#plot-wise i can guess more or less where we're headed for now; but i'm hoping there'll be some good twists in there;

[boogiewoogieweeb]

being the degenerate commie that i am i pirated the new fallout series last night, because i'd rather have sex with a gutter rat than give jeff bezos and amazon a single red cent, ever. and now that i've finished the first episode, all i can say is...

[thessalian]

Thess vs GEMINI

...See, I spent years in my late childhood / young adulthood studying theatre, English literature, media of all kinds. Plus did a little (okay, a lot) of thinking of my own on the subject, because my brain Be Like That. This tends to mean that I see the Gut-Wrenching Plot Things coming a pretty solid percentage of the time. However, that does not make them hurt any less, because I always hope that now is the time I'll be wrong.

...I wasn't wrong.

Right. I know this is going to throw something horrific at me, emotions-wise. And possibly, like, gameplay-wise. Because this is a Cauldron and Cauldrons are painful. But I'm going to get this done, because I've got noplace else to go gameplay-wise until I finish this. Except for upgrading weapons I will never use. But that's for weekday mornings. Let's do this!

...Let's talk to some people first. I am somehow Not Ready.

I ... have run out of people to talk to. Guess it's time.

Okay, watching Beta just ... enjoy being outside is ... it's just intensely sweet.

Yep. HAEPHESTUS is being an asshole. GET OFF MY BABY SISTER, YOU ASSHOLE.

(I want a montage where Aloy teaches Beta how to shoot a bow. I have a feeling I am not going to get one.)

Right. Now HAEPHESTUS is playing hide-and-seek with me. Beautiful. Not sure which direction to go first so I'll gooooo ... right.

So we're going to do a little bit of climbing puzzle and a whole lot of "wave of machines in enclosed space"? Okay. I can deal with that. This could be worse.

...Oh. And we're adding The Floor Is Lava, too? Well. Electricity. I guess it'd do HAEPHESTUS too much damage to have the floor actually be lava. Still, if you wanted me to stay still, you shouldn't have put convenient crates everywhere, you malicious AI nitwit.

I'm getting a lot more comfortable with jumping onto moving floaty carrier-bots.

I am not getting any better at dealing with fucking Leaplashers. WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT RADAR POD?!?

Great. Can't find the radar pod and I have a fucking Plowhorn coming at me. Fine. I will simply go away from the centre of the platform, and do weak spots from memory.

Getting way better at grapple-leaps too. Better late than never.

Okay. Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiig thing in the middle of the Cauldron. If we're getting a Corrupter--

...Okay, yes, HAEPHESTUS, you're giving the war-cry of all the Cauldrons I've infiltrated, so give me your best shot--

.........It's. A Slaughterspine.

It's. Not even an Apex Slaughterspine.

I have been hunting these things for weapon upgrades for weeks. APEX ones.

I KEEL YOU WITH THE BITS OF YOUR FALLEN SUPERIORS, SHITBAG SLAUGHTERSPINE!

Yeah, if this was supposed to be the Big Intimidating Boss Battle? Um. Yeah. I've done an Apex Slaughterspine kill while it was surrounded by Leaplashers. No problem.

Okay, this is touching as fuck and I can feel the mood whiplash approaching.

Heh. Yeah, hon, I like the flying ones too. Shame I have to shoot them so often. But now you've given me a way to ride them, I think! Thanks!

...ofuck here it comes.

Nope. Nope. NOPE.

I cannot watch this-- yeahno. That one second I could not watch.

Okay, something else tonally shifting is going to happen at this point because this is a Game Over otherwise--

Oh. FINALLY you picked a fucking side, Tilda.

Okay... The fuck?

I want to know how the frames are such a mess but the oil paintings themselves are moderately intact. I also want to know why I'm bothering looking at these things. For the dialogue, I guess, but in my head it's Aloy deliberately stalling while she gets her feet back under her, metaphorically speaking, because I'm generally more given to patience than Aloy and I want to run up there and shake that woman.

.........Oooooooooooooh so that's what that building near the Tideripper site on the coast is...

So ... you looked at everything on my Focus, decided you wanted to help me, and you still thought it was a good idea to stick with a plan that involved me letting an entire tribe get wiped out?!? Lady, you're something like a thousand years old and have had so much time to learn so much and you're still thick as mince.

Ah, Chekov's Data Channel, thank you.

"That's between me and my sister". YES! I feel a little better now! ...not much, mind you.

Also, I really liked, "First, I have to lay a friend to rest". I knew it. I knew it. Damnit, that didn't stop me from tearing up, though.

So Beta has her Rost ... and her Elizabet. And we have a plan that isn't going to destroy the tribe I've been spending over a hundred hours saving. And I am going to shake Sylens like a fucking maraca. Though I like that Aloy knows Sylens well enough that the best way of handling him is to find out what he wants and then take away every other option for getting it so that he's forced to follow our plan. She learns.

Right. What's next? ...Probably a fair bit more cutscene. Because if Varl doesn't get at least a short cutscene for a damn funeral, and if I don't get to comfort Zo, I am going to find the writers and I am going to give them a lecture about narrative aftercare. Torture your audience all you want, but provide aftercare, damnit.

So if it's going to be more cutscene, I should probably take a break and hit the corner shop for snacks or something. I should probably wash my face first, though. Not that I'm ashamed of crying over fiction, but I can't explain to the nice guys who run my corner shop that no, I'm just crying over the death of a fictional character.

That is two characters in two months that I have had die on me. My favourites are problematic.