b grunts as he tries to shut the door. rafe can hear concerned voices from inside the house. “you’re not dragging us into whatever shit this is! literally fuck. off.”

“sarah!” rafe shouts, ignoring john b’s protests. “sarah!”

footsteps, and then sarah is pushing john b out of the way gently, looking at rafe in confusion, then at barry in horror.

“rafe? oh my god, what happened?”

sarah ushers them into the house, and rafe is literally dragging barry at this point. still, no one helps him get barry onto the couch. he manages regardless, but he’s panting when it’s all said and done, sliding down onto the floor with a grunt.

“i need you to help him,” rafe says, and he’s looking at pope, who’s seated in the corner beside jj, a guitar that he’s no longer strumming still sitting in his lap.

but john b is the one to answer, shaking his head. “no. besides, we can’t even help him. we don’t know how to do shit like that.”

“he does,” rafe says, still looking at pope, who’s now looking at barry thoughtfully.

“what?” kie laughs, looking bewildered. “pope may be smart, yeah, but he doesn’t have a medical degree. this guy needs a doctor.”

“i know how,” pope sighs, and rafe suppresses a smug smile. “i volunteered at the hospital last summer, remember?”

“and you knew this how?” john b asks rafe, accusatory.

“he was on my rounds once,” pope says calmly, leveling rafe with an unreadable look. “alcohol poisoning and a drug overdose all in one night.”

rafe fights the urge to look away, choosing instead to shrug nonchalantly.

“just another night in the cut, right?” rafe asks, arching one brow. “look, we can dredge up my poor life choices later, if it’ll make you all feel better and get your fucking panties out of a wad. but right now he needs help, so are you going to give him that or are you going to let him bleed out on your ugly ass couch?”

“i say let him bleed out,” john b snaps, clearly irked by rafe’s demands and insults.

rafe wants to knock the guy’s teeth down his throat, but he just breathes steadily through his nose. just like barry has been teaching him. “we can’t go to a hospital. no insurance, and ward’s hunting us down as we speak. so do i want to fucking be here? no. but i have to, so name your fucking price and we’ll pay it.”

“besides,” rafe continues, turning his eyes to sarah, challenging her, “you’re not just going to let someone die, are you?”

sarah narrows her eyes, hands perched on her hips. “no, that’s more your style, isn’t it?” then, she looks at pope. “come on, help him. he isn’t dying on john b’s couch. that’s way too creepy for me to deal with right now.”

pope nods and disappears from the room as sarah and john b bicker quietly. kie and jj glare daggers at rafe, while also eyeing barry, lying on the couch looking far more dead than alive.

when pope reappears, he has a first aid kit in one hand and a sewing kit in the other. he shoos rafe out of the way. rafe just scoots a little further to the left to give pope room, but stays close to barry.

“rafe, we need to talk,” sarah says after a moment. “outside?”

rafe shakes his head. “not until i know he’s okay.”

the room falls silent, and rafe looks around, glaring. “what, it’s illegal to care about people now? fuck off.”

“so do you want us to like… give you a room, or something? maybe some champagne and rose petals? we could get some ambient beats going, really set the mood, you know- ”

kie throws a pillow at jj, effectively shutting him up. “gross, jj. don’t put that image into my head.”

“look, whatever,” sarah interrupts, rolling her eyes. “but once he’s patched up, we’re having a conversation.”

rafe puts his hands up in mock surrender. “your house, your rules.”

he’s only trying to irritate john b, and it works. rafe smiles to himself when john b starts grumbling about it being his house actually, storming off to his room, undoubtedly to pout. sarah follows, and kie and jj trail after them a moment later. jj is the only one to look back, throwing a concerned look in pope’s direction before inevitably disappearing into john b’s bedroom.

rafe looks back at barry, all smugness disappearing from his expression when he sees just how bad the wound really is now that pope has cleaned it up a bit.

he really doesn’t care if he has to talk to sarah later - all he knows is that if barry dies, he’s sure as hell not going to be outside listening to sarah bitch at him when it happens.

rafe takes one of barry’s hands, ignoring the way pope’s eyes flicker down to the movement before returning to his work, remaining silent.

“you love him,” pope says suddenly, still not looking at rafe. he’s began sewing up the wound, his hands surprisingly steady.

“what’s it to you?” rafe asks defensively, but he curls his fingers tighter around barry’s, a little possessively.

pope just shrugs, like he doesn’t really care one way or another. “just an observation.”

he ties off the thread and cleans up the remaining dried blood from the wound with a rubbing alcohol-soaked cotton ball before applying a bandage and tugging barry’s shirt back down. it’s a lost cause, the shirt, but rafe appreciates the gesture anyway.

“it’s good to know you care about someone other than yourself,” pope says, finally turning towards rafe and giving him a hard look. “maybe there’s hope for assholes like you after all.”

rafe opens his mouth to say something bitchy back, but pope just claps him on the shoulder, stands and cracks his back, then leaves the room.

it’s just rafe and a passed out barry now. at least this way he can openly worry about his boyfriend, gnawing on his lip as he thinks about what it’ll be like if barry doesn’t make it.

rafe has been living with barry for some time now, ever since ward kicked him out. it’d started with sarah - she’d ran away and no one had known where. rafe ended up finding out through topper, but never seemed to get around to telling ward. don’t ask him why - he really doesn’t fucking know.

after sarah’s disappearance, ward’s temper reached its peak and rafe was kicked out mere weeks after his sister had gone missing. he stayed with topper for a while at first, often making trips to the cut to harass the dirty pogues who’d whisked his sister away from their supposedly happy family and her happy relationship with one of rafe’s closest friends.

when topper’s mother got sick of rafe loitering around her house, the only place left to go was barry’s. it’d helped that they’d already been screwing around for a while, initially so rafe could get discounts on coke, then turning into a full blown something over time.

their relationship has a definition now. barry had manhandled rafe into bed one evening and declared them to be officially official. meaning a relationship, meaning a bunch of figuring shit out as he goes because rafe sure as shit has never done any of this before.

he’s also pretty sure other relationships don’t involve hard drugs and robberies and shootings, so he thinks he’s got a few more obstacles to overcome than most when traveling the rocky road of a first relationship.

“rafe?” sarah calls, suddenly re-entering the room. “think we can talk now?”

rafe looks at her for a long moment. she looks different - happier, maybe? rafe wonders if he looks the same. maybe not right at this moment, with barry’s limp, clammy hand resting between his own, waiting on bated breath for barry’s eyes to blink open.

the need to hear barry’s slow drawl of coUnTrY cLUuUb is almost too much to bear, so rafe cuts his line of thought off, nods at sarah in answer to her question, and follows her outside.

they don’t talk for a long while, just staring out across the yard in silence. it’s not uncomfortable, per se, but rafe still wishes she’d say what she wants to say so he can get back inside. back to barry.

“this is a one time deal, you know,” sarah finally tells him.

when he looks at her from the corner of his eye, she’s staring directly at him, her expression serious. “i know,” is all he can come up with.

“i expect a thank you, just so you know.”

“i’m not thanking you,” rafe says immediately.

sarah actually smiles, just a little bit, then parrots back, “i know.”

“what did you want to talk to me about?” rafe asks eventually, pulling a cigarette from the pack he keeps in his pocket and lighting up.

sarah doesn’t answer for a moment, then shrugs, looking down at her hands. “i hate you, for the way you’ve treated me. and my friends. but sometimes i miss you. i miss my brother. what happened to you?”

it’s almost like she’s just thinking aloud, but rafe knows it’s a genuine question. one he doesn’t have an answer to. because he doesn’t really know where he went wrong - just that he could never seem to get anything right. not as a kid, not as a teenager, and not now as an adult.

“i don’t know,” rafe answers honestly, for the first time in a long time. he doesn’t know what else to say, so he tells her, simply, “but thank you for helping anyway.”

yeah, yeah. he wasn’t going to thank her, blah blah blah. whatever, shit happens.

the back door swings open, and rafe and sarah turn to watch barry stumble out of the house, still clutching his side but finally looking like a living, breathing person instead of a corpse.

“ain’t i tell you them things gonna rot your lungs?” is the first thing he says, plucking the cigarette from rafe’s lips and taking a drag.

rafe rolls his eyes, but lets barry rope him into a hug, careful not to bump into his wound.

“ugh, gross,” sarah huffs, making fake gagging noises before going back inside. rafe doesn’t miss the small smile that’s playing on her lips, though, and he’s suddenly filled with warmth.

it’s disgusting, and he’s surprised that he’s missed it. and that maybe, deep down, he’s missed his sister, too.

she said this is a one time deal, but maybe there’s a possibility of reconciliation. it’s a thought to revisit at a later date, rafe decides, wanting to focus on this moment right here, where barry is blessedly alive and safe.

so rafe just leans down a bit and buries his face in barry’s neck, taking a deep breath, feeling barry inhale and exhale around his cigarette as they stand in each other’s arms, companionable silence falling around them.

“you done saved my life, country club,” barry says, the first to break the silence.

rafe smiles against barry’s neck at the nickname, pressing a kiss to barry’s pulse point before pulling back a bit to look at him.

“yeah, you’re the only one who knows how to empty the septic tank,” rafe replies, deadpan.

barry throws his head back and laughs, one hand coming up to cradle the back of rafe’s head, pulling him down gently so he can press a kiss to his forehead.

“damn good thing you saved my ass, then.”

“sure is.”

when barry kisses rafe, he tastes like tobacco and blood, sour and metallic on his tongue. rafe should think it’s gross, but he just kisses barry harder, trying to scrub all the thoughts he’d had about barry dying from his memory.

it helps to have barry here, real and solid in rafe’s arms, lips soft against his own.

“can we get outta this shithole and back to our shithole?” barry asks when they separate, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “‘m pretty sure them shits would object to us christening their couch.”

rafe, for a moment, is tempted to try just to see what kind of reaction he’d get. but instead of following the urge, he lets barry guide him back to topper’s stolen car.

“who’s ride is this?” barry asks when they’re both buckled in, backing away from the routledge property.

“topper’s,” rafe explains, smirking to himself. “i, uh. borrowed it for the time being.”

“for the time being?” barry questions, and when rafe looks at him, barry is looking right back, brows raised and amusement written all over his face.

“mhm,” rafe confirms, matter-of-factly.

barry just glances around the car, a slow smirk spreading across his lips. “sweet ride. think ol’ topper’d object to a little christening, too?”

rafe starts the car, letting his own smirk grow. “as a matter of fact, i think he would.”

barry blinks at him, then stares at his nails casually.

“so where we gonna park her?”

rafe just smiles, peeling away from the routledge house, cruising into the night.

“i know just the place.”

[obeetlebeetle]

Do all the dnd asks!

1. A favorite character you have played.

done!

2. Your favorite character that someone else has played.

o my god.. this is so hard, my group makes really good characters! for each of them:zach - nickels!! trauma child kenku weirdo who sold their soul to talk.. who grew up to be an angry pirate who adopted a child on impulse.ari - lael, obviously. they have a half-elf complex, a good chunk of their personality is being the kid that catches lizards, and they have a robot arm.lemon - honestly? jj devinyl. i mean, john mulaney as a tiefling cleric who loves his wife and is also going completely insane? yeah.bree - i.. love layla. she’s a good-aligned cleric to an evil god and her and kellan are the cutest couple in dnd tbh.connor - guardian is a robot.

3. Your favorite side quest.

o fuck!! y’all.. it’s bufo. it’s the fact that my talking toad npc was so lovable that they unlocked the quest in which his mother hunts him down and tries to kill him so that she can live forever. they killed her ofc and bufo was untransformed into a handsome.. halfling.

4. Your current campaign.

i’m running a murder mystery set aboard an airship! with strong cosmic horror elements! and i’m playing in a large-scale epic about spies caught up in the very start of a continent-wide war.

5. Favorite NPC.

also a very hard question. on one hand, jean is my actual boyfriend and also a literal angel assassin. on the other hand, nika is a child god trapped in an amulet whose super god power makes people trip which is so fucking funny. back around to the first hand, which is now the third, aengus is so well-done as a villain that he’s almost scared me in my real-life actual heart and yet he’s an a huge loser with breakup trauma, which is objectively also so fucking funny. on my fourth hand, fela is my most important npc who i’m probably in love with and she’s been in every one of my campaigns. on my FIFTH hand--

6. Favorite death (monster, player character, NPC, etc).

done!

7. Your favorite downtime activity.

done!

8. Your favorite fight/encounter.

that time nasuada beat lumley up in her own dumb-ass head, and lumley’s response was to find this super hot.

9. Your favorite thing about D&D.

getting together and spending time with my friends! or maybe that it lets me be creative without the stress writing gives me.

10. Your favorite enemy and the enemy you hate the most.

fav enemy is def aengus!! like wow he’s fucking terrifying!! and i hate yin&yang the most, they were so creepy and cruel and they were never really punished.

11. How often do you play and how often would you ideally like to play?

i dm once a week these days, and i play sporadically. thesis year has been hard on me! but ideally i would love to dm twice a week and play in one or two steady campaigns, or dm once a week with regular one-shot sessions!

12. Your in game inside jokes/memes/catchphrases and where they came from.

o.. there’s a lot?? my favorite is “honeyclaw pissed on lenthol” bc our barbarian thought it would be a good idea to climb into the robot piloted by the “big bad” (or so we thought at the time), and then to sell her bluff that she was looking for the bathroom, she just...... pissed herself >:(

13. Introduce your current party.

as a dm: lael (half-elf magitechnician who bases their mad science off of cool bugs); guardian (robot paladin on his third life, basically robocop with light existential crises); senhora (brash and kind-hearted by turns, an elf who [REDACTED] before becoming a ranger and bonding w a wolf); jj devinyl (a tiefling cleric who does stand-up comedy and loves his wife); and percy (an android with identity issues, driven by curiosity, and love for magic, and literally no qualms about threatening to kill her friends).

as a player:rowan (the last prince of a lost kingdom and also the saddest, gayest boy in town); ko&kokumo (my elf boy whose soul split in two after leaving his warlock patron, driven by nosiness and romance respectively); honeyclaw (a tabaxi pro-wrestler who deserted her life as a child soldier, pissed on lenthol); peitho (the surprisingly wholesome god of sex, was kinda into the tactics of being a spy before he got distracted by p*ssy); and lumley (the dumbest baby lesbian ever o my god, she’s the daughter of a powerful river goddess and she still can’t get a date).

14. Introduce any other parties you have played in or DM-ed.

that would take me one million years.

15. Do you have snacks during game times?

yeah!! traditionally we take a halfway break at 9 and all go get snacks together, it’s great.

16. Do you play online or in person? Which do you prefer?

i prefer in person, but we play online a lot, and we’ll have to be only online once we graduate.

17. What are some house rules that your group has?

we round up score mods from odds and we don’t pay attention to like.. most of the little rules. it’s more abt the storytelling. (which is why we may switch to a different system if i can seduce them away.)

18. Does your party keep any pets?

o yeah, i think almost every group has had an animal companion. and if not, zach always plays a furry.

19. Do you or your party have any dice superstitions?

a lot of us roll specific sets for each character! 

20. How did you get into D&D? How long have you been playing?

i got into dnd in high school bc i liked a boy who watched community, and then i watched community, and the dnd episode fucking rocked. never got past making characters and one botched attempt at a session. then in my first year of college, i joined the dnd club and i’ve been playing since! so like, three years and some change.

21. Have you ever regretted something your character has done?

ya lol i play very much how my character would act and tho that usually goes well for me.. ko wanted to break his pact with aengus despite the Consequences and i didn’t. but overall i think the outcome has been a lot of fun!

22. What color was your first dragon?

silver! just introduced them, actually!

23. Do you use premade modules or original campaigns?

all original, baby.

24. How much planning/preparation do you do for a game?

a ton. as a dm i write........ a lot. i want to have a lot of vivid characters, solid plots, and a huge interwoven world. so my docs are always huge and take me months to finish. 

as a player i do less bc players just inherently have far less to do. but i still try put a ton into really developing my character so i can play them more naturally.

For DMs

25. What have your players done that you never could have planned for?

in my first campaign, i used a lot of weird memory spells to keep characters from remembering the big bad, because him being unremembered was a HUGE plot point for me. i had two different groups playing in the city at the same time, and one of them.... had this dragonborn who just liked to talk to plants and who hated nobles, and who fucking cast MAGIC MOUTH on their FANNY PACK to record that big bad so that it COULDN’T BE FORGOTTEN. MAGIC MOUTH. THAT’S THE SPELL THAT BROKE ME.

26. What was your favorite scene to write and show your characters.

i’ve really liked a couple, but i know i haven’t topped the finale for my first campaign. after finally the groups finally came together and killed Shargaas, the city began to crumble around them, and they all watched me set a ten-minute timer for them to figure out how to get away with their lives.

27. Do you allow homebrew content?

o yea, i adore MFOV particularly.

28. How often do you use NPCs in a party?

o there are always a couple kicking around.

29. Do you prefer RP heavy sessions or combat sessions?

we don’t really.. do... that second thing....

30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos?

yes.

For Players

31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race?

o fuck. uh probably wizard. and i love................. half-elves.

32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?)

i really like long-distance damage dealers.

33. How do you write your backstory, or do you even write a backstory?

i always start with a concept and then i just write an entire novel ell em ay oh.

34. Do you tend pick weapons/spells for being useful or for flavor?

done!

35. How much roleplay do you like to do?

like, 70% rp, 30% jokes,

[callmemerm]

fallout bos rant

finally playing the danse quest bc i currently have no companion and...

how any of yall can swallow the brotherhood backwards ass propaganda talk is beyond me. brotherhood are hypocritical wimps in every game, beat only in the "delusional jarhead" category by the enclave

in fo4 they're intolerable. danse is just buzz lightyear before he developed a personality, convinced he's fighting a battle, but he doesn't know who against. the brotherhood always claim they're wreaking havoc for "the good of the people" but they openly despise non-brethren so by "the people" they mean themselves

a brotherhood chick literally just said to me "if you go in guns blazing it's a good way to end up dead" and like that's their whole schtick, like that's what the brotherhood DO, it's their MO, their only trick. what else are they going to do, use diplomacy? stealth infiltration? subtle propaganda? Far as i know, the only brotherhood to ever try any of those options were those in hidden valley bc they were whipped by the ncr and scurried away with their tails between their legs. McNamara is the only elder i tolerate bc he's the only brotherhood leader who ever looked at a casualty list and said "yeah we should retreat and figure things out." versus maxxson here who literally just said "a lot of people are going to die, but we have to defend humanity from itself"?????so slaughter humans again to keep humans from slaughtering humans....yeah, okay Ultron.

plus the jackwagon captain said to danse "congratulations on your successful mission" the mission where more than half the soldiers were killed and then i showed up and defended buzz lightyear from a few ghouls. like i did all the work after all the bos died but this mission was considered a "success"...dear god what do the unsuccessful missions look like?

this is why the only brotherhood member I'll ever stan is veronica bc she saw the hypocrisy and the vanity, and she saw the followers of the apocalypse actually practicing what they preached by helping people, and wanted to be like that (omg veronica's storyline tho i could talk for days)

the brotherhood of steel is just a cult no better than the children of atom or any of the zany cults in the fallout series. their thing is they worship big guns and hoard them to themselves, and hm why does that sound eerily familiar? how could a cult like that ever be construed as a BAD thing?

[treeplays]

You know what it’s actually rlly ironic bc it’s like Bioware is trying to imitate Bethesda’s style when at the same time Bethesda is trying to imitate Bioware’s and each of them ends up failing what actually works and is unique to them in the first place.

Romances? Extensive PC backstory? Emotional attachment and personal motivation for the main quest? Companions? Companion quests? All Bioware staples that Bethesda included in Fallout 4 without taking the time to actually analyze what makes them work. They left out the part where these things develop to a satisfactory amount, while diluting the things that people have played their games for all along. Exploration, player freedom, a wide variety of roleplaying options, random events, unique character builds, environmental interaction, this is what people LIKE about Bethesda, and instead of expanding on these ideas and making them stronger they lose focus on other areas that have never been as important in their games, and what we end up with doesn’t do justice to either style.

Meanwhile Bioware decides to expand their game worlds to be huge and open, more Bethesda-like, with non linear quests and environments to explore. Problem is, it’s not fun. It’s a chore. Everything that makes it fun is missing. There’s no interaction or events in the game world to make it rewarding, in fact in Andromeda you’re basically forced NOT to explore, since the majority of quests will be broken unless you do them in the exact order of their design. Instead all you end up doing is following map markers from point A to point B, half the time not even remembering the context of why. You aren’t following a quest to the end because you want to know what happens next, you’re following it because it’s there and it’s fun to check things off in your journal, right? Well maybe but it’s not as fun as actually caring.

What we care about in Bioware games is the story, character creation, pc development, relevant and personalized romances, emotional resonance, detailed questlines, branching decisions, cinematic cutscenes. These are the things that Bioware should have focused on and worked to make better, and instead in the latest games they’re just mediocre or worse.

In both cases there’s no variation or affect on anything in the world and nothing actually matters or makes impact in the storyline or characters. They’re trying to do everything at once and failing at both.

I’m all for learning from each other and combining different aspects to make a stronger experience but in this cases it’s just making both products weaker. Find what works for you and expand on it, don’t try stealing each other’s fan base by doing a half assed job of what they both love you for.

[commedias]

“ none of this gets easier, we simply become stronger. ” (( for any of your muses!!

❛  none of this gets easier, we simply become stronger.  ❜  —  from wooyoung )

            hello askd;lskjd;fjd i don't think this belongs to any meme but that's irrelevant ! speaking of that, i still have the meme for sunghyun sitting in my inbox bc i feel like i have to write my most elegant, lengthy prose for you even though that's not the case ? like yutae's threads with bay are pretty chill and i could probably imitate the same length of those without all the Stress but yes, sorry i let your submissions to my inbox go slept on for so long ;-; i am just scared to give you my mediocre ass writing tbh... anyways i have a feeling this will get long but i don't want to overestimate myself lmao so let's see how it goes !

            strength — the word holds no personal significance to park wooyoung. he associated strength with the exceptionalists of the worlds, the dreamers, movers, and shakers — everyone but him. he was ordinary in every respect of the word, boasting no merit to distinguish him from the rest. perhaps the only redeeming quality of his mediocrity was his recognition of it, not fencing himself in a facade of boosted esteem. he saw his worth as it was, perhaps even underestimating it at times, for despite his shortcomings he possessed a remarkable amount of tenacity. but it wasn't attributed to strength by any means. in fact, it derived from weakness. he lived each day with lifted spirits not because of strength, but because he was too afraid to contemplate the alternative. his cowardice prevented him from probing into the true misery of his life. from the stale odor of the bar to the chilly nights on his drunken stumbles back home, nothing in his life represented any gleam of hope. yet he seemed infinitely hopeful, though for what he never knew.

            love perhaps ? until recently, he had been so adamantly chasing relationships that he never had time to focus on his own development. he pursued love relentlessly not because he was brave enough to face the heartache, but that he was too weak to retain solitude without a trembling hand and a clutched bottle. he drank not because the world hurt him, but because the world hurt each other. although he was lousy at times and tossed aside ethics when it came to the sake of survival, wooyoung contained a nobility to him not often found in many. he had a celestial faith in a handful of good people somewhere out there in the vast landscape, scattered among the world for him to find. however, his searches at the bar always ended up unsuccessful, turning up with only full glasses and empty hearts. at this rate, he had no business investing his hopes into love, but helplessly, hopelessly did so nonetheless.

            the cosmos compelled him with romantic notions, promising him one day that he might find a heart as whole as his. he didn't possess the strength to convince himself otherwise. to resign himself to accepting his parents' divorce as testimony of love torn asunder to reveal nothing more than a void from where an illusion had once been. after bearing witness to countless superficial interactions both in his home and at the bar, he needed a force as evocative as love to be REAL. he craved for something to induce the same satisfaction as the liquor lacing his tongue. despite the emptiness of hearts which separated lovers as soon as sobriety settled in, at least the bottle was a constant companion. whenever opening his heart to another, he was always met with the apathy of a temporary fling, not a permanent partner.

           but the bottle was warm, endearing. the laughs became more melodic, the carresses more enveloping, the kisses more languid — and in that drunken daze, he could convince himself that this was ENOUGH, that he was enough for now, even if it was doomed to end by dayttime. he doesn't have the strength to consider what more he could want. for all his life, no strong convictions came over him. he applied himself to academics half-heartedly, at times excelling, and more frequently (especially as he progressed to higher grades), failing. he felt no deep connection towards his family members, jaded towards their constant bickering and scrutiny over appearance. come time for university, he dropped out within the first semester before landing a position as a bartender making abominably low pay. none of this he had wanted, but obliged to because he had nothing else to cling onto.

           it's hard to strip a man of his will to live when he's never lived to begin with. up until this point, his life had been a series of passing motions, as inconspicuous as a flurry of snow whirling in the winter wind. wooyoung's only chance at feeling alive. and now the bottle has been shelved in lieu of REHABILITATION, the alcoholic reluctantly heeding the advice of his close confidant. for the first time in years, the enigmatic glint in his eyes has been replaced with a marbled expression. he appears statuesque with posture rigid, eyes fixed on a vacant spot on the wall. his sensational wit has become enveloped by an overwhelming melancholy, withdrawals dramatically affecting his mood. yutae's words drown out under the volume of his incoming thoughts, sobriety provoking him to think more than he had in the past twenty-four years.

           he thinks of the disappointment brought to his family from his subpar performance in life, not amounting to the same level of success as his brother, jitae, and sister, nayeon. he reproaches himself for his addiction, pinning the blame on no one other than himself. aside from his parents' divorce, his upbringing had been standard with no room for complaint. he drove himself to the abyss of addiction out of caprice, no rough circumstances driving him against his will. all of his financial burden had been his own doing, his parents disowning him after his deliberate departure from university. his funds went towards supplying his booze, emptying his bottles at the same rate which he emptied his wallet. the cycle repeated endlessly, wooyoung comforted by the routine. the rift in pattern places him on edge, knees firmly tucked to his chest. he craves the alcohol, the reprieve from the mundane nature of daily life. was this how sobriety felt ? to hear the condolence of a friend, but feel so emotionally distant that it could have came from a stranger ?

            yutae had been nothing but forthcoming. he had no reason not to trust him. in fact, wooyoung had indiscriminately handed out his trust to individuals several times before without batting an eye. but he did so with the security that they wouldn't care, as illogical as it sounded. investing his trust in someone who he projected to genuinely care proved much more dangerous. he didn't perceive himself as adequate enough for care, to be redeemed from the dreadful condition he had placed himself into. what was he to yutae to be worth saving ? tears swell up in his eyes as wooyoung's been deprived of his faithful vice only to find himself without virtue. ❛ i'm not strong enough to do this. i NEED easy, it's what i'm used to. it's easy to work at the bar. it's easy to pick up people, fall for them, and then do it all over again the next day. it's easy to wake up and already know how the hangover will feel like. it's easy to live in my shitty apartment complex and barely be able to pay rent. it's easy because it's what i'm used to. it's easy to just talk or laugh my way out of everything. but here, alone, by myself without a bottle to rely on, i'm fucking scared as shit and i'm too WEAK to keep going if you tell me it doesn't get any easier. ❜