#red dead cinematic mode

[arthursfuckinghat]

Grizzlies West|Ambarino - Arthur & Cheerio

[roamingtigress]

The evils of Dutch on full display.

[random-movie-ideas]

DC Cinematic Universe Pitch (TL;DR version)

So, in case you didn't have the time or interest to read through the hundred+ reblogged layout of the DC cinematic universe I was proposing over the last while, here's a relatively truncated version of that:

(Edit: Apparently it undoes my tabbing when not in edited mode, so I'm going to try bolding)

PHASE ONE

Title*

Elements they introduce*

Wonder Woman

Princess Diana

Queen Hippolyta

Donna Troy

Nubia

The Amazons

Themyscira

Steve Trevor

Barbara Ann Minerva (pre-Cheetah)

Etta Candy

Baroness Paula von Gunther

Doctor Poison

Martian Manhunter

J’onn J’onzz

John Stewart (pre-Green Lantern)

Katma Tui

The Green Lantern Corps

The Guardians

Scar

The Manhunters

The Flash

Barry Allen

Wally West (as Kid Flash)

Iris West

Joe West

Ralph Dibny (pre-Elongated Man)

Sue Dibny

The Rogues

Captain Cold

Captain Boomerang

Heat Wave

Weather Wizard

The Trickster

Pied Piper

Green Lantern

Hal Jordan

Thaal Sinestro (still a Green Lantern)

Abin Sur

Kilowog

Arisia Rrab

Salaak

Ch’p

Carol Ferris (pre-Star Sapphire)

Thomas Kalmaku

Red Lantern Corps

Atrocitus

Dex-Starr

Aqualad

Jackson Hyde

Garth of Shayeris

The concept of Atlantis

Atlan, the Dead King

Black Manta

Cal Durham

Dr. Stephen Shin

Black Jack

Eel

Scavenger

Charybdis and Scylla

Green Arrow

Oliver Queen

League of Shadows (Mentioned)

Black Canary

Roy Harper

Deathstroke

Deadshot

Task Force X

Amanda Waller

Count Vertigo

Vlatava

Justice League

Batman

Aquaman

Superman

Martha and Jonathan Kent

Lois Lane

General Zod

Faora-Ul

Ursa and Non

Jax-Ur

The Kryptonians

The Phantom Zone

Alfred Pennyworth

Queen Clea of Atlantis (briefly)

Teen Titans

Dick Grayson (as Nightwing)

Starfire

Cyborg

Raven

Beast Boy

The HIVE Academy

The HIVE Queen

Doctor Light

The HIVE Five

Bumblebee

PHASE TWO

Wonder Girl

Cassie Sandsmark

Vanessa Kapatelis (pre-Silver Swan)

Circe

Medusa

Superman

Supergirl

Zor-El

The City of Kandor

Brainiac

Darkseid (Mentioned)

Perry White

Jimmy Olsen

The Daily Planet

Batman and Batgirl

Barbara Gordon

Jim Gordon

The Mad Hatter

The Joker (in memory)

Catwoman (in memory)

Harley Quinn (in memory)

Two-Face (in memory)

Jason Todd’s death (in memory)

The Penguin (in memory)

The Riddler (in memory)

Killer Croc

Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya

Nightwing

Tim Drake

Poison Ivy

Clayface

Roman Sionis (pre-Black Mask)

Aquaman

Queen Mera

Orm Marius

Tula Marius

Queen Atlanna

Nuidis Vulko

The Kingdom of Xebel

King Nereus

The Siren

The Trench

Green Arrow 2

Mia Dearden

Brick

Cupid

China White

Wonder Woman 2

Artemis of Bana-Mighdall

Queen Antiope

Bana-Mighdall

The White Magician

Green Lantern 2

Guy Gardner

Ganthet and Sayd

Carol Ferris as Star Sapphire

The Star Sapphire Corps

The Zamarons

Jillian Pearlman

Hector Hammond

Doctor Polaris

Sonar

The Tattooed Man

Hawkman and Hawkgirl

Carter Hall

Shiera Saunders

Prince Khufu

Princess Chay-Ara

Hath-Set

Kent Nelson (as Doctor Fate)

Inza Cramer

Nabu

Supergirl

Linda Danvers

The Silver Banshee

The Flash 2

Linda Park

Elongated Man

Solovar

Gorilla Grodd

Gorilla City

Marvel Family

Billy Batson

Mary Bromfield

Freddy Freeman

Dr. Sivana

Black Adam

The Wizard Shazam

Martian Manhunter 2

Saint Walker

Blue Lantern Corps

Larfleeze

The Orange Lantern

Aqualad 2

Dolphin

King Shark

Justice League 2

Vandal Savage

The Blue Beetle Scarab

Daniel Garrett

Ted Kord

Teen Titans 2

Terra

A new lineup of Task Force X

PHASE THREE

The Atom

Ray Palmer

Jean Loring

Booster Gold

Goldstar

Chronos the Time-Thief

Per Degaton

Firestorm

Ronnie Raymond

Martin Stein

Killer Frost

Jason Rusch (pre-Firestorm)

Superman 2

Lex Luthor

Emil Hamilton

Metallo

Bizarro

Kryptonite and its properties

Batman and Batgirl 2

The Iceberg Lounge

Catwoman, Joker, Harley, Two-Face, Penguin, and Riddler in person

Hugo Strange

Wonder Girl 2

Giganta

Doctor Psycho

Aquaman 2

Corum Rath

Kadaver

Lorena Marquez

The sinking of San Diego

Nightwing 2

Mr. Freeze

Nora Fries

Stephanie Brown

Arthur Brown

Wonder Woman 3

Barbara Ann Minerva as the Cheetah

The Duke of Deception

Marvel Family 2

Darla Dudley

Eugene Choi

Pedro Pena

Victor and Rosa Vasquez

Mister Mind

The Anti-Life Equation

Teen Titans 3

Jericho

Rose Wilson

The Wildebeest Society

Various new Titans

Green Lantern 3

The Sinestro Corps

Amon Sur

Lyssa Drak

Karu-Sil

Despotellis

Arkillo

Anti-Monitor

Parallax mentioned

Other Lanterns like Boudikka and Tomar-Re

Supergirl 2

Earth Three

Ultraman

Owlman

Superwoman

Power Girl

The Crime Syndicate

Alexander Luthor and family

Mr. Mxyzptlk

Martian Manhunter 3

Mongul

Warworld

Mongal and Mongul Jr.

Lobo

Big Barda

The Flash 3

Bart Allen

Meloni Thawne

Reverse Flash

Don and Dawn Allen

Time travel using the Speed Force

Green Arrow 3

Shado

Merlyn

Bronze Tiger

League of Shadows

Connor Hawke mentioned

Death of Oliver Queen

Justice League 3

Darkseid

Apokolips

Desaad

Granny Goodness

Mr. Miracle

New Gods

ANIMATED UNIVERSE

Superman

Earth Two

Golden Age Superman

Golden Age Lois Lane

The Ultra Humanite

Delores Winters

Plastic Man (Cameo)

Wonder Woman

Golden Age Wonder Woman

Eviless

Hypnota

Maxima

Jay Garrick

Jay Garrick

Johnny Quick

Jesse Quick

Mirror Master

Rainbow Raider

The Thinker

Aquaman

Golden Age Aquaman

Lori Lemaris

Topo

King Neptune

The Fisherman

The Malignant Amoeba

Batman

Golden Age Batman

Golden Age Robin

Golden Age Joker

Golden Age Penguin

Golden Age Catwoman

Golden Age Riddler

Bat-Mite

Alan Scott

Alan Scott

Rose Canton

Jennifer-Lynn Hayden (Pre-Jade)

Doiby Dickles

Ma Hunkel

Solomon Grundy

Justice Society of America

Mr. Terrific (Terry Sloane version)

Johnny Thunder

Hawk and Dove

Metamorpho

The Justice Society

The Legion of Doom

STANDALONE TRILOGY

Clark Kent

Earth Prime

Teenage Clark Kent

Jonathan and Martha Kent

Lana Lang

Pete Ross

Leslie Willis (pre-Livewire)

Chloe Sullivan

Whitney Fordman

The Toyman

Clark Kent 2

Teenage Lois Lane

Krypto the Super-Dog

The Parasite

Clark Kent 3

The Multiverse

Leslie Willis as Livewire

Atomic Skull briefly

CRISIS

Crisis on Infinite Earths (Part 1-3)

True nature of the Anti-Monitor

The imps Qwsp and Quirk

Destruction of Earth Two, Three, and Prime

Death of Barry Allen

Hal Jordan as Parallax

Apparent death of Mr. Miracle and Darkseid

Teenage Clark Kent only survivor of Earth Prime

PHASE FOUR

Superman 3

Doomsday

The death of Superman

Lois pregnant with Jon Kent

John Henry Irons (pre-Steel)

Batman & Batgirl 3

Hush

Arkham hostage situation

Barbara Gordon paralyzed

Jonathan Crane’s allegiance to the League of Shadows revealed

Batman, Catwoman, Joker, Harley, Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and Killer Croc taken by the League

Wonder Girl 3

Vanessa Kapatelis as Silver Swan

Hawkworld

Kendra Saunders

Fel Andar

The Thanagarians

Katar Hol

Shayera Thal

Nightwing 3

Jason Todd resurrected as Red Hood

Roman Sionis as Black Mask

Firefly

Kyle Rayner

Genocide of the Green Lantern Corps by Parallax

Kyle Rayner

Jennifer-Lynn Hayden as Jade

Alexandra DeWitt

Alexander Nero

The Indigo Tribe

Miss Martian

M’gann M’orzz

Ma’alefa’ak

Despero

Kid Flash

Wally West as the Flash

Hunter Zolomon as Zoom

Golden Glider leading a new team of Rogues

Golden Glider

The Top

Starfire

The original Teen Titans disbanded

The Planet Tamaran

Blackfire

The Citadel

The Planet Rann

Adam Strange

Alanna

Buddy Baker

Aquaman 3

Offscreen death of Aquababy, separation of Aquaman and Mera

Thanatos

Doom Patrol

Niles Caulder

Robotman

Elasti-Woman

Mento

Negative Man

The Brotherhood of Evil

The Brain

Monsieur Mallah

Madame Rouge

General Immortus

General Zahl

Swamp Thing

Swamp Thing

Abigail Arcane

Anton Arcane

John Constantine

Steel

John Henry Irons as Steel

Natasha Irons

Conner Kent AKA Kon-El created

Hank Henshaw becomes Cyborg Superman

Impulse

XS

Owen Mercer, son of Captain Boomerang

Max Mercury

Cobalt Blue

Inertia

Teen Titans 4

The Big Bang

Static

Gear

Aquamaria

Hotstreak

Major Disaster

Rolando Texador

Holocaust

The Blood Syndicate

Zatanna

Zatanna Zatara

Jason Blood and Etrigan

Brother Blood

Cult of Trigon

Blue and Gold

Booster Gold and Blue Beetle’s friendship

T.O. Morrow

The Red Tornado

Maxwell Lord

Watchtower

Firestorm 2

Multiplex

Lorraine Reilly

Jason Rusch becomes Firestorm

Ronnie Raymond dies of cancer

Supergirl 3

Legion of Super-Heroes

Brainiac 5

Cosmic Boy

Saturn Girl

Lightning Lad

Mon-El

Brainiac 13

Kara remains in the future

The Atom 2

Murder of Sue Dibny

Murder of Doctor Light

Kimiyo Hoshi becomes Light

Jean Loring exposed as murderer

Blue Beetle murdered by Maxwell Lord

The Question

Vic Sage

Helena Bertinelli

Victor Zsasz

The Court of Owls

Death of Vic Sage

Justice League 4

Checkmate revealed

Anthony Ivo

Amazo

Jaime Reyes becomes the new Blue Beetle

Secret Society of Super-Villains revealed

Justice League Dark

Zatanna, Constantine, Raven, Swamp Thing, Etrigan, and Jared Stevens form Justice League Dark

Trigon unleashed

Son of Batman

Damian Wayne

Jonathan Crane as the Scarecrow revealed

War of the Gods, Part One

Circe, Cheetah, Giganta, Silver Swan, Doctor Poison, Queen Clea, Zara, and Blue Snowman form Villainy Inc.

Doctor Psycho turned into a pig

Death of Queen Hippolyta

Doors of Death opened

PHASE FIVE

War of the Gods, Part Two

The Firstborn

Murder of Circe, Doctor Poison, Queen Clea, Zara, and Blue Snowman

Ares

Zeus

Hercules

Gods of Olympus

Artemis of Bana-Mighdall returns from the dead

Aquaman, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Captain Marvel called on to protect the gods

Death of the Olympian pantheon

Champions of Olympus found a new pantheon

Blue and Gold 2

Booster and Jaime attempt to save Ted through time travel

Rip Hunter

Black Beetle

The Reach

The Bat Family, Part One

League of Shadows prison

Bane

Cassandra Cain

Batman, Catwoman, and eight villains work together to escape

Superboy

Expedition to Krypton

Alexander Luthor Jr.

The Eradicators

Death of Emil Hamilton

Teenage Clark Kent from Earth-Prime becomes Superboy-Prime

Birds of Prey

Black Canary, Huntress, and Renee Montoya as the Question form Birds of Prey

Barbara Gordon as Oracle

Dinah Drake, the original Black Canary

Katana

Sin

Lady Shiva

Sarah Lance as White Canary

The Speed Force

Barry Allen brought from the past

Barry, Wally, Bart, and allies join forces

Godspeed

Professor Alchemy

Death of Eobard Thawne, Hunter Zolomon, and Inertia

Savitar

Death of Max Mercury

Batwoman

Kate Kane as Batwoman

Bette Kane as Flamebird

Duke Thomas

Man-Bat

She-Bat

Zatanna 2

Klarion the Witch-Boy

Lucifer

Swamp Thing 2

Tefe Holland

The Floronic Man

Blackest Night

Jessica Cruz

Simon Baz

Black Hand

Birth of the Black Lantern Corps

Nekron mentioned

Adam Strange

Starro

War between Rann and Thanagar

The Bat Family, Part Two

Ra’s al-Ghul

Talia al-Ghul

Bat Family fully reunited

Deaths of the Joker and Ra’s al-Ghul

Steel 2

Natasha Irons as Steel

Manchester Black

Black Lightning

Jefferson Pierce

Anissa and Jennifer Pierce

Tobias Whale

Joey Toledo

Syonide

Death of Earl Clifford

The Atom 3

Princess Laethwyn

The Morlaidhans

Adam Cray

The Bug-Eyed Bandit

The Micro Squad

Firestorm 3

Ronnie Raymond resurrected as Deathstorm

Connor Hawke

Connor Hawke

Death of Merlyn

The Rogues

Owen Mercer takes his father’s place

Abra Kadabra trades the team’s souls

The demon Neron

Blackest Night, Part Two

Zombie apocalypse caused by the Black Lantern Corps

Resurrection of dead heroes and villains such as Superman, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen, the Question, Ted Kord, Jean Loring, Sue Dibny, the Joker, various members of the Suicide Squad, and more

Death of Amanda Waller at the hands of her fallen Suicide Squad members

Creation of the White Lantern ring

All intact zombies restored to life

ANIMATED UNIVERSE, PHASE TWO

Alan Scott 2

Icicle

Icicle Jr.

Jakeem Thunder

Cyclone

Universe still existing despite Crisis

Jennifer missing from this universe

Stargirl

Courtney Whitmore

Pat Dugan

Starman

All-American Kid

Nathaniel Adam’s transformation into Captain Atom

General Wade Eiling

Solomon Grundy’s past revealed

Al Pratt

Al Pratt as Golden Age Atom

Atom Smasher

Michael Holt’s Mr. Terrific

Fire and Ice

Ultra-Humanite’s return

Cyclotron

Hourman

Rick Tyler

Rex Tyler

Matthew Tyler

Hawk becoming Extant in the future

The Spectre

Spectre

Boston Brand’s murder

Doctor Mid-Nite

Beth Chapel (pre-Doctor Mid-Nite)

Eclipso

The Hook

Jay Garrick 2

Shade

The Phantom Stranger

The realization something is wrong with their universe

Justice Society of America 2

The Sandman

The revelation that their universe is preserved through the dreams of Jennifer-Lynn Hayden, residing in Earth-One

CRISIS

Final Crisis (Part 1-3)

Superboy-Prime, Alexander Luthor Jr., and Jennifer-Lynn Hayden the keys to restoring the Multiverse

Krona

Imperiex

Resurrection of Darkseid

Restoration of Earth Two, Earth Three, and Earth Prime

Edit: Let's see how that does.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Existential Crisis Mode

by LuciaInTheSky Peter was alone, mid-way through an existential crisis after the Erasure™ and was dreading the upcoming month of May. Jason was sick of people telling him how he felt. ‘You don’t need us anymore,’ Artemis had told him, as if saying it would make it true. As if Jason needed someone to justify keeping them around. But three weeks back in Gotham and all Jason felt was fucking bored and lonely. It was a relief, then, when some random New Yorker was thrown into his living room through a portal straight out of some LSD daydream. Finally, something interesting to deal with. Cue some wild family misunderstandings, criminal conspiracies and cults. Because there’s always a goddamn cult. Words: 2808, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types, DCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen, M/M Characters: Peter Parker, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Damian Wayne, Duke Thomas, Artemis of Bana-Mighdall, Dog | Jason Todd's Dog Relationships: Batfamily Members & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Jason Todd, Peter Parker/Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Dick Grayson & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Duke Thomas, Barbara Gordon & Peter Parker Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Post Red Hood: Outlaw, Slow Burn, like the slowest of burns, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Misunderstandings, of the comedic variety, Tim Drake and Peter Parker should not be allowed to be friends, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, POV Multiple, Identity Porn, Spidery Peter Parker, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, at best this is DC canon shoved in a blender, Cults, the author likes their cults, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Dog is Best Girl, Demisexual Jason Todd, y'all can pry that HC outta my cold dead hands, Bisexual Peter Parker via https://ift.tt/H2bGuqz

[annalyticall]

Thoughts on Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect Trilogy

Well. It's over.

I'll keep it real with you chief, Mass Effect 3 was by far my favorite of the three games. That might be controversial given what I know about the divisive endings (basically the only thing I knew before I started these games), but as a newcomer to the series, Mass Effect 3 had a lot of what I was looking for from the previous entries. I also realized that fundamentally I can't compare these games to Dragon Age because the truth is I still like the Dragon Age games more individually but I do like Mass Effect more as a unified trilogy.

Again, I played Shiv Shepard, colonist Sole Survivor, Sentinel, and Paragon. I played her with survivor's guilt in ME1, with a burning hatred of Cerberus for bringing her back from the dead (and for the Akuze thing) in ME2, and a mix of burning hatred of Cerberus and a survivor's guilt over Earth in ME3. I don't think I ever mentioned this but I intended Shiv to be Irish/Korean, full first name is Siobhan

You see that bit of red? Those are renegade points I got every time I talked to the Illusive Man.

Major Story Decisions: Continued relationship with Kaidan, let Mordin cure the genophage, killed Councilor Udina myself with Kaidan on my side, secured peace between the geth and quarians, killed the Illusive Man myself, and chose the Destroy ending (which I'll get into later). I entered the war with 8000 war assets and the only character deaths I saw were the scripted ones (Mordin, Thane, Legion, Anderson, presumably EDI). I also beat James' 182 pull-up record.

The Pros and Cons lists are a little tricky for this one since I found a lot of the good came with some bad and a lot of the bad came with some good, but I'll try to keep it all in neat bullet points.

Pros

Satisfying Ends. From Mordin curing the genocidal disease he helped perfect to the control-hungry Illusive Man driven crazy by the same control he sought to have, everyone gets a nice and neat bow on their character arcs that had been set up since the beginning, or at least since Mass Effect 2. Honestly, playing ME3 made me like ME2 more than I had before since I could now see the consequences of my actions on the characters I grew close with in the previous game. Speaking of...

Consequences. Moreso than Dragon Age, it's fun to see how much my choices from previous games impacted my experience throughout the trilogy following a single character and her friend group. Of course, it's not going to be perfect - I AM miffed that my major game-ending decisions of ME1 and ME2 like saving the council, rewriting the geth, and destroying the collector base ultimately resulted in very little change in the story. Weirdly, it was the lesser decisions that mattered most - keeping Wrex alive, preserving the cure data in Mordin's loyalty mission, not cheating on my ME1 love interest, resolving Legion's and Tali's hostility, and reuniting Thane with his son were all very effecting choices on my story since they all add up into a pool of possible outcomes rather than dichotomous decisions (it makes sense Kaidan might trust me a little less in an armed standoff if I cheated on him I guess lol). And I appreciate that even the minimal choices were at least represented as war assets.

Gameplay. ME3 had the best gameplay of all games by far. I think it's telling when I could spend over 3 hours in the combat center just trying out different modes. Unlike in ME2, I didn't feel as restricted in playstyle with the introduction of a bonus power and a healthier shield. My favorite bonus power was Aria T'Lok's Flare, a large biotic blast critical in any fight with bunched-up enemies. I'm glad I got that one early on because it helped me survive so much of the game.

It looks good. Not that I hated the graphics in the last two games, but this one had some nice cinematic angles, richer colors, and grander set designs that made it more immersive for me to get into.

Pace and Scope. ME3 really pulled off the feeling of scale in a galaxy-wide conflict. It didn't hold back with its bang of an opening as we survive the reapers attacking Earth within the first 10 minutes, then slowly we see these behemoth machines devastate every other alien homeworld and invade more of the map in each story arc until it culminates in a grand final stand. I was worried the game would, in a sense, "nerf" the reapers since it took so much to take down just one reaper in ME1 and a single half-built reaper in ME2, but although we kill many more reapers in ME3, each one is an earned spectacle that requires either a lot of combined firepower or a giant thresher maw to do the job. Side note, I do like the irony of my sole survivor Shepard getting saved by the thing that killed her whole squad in the past.

Romance and Friendships. Listen, I don't think I've praised a Bioware game on its romance since Dragon Age Origins (Alistair my beloved) and while this game is still a little sparse in the romance department, the DLCs more than make up for it with a lot of great content for the love interests. I enjoyed the flirty, lively banter and the cute domestic scene in the Citadel DLC (Kaidan my beloved), and how worried he was about Shepard's safety in the Leviathan DLC. But even outside those addons, I liked the quiet moment shared before the final Cerberus mission, and while I typically cringe at Bioware sex scenes, I found this one to be, uh... tolerable. The romance in ME3 felt like an oasis after the lonely desert I suffered through in the last game lol. As for friendships, I loved the little platonic dates you get to go on with your squadmates both in the base game and the Citadel DLC. I never felt closer to these characters than I have here.

Cons

Contrived Means. Although I enjoyed the satisfying ends to many subplots and character arcs, I didn't enjoy the somewhat forced means it took to get there. I can forgive the last-minute sabotage that doomed Mordin to die since ultimately the end it led to was most fitting for Mordin's story. However, I took issue with a lot of the geth/quarian buildup, mostly involving Legion and the reaper codes. To be honest, I LIKED the geth being a completely alien hivemind and existing as a neutral anomaly that takes effort to understand and accept in ME2. The focus of becoming an individual (the original question the geth asked was actually "do these units have a soul", not "does this unit have a soul" as ME3 claims) undermined what I thought was compelling about Legion and the geth in the first place. Also, Legion's sacrifice felt unnecessary, especially when the reason for the reaper code upload not working was flimsy. And don't even get me started on the Citadel...

The Citadel. Holy shit, what happened there? I'm not talking about the Citadel as a location - I liked exploring the Citadel more in this game than any of the other games - I mean the Citadel as a plot device. For one, I was very surprised to learn the Citadel was the Catalyst when it was already an important plot device in ME1, where it was revealed to be a secret reaper mass relay. Now it's the key to a giant super weapon against the reapers whose original designers are never specified? Okay? But my biggest issue was that it was inexplicably "moved" by the reapers in the last mission despite millions of people living on it, then we can use it to blow up the reapers, destroying the Citadel and I assume most people still on there, so we're basically condemning millions of people to die and never get to see the impact of that decision. Granted, this is not much different than the weird 300K Batarian mass murder Shepard commits in ME2, but the difference is that these people are people we knew and spent a good amount of time helping and building relationships with throughout the game. What happened to Captain Bailey? What happened to Kolyat? The game never bothers to address that.

Kai Leng. Now, I don't expect every character to be wonderfully fleshed out. I accepted Kai Leng was just a plot device to stand in the way of Shepard and her goals, but his presence still left a bad taste in my mouth. He's never mentioned in any of the previous games, then he's introduced here as having a badass reputation despite his best move being a shield. He is so painfully one-dimensional compared to literally any other character that killing him didn't even feel good. I think it would have been cool if Kai Leng was someone else, maybe a character scorned by Shepard in the past who wanted revenge. Or, he could have been another character revived by Cerberus and abandoned in favor of Shepard, which was hinted at in his video logs but wasn't completely followed through on. I guess maybe I just wanted it to be Evil Clone Shepard from the Citadel DLC because even she was more compelling. What a waste of Troy Baker.

Let Me Speak. It's complicated because I do think ME3 has some of the strongest dialogue in the series (I didn't have the same jarring Talk No Jutsu problem as I did in ME1 because even when you're talking down a literal war, the dialogue feels earned and natural). However, the cutscenes went on noticeably longer without any input from the player character. It was frustrating since I felt like sometimes Shepard was railroaded into saying or doing something I wouldn't have chosen to do otherwise, but so is the burden of being a finale, I suppose.

Femshep Romance. Listen. I like Kaidan's romance. I like Garrus' romance. I like Liara's romance. If you chose to romance any of them in your playthrough like I did, that's great! You get a good romance. But if you're playing femshep and don't choose those 3 options... you don't. Thane dies early-ish in ME3 (which, I mean, I guess that could be good if you like inevitable tragedy) and Jacob cheats on you (which is terrible and I have NEVER seen in a video game romance before). And if you want to romance a girl? You get Liara or some minor side character, and that's it. You don't get Tali, Ashley, Jack, Miranda, or any of the several other female options that male Shepard has access to. Even in ME3, a male Shepard can romance Kaidan if they want a male companion to romance. Ashley doesn't get the same bi treatment. It's kinda sad just how limited femshep's options are for romance compared to their male counterpart.

The Synthesis Ending. Yes, I chose the Destroy Ending for rather complicated reasons that I will get into, but after watching the outcome of the other endings, I have a bone to pick with Synthesis. I discuss my opinion on the endings in a later section if you want to skip to that.

The DLC

Omega. It was fun. Not much more I can really say. I liked Nyreen as a character (and it was nice to finally meet a female turian) but I also felt her sacrifice was rather hollow. Aria grew on me and I was able to get her to spare Oleg at the end, but really, the shining star of this DLC was earning her Flare ability.

Leviathan. It's a double-edged sword because while I liked the expansion of reaper lore (and the extra dialogue with the LI and EDI) I also think that overexplaining the reaper backstory ruined a bit of their mystique. It also had strange implications for the ending, as the reaper AI explains its purpose in a more convoluted and obfuscated way than the Leviathan does, so it adds to the frustration of the limited ending dialogue choices given to call the reaper AI out on its vague statements.

Citadel. This is possibly the best DLC of any game I have ever played, I'm serious. With the exception of maybe Trespasser from Dragon Age Inquisition, never have I thought a DLC was so perfect for the story it was accompanying. Granted, I think the idea of taking forced shore leave is a little laughable when the fate of the galaxy is at stake, but I digress, the DLC was near perfect otherwise. It had fun in-jokes, meaningful time to spend with squadmates past and present, great scenes with the love interest, and, yes, I did spend 3 hours in the combat simulator just to get the rare One and Only achievement. And that pistol? It was the only thing keeping me from dying to brutes and banshees during the last Earth mission. I am not exaggerating when I say most of my enjoyment of this game actually comes from this DLC, and I consider its bittersweet ending to be the real ending for Mass Effect.

The Squad (including past Squad members)

Kaidan. Once again, I am listing the squadmates in relative order of how much I liked them, and Kaidan skyrocketed to the top within the last 30% of the game. I mean, I had to like him enough to romance him in ME1, but ME2 made me sour toward him, and even at the beginning of this game I was a little bitter that he was still so prickly about Shepard's forced involvement with Cerberus. However, after the hospital and the initial awkwardness of rekindling a strained relationship, I fell in love with his character all over again. He's not quite as deep as the other characters, true, but his human and down-to-earth presence is SO needed in a cast of complicated and eccentric aliens, and the random things he says are some of the only things I ever laugh at in this game. It almost makes me grateful for the mid-series break, because, for all the frustration, the relationship feels earned by the end. He might not surpass Alistair for top Bioware romance for me, but he comes close. Also, the unconditional reassurance he gives once realizing Shepard had actually been clinically dead and may not have been completely the same when she was rebuilt by Cerberus was so nice to get after the accusatory headache that was the Horizon mission in ME2.

Garrus. Admittedly, I don't think Garrus adds much to the narrative of ME3. Even when helping me cure the turian-ordered genophage he doesn't have much stake in the story, and then he has almost none after the genophage is cured. But that doesn't really matter when his purpose is actually just to be Shepard's rock. He is such a good friend and his presence is so comforting that I wish I could take him on every mission even if he's got nothing relevant to say. His farewell to Shepard at the end was the only other farewell besides Kaidan's that made me tear up. Shepard said it best: there is no Shepard without Vakarian.

Tali. I still love Tali, but she was shafted a bit by the lack of screen time she had in this game. It's a shame that she comes to the crew so late, although I guess it's understandable given that she's an admiral now. Still, I loved seeing her wistfulness as she dreamed of her new home on Rannoch, and her time in the Citadel DLC was very fun.

Mordin. Despite his fourth-place ranking on the list, I think Mordin is THE best-written character in Mass Effect. He has one of if not the best character arcs, and he's so likable that I can't not love Professor War Crimes. His singing as the building was falling down around him... it was so sad but a perfect way for him to go.

EDI. Her earnest and heartfelt quest to understand what it means to be human was endearing to me, and her relationship with Joker was great. I brought her along most times if Garrus or Kaidan didn't make sense to take. I am heartbroken that my chosen ending means her death, but it was a sacrifice I still decided to make, especially after she said she was willing to give her life to save the person she loved.

Liara. While I like Liara, I still feel like there's something missing in her character that I can't quite put my finger on. That said, I like the friendship she has with Shepard. There's an implication to their interactions that suggest she never stopped having romantic feelings for Shepard even after I turned her down in ME1, but I like how she still wants to be a close friend to her rather than be bitter about it.

Thane. I think the story did him justice, giving him a pivotal role to play in the amount of time he had left. The prayer read as he was dying sincerely touched me. He wasn't my favorite in ME2 but ME3 gave him a boost for me.

Legion. Despite some inconsistencies I noticed in his writing, I still like my little robot guy. RIP, buddy, sorry your sacrifice was kind of for nothing.

Grunt. Similar to Thane, ME3 (and especially the Citadel DLC) made me like Grunt more than I did upon his introduction to the series. He wasn't as important, but his enthusiastic welcome and his "last stand" made me feel like a proud mama.

Samara. I liked Samara enough in ME2 to try to flirt with her, so I was excited to see her again in this game, but unfortunately, she didn't have much to do. Then again, she doesn't really need to, given that her arc is to accept being a mother to her remaining child rather than her jailor. I still felt like there was lingering unspoken sexual tension between her and Shepard though...

Wrex. It was good to see Wrex again, and I sincerely love how the game portrays his openness to cooperation as the key to saving his people.

James. I feel like James fulfilled the Krogan Companion role for me in this game, which is: I like him, but not enough to bring him anywhere. His flirting was rather alarming to me at first since I had every intention of reuniting with Kaidan and didn't want to turn James down so early, but when it became clear that he wasn't serious about any of it, I liked playing along, though really femshep doesn't have a choice in the matter.

Javik. Don't get me wrong, Javik is incredibly interesting and I think he's a critical companion to take on a lot of missions because the Prothean perspective is so unique and necessary in some instances (seriously, how did Liara not realize her goddess looked suspiciously similar to Javik). As a person, though, my Paragon Shepard didn't really gel with him. Also, my Shepard is rather sentimental and values memories, so I may have accidentally doomed Javik to a tragic post-game death with that memory shard. Oops.

Kasumi. Speaking of dooming people with memories! I told Kasumi to keep her lover's memories last game, which felt meaningful to my Shepard at the time since it happened before Horizon and I was still playing a lovesick Shepard who missed Kaidan and could empathize with her situation. That was, uh, maybe not the right call to make, and I'm a little sad that I basically condemned Kasumi to waste away her life reliving the past.

Miranda. I don't really have a lot to say about Miranda. She lived in my game, and I thought it was a good end for her character to finally fight back against her father. But she is rather bland to me, and I almost wish they kept her the cold-hearted bitch she was introduced as, just more sympathetic. You know, kinda like...

Jack. I like Jack A LOT more in this game than in ME2. I think putting her in a teacher role was a perfect decision that displays her impressive growth as a person and her ability to overcome her traumatic past to give future generations of biotics a better life. However, she is still Jack, and her inherent abrasiveness meant I always felt like I was walking on eggshells picking dialogue options with her.

Jacob. Unlike almost everyone else on this list, I downgraded Jacob. I didn't mind him so much when I was playing, really - I liked that he was having a baby and that meant he would get the chance to be a better father than his own was, and I liked the little get-together I had with him in the Citadel DLC. I thought he was still a little boring but nothing offended me. After learning he can cheat on femshep though? Yikes, dude.

Zaeed. I wouldn't say I hated him as I did in ME2. He was just... there.

Miscellaneous. I liked Samantha Traynor MUCH more than I liked Kelly Chambers, so I was glad to see her fill the role. She was resourceful and a bit awkward but not annoyingly so. Let's just say, if I was actually in the ME universe, I'd probably be Traynor. Steve Cortez was also a great addition. I grew to care about him a lot, and I'm glad Bioware gave us a face for the person driving our shuttle around lol. Diane Allures is, uh... there. Dr. Chakwas and Joker are great as always. That goes without saying.

THE ENDINGS

I want to preface this by saying I thought the ending before the ending, aka the Illusive Man standoff, was well done. I was a renegade every time I talked to him, meaning for my last action I was able to shoot him point blank and he was able to give an ending speech about how he wished Shepard saw the Earth as he did. I thought this was an interesting angle for my Shepard to take since she was so Paragon in ME1 that she was able to talk Saren down. Having the ability to do the same with the Illusive Man and not taking it gave me the chance to show some growth in my Shepard, finally willing to put her foot down and abandon the moral high ground when dealing with the person who both resurrected and ruined her life.

Now to the final endings. I will not be discussing the Control ending, as I immediately dismissed it as a possibility. It was what the Illusive Man wanted, and if my Shepard was anything, she was staunchly contrarian to Illusive Man's ideology. That's to say nothing of what I think of it, which is - eh. I think it's a good ending for a renegade Shepard, and possibly a paragon Shepard that wasn't as anti-Illusive Man as mine was. Still, the other two endings are what I want to talk about.

I will also not be calling the reaper AI the Star Child because I think it's misleading. To me, the child-like appearance seemed like a ploy to appeal to Shepard, and I didn't want to forget that this is essentially the same AI that appeared on the Arrival DLC asteroid I hurtled into a mass relay just to tell me he was going to destroy me. With that in mind, when he gave me my options and explained what synthesis would mean, I took a long, long time deliberating on what to do. The game presents this option as the unquestioningly best one to take. After all, it's the hardest ending to obtain, it's the option the reaper AI clearly favors, and it's the default platform you're standing on when it comes time to choose.

But here's the problem: if I were Shepard, even a paragon Shepard, even a Shepard who loves EDI and respects the geth, as mine did, I would not choose Synthesis. Because I can't trust that what he says would happen. I asked him why it would work this time around when all their other attempts at synthesis were horrific failures, and all he said was "they were not ready. You are ready." Even for a seemingly all-knowing AI, that's not enough to convince me to fling my body into a particle beam and potentially give up on this one and only chance to stop the reapers for good. Of course, as a player, I can use context clues to know that it WOULD happen. I'm playing a video game after all, and this choice is presented honestly to the player. But I decided to think as Shepard at that moment, not as myself.

He's also... wrong. He says conflict with synthetic life is inevitable, but it isn't. My Shepard knows this. She obtained peace between the quarians and the geth, and she's watched as EDI grew into her own kind and compassionate human consciousness. So while it sucks that they will have to die in the destroy ending, I ultimately chose it because 1) my Shepard can actually see it happen and know that she sacrificed her life for something real, not just a promise of what could happen, 2) destroying the reapers was what the whole galaxy unified to do and they didn't agree to anything else, and 3) destroying the reapers gives organic life a second chance to live and learn from their mistakes and to do better by synthetic life in the future. Maybe, in the wake of Shepard's sacrifice, the galaxy would see that they can work together, and ensure any future synthetic life will never be abused as the geth were.

But there was another reason I didn't choose Synthesis: it didn't make sense. I'm not talking about its practical application, although the space magic it takes to imbue technology into the DNA of every living organism in the galaxy is a little hard to stomach even by Mass Effect standards. I'm talking about its thematic purpose. Throughout all of Mass Effect, the main message has been that working together and sympathizing with people fundamentally different from you is critical to making positive change in the universe, DESPITE the differences. Synthesis, as a solution, is suggesting that conflict is inevitable until you ERASE the differences. This isn't letting people take the time and effort necessary to truly learn about and understand others, this is a no-effort solution that negates that very core theme. It's like saying there would be no conflict in the world if everyone on Earth were of the same race and nationality, because, one, that isn't true, and two, that solution erases so many beautifully diverse cultures that would have existed otherwise. To me, the Destroy ending allows the galaxy to rebuild what was lost while preserving most of the diversity that is so important to keep, especially since the diversity that was lost, namely the geth, theoretically CAN be rebuilt.

There's also another thematic problem: the conflict between synthetics and organics was not the main conflict in Mass Effect. Sure, it took up a lot of screen time in ME1, but it always felt secondary to the conflict between all other organics. There were tensions between the alien council species and the humans, there was tension between the krogan and the turians and salarians, there was tension between humans and humans, there was tension everywhere you looked. Your role was to be a mediator, a shepherd. You guided the people toward a better understanding of themselves and others, and by doing that, you were able to achieve impossible things together. Synthetic life was only a piece of that puzzle. But by making the conflict ONLY about synthetics and organics, it undermines the things we learned about other organics. If this solution was only meant for the quarians and humans, maybe it would make sense - these species have already achieved AIs that they could come into conflict with. But WHY should I make this decision for the krogan, an alien species not even close to developing AI advanced enough to go to war with? Why is it fair to them that I'm rewriting their DNA to ensure they never see a war that they might have never seen anyway? Haven't they already seen enough outside meddling in their bodily autonomy?

So I chose Destroy. And since I had enough war assets, I was able to avoid mass devastation, and somehow Kaidan seems to think Shepard is still alive. Oh, look, I guess she is. Not sure how that's possible, but I'll take slim hope. Overall, I was satisfied with my ending, although I was sad that I had to deny life to the synthetics that wanted it.

Then I watched the Synthesis ending and saw that it was basically perfect. Besides Shepard dying, everything is just better. Everyone understands each other now, there's no more disease, no more death, EDI is alive, and apparently, everyone is just cool with their new DNA. It was a utopia. And I thought that kinda went against everything I saw in Mass Effect. Sure, there are good choices, and some are definitely better than others, but rarely should there be perfect or easy choices. I'm not saying Synthesis should be a bad ending, by all means, make it a good one. Make it the best one, even. But it shouldn't be perfect. Maybe some people are upset that they were genetically altered against their will (hell, my Shepard had an existential crisis about this after learning how she was resurrected by Cerberus, and it's not a fate she would have imposed on anyone anyway). Maybe the husks and other synthetics that were once organics live a hellish existence in between existences and can never reconcile with their living loved ones. I dunno, something. Like I said before: thematically, it doesn't follow what was learned in the narrative, and therefore should not be the perfect solution to problems that the solution had nothing to do with.

I want to stress that I'm not judging anyone who chose the Synthesis ending. I deliberated it a long time for a reason: it is a promising conclusion if you want to avoid Control and you want to save EDI and the geth. I totally understand that. I just think the way that choice is presented and executed by Bioware is clunky and counterproductive to the narrative. I've also seen people dismiss the Destroy ending as genocide, and I won't argue that. It IS genocide, if you consider synthetics a valid form of life in this game, as I did. But I chose it anyway because doing so would stop the reapers who were the Ultimate Genocide Machines, and if there was any situation where genocide could be justified to stop genocide, uh, I guess that would be it. Sure, Synthesis would finally give organics a chance to understand and cooperate with the reapers, but that is only on the basis that everyone fundamentally change themselves at the request of the reapers under threat of mutual annihilation. The reapers had made no effort to truly understand and sympathize with organics outside of their one-sided conversations with Shepard until this point, so I didn't really feel bad I was killing them all, to be honest with you.

Okay, so, those were my thoughts on Mass Effect. This took a whole day to write. As frustrated as some parts of the game made me, I loved the rest, and I'm very glad I played it. Giving it a score like the other parts feels wrong, since I know now it's all part of a whole, but if I had to give it one, I'd say 8.5/10. I'll be missing my crew for some time, I think. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my thoughts on this franchise!

Now onto Andromeda...

[mrlivingdude]

I love cinematic mode in red dead because it means I can focus on thinking about her

[healingheartdogs]

One of my top five favorite things to do in Red Dead Online is definitely pose with my horse in cinematic camera mode against a backdrop of the sky

[flimsy-roost]

Run-on Review Anthology: Algernon Blackwood

Wake up besties, new fave early 20th century horror/weird fiction short story writer just dropped~

~Algernon Blackwood~

Fig. 1) This guy right here

As someone who was introduced to the genre via HP Lovecraft, here are several reasons why the work of our boy Algernon could be considered better than his contemporary and/or worth your time to read:

-Runs the literary gamut between truly horrifying and joyfully awe-inspiring. Scary not your thing? Al's got you covered!

-Writes in many different formats: short stories, longer novels, even plays! Entertainment for every occasion! (In this post I'll be focusing on short stories because that's my favorite format, but I'll be reading some of his novels in the future!)

-No commitment that I've seen to far to an internally consistent world (a la the Lovecraft Cinematic Universe), allowing him to explore many different themes, settings, and source material

-Absolutely gorgeous and immersive descriptions of place and vibe

-Actually usually describes things very well, instead of leaning on the cosmic horror trope of "oH nooOo it'S TOOo indescrIBAble"

-As far as I can tell so far, is not particularly racist or xenophobic for the time, especially when compared to HP "Hyper-pRacist" Lovecraft

(sidebar; I don't think it's correct to write off the works of long-dead authors due to things that are considered problematic today; however, it's hard to get around that some things are just plain uncomfortable to read with modern eyes. I think that providing context and disclaimers is important, but given that these people are too dead to profit from their work, I don't generally feel bad discussing, recommending, or purchasing their writing)

---

Run On Reviews of Algernon Blackwood Short Stories

The Touch of Pan (originally read in The Moons At Your Door, pdf version linked here): Really really love this one, first one I read by him in a multi-author anthology, it's a comfort read that I keep coming back to, definitely on the joyful/awe end of the spectrum, does refer to idiocy/lunacy but in a way that vibes with me personally neurodivergently and spins it as a neutral-positive thing misunderstood by society at large, lovely lovely lovely, 10/10

The Empty House (originally read in The Algernon Blackwood Collection, it's the first story in the linked pdf): Very solid and intimate ghost story, told through the emotional state of the characters as much as the actually environment and goings-on, spooky but not extremely scary, 7/10

The Damned (originally read in the ABC, pdf link): Excellent haunted house/something's real weird around here story, ever so gradually increases the tension and unsettling feel of the place in inventive modes of discovery, the ending peters out a bit for me but all in all a good read, 8.5/10

The Willows (og ABC, linked): Holy shit yeah this is what I'm fucking TALKING ABOUT this is atmospheric horror done so so right, moody and isolating and creepy and scary, this is the one with the gay subtext you may have heard about, there's a good reason this one is included in so many anthologies, if you can only read one read this one, 10/10

The Wendigo (og ABC, linked): Closest to a "classic" wilderness monster story I'm reviewing here, it's the longest read but well worth it, you can see where it's going pretty early on but it somehow still gets creepier and weirder and worse and oh god kill it, you'll either love it or hate it if you've binged creepypastas and greentext horror stories like I have, this one does have some problematic racial language (reference to an "N-word bar" in describing a black bar, referring to the native american character as "red" and in some "noble savage"-esque ways), as well as colonial-ish "ahaha we're men going on an adventure to unspoiled land pip pip cheerio," but if you can stomach that it's a truly unnerving story that will make you never want to camping ever again in your life, 9/10

Ancient Sorceries (originally read in the Ancient Sorceries anthology, pdf linked): I so badly wanted to like this one more, the setting is absolutely magical and the buildup is excellent, but it kind of runs out of steam for me with the reveal (which isn't super fair bc this story predates all the works that make the reveal a tired trope in my mind), still would recommend a gander, 10/10 up until part IV, 6/10 after, overall 8/10

The Listener (og AS, linked here): If there's one to skip in this whole list it'd be this one, another ghost story but not as good as others mentioned here, I think I may be missing historical context that would add weight to the horror (I wont spoil, but if you read it and know more about the subject of the reveal, please enlighten me), still a nice little mystery with some interesting characters and a creepy ghost, 5/10

The Sea Fit (og AS, linked here): Finishing out somewhat strong, extremely compact yet very dense, no wasted words, but paints extremely clear characters, setting, and events, somebody please make this a short film I will throw money at the kickstarter, spooky and unsettling but slightly more on the awe-inspiring end of the spectrum, 9/10

[an-aussie-button-masher]

A Whole New (Open) World - Five of the Best Open-World Maps in Games

   The best stories give you a sense of adventure and discovery, and no medium can sell that feeling better than video games. Controlling your character in their journey and deciding their course on your own is the next best thing to actually being there yourself, and it’s in open-world games that this feeling really shines. Exploration is the name of the game here, with the best open worlds being vast and full of content to discover. What could be hidden around this corner? Or up that mountain? It’s easy to get lost in these grand adventurous maps, and that’s why I’ve gathered up a handful of great examples of the best open worlds in gaming. Sit back and enjoy the journey!

Sable    Do you like the idea of driving around the outback just to see where you could end up, but would rather do it from the comfort of your own home? Sable is the game for you. The game is just about you, your bike, and the vast open desert. It’s as relaxing and non-linear as it gets, and the desert itself has enough variety in the environment to avoid feeling same-y. There are a handful of side missions to carry you between the small settlements scattered about, as well as collectables that are spread out across the map without being too hard to find. Climbing up the sheer cliffs and mountains dotting the desert is incredibly impressive and satisfying, and gliding safely down to the ground is a great way to scout out new locations to investigate. There’s also plenty of cool lore and worldbuilding spread throughout the game, making Sable both a relaxing and fascinating open world to explore at your own pace.

Red Dead Redemption 2    Red Dead Redemption 2 proves that size really does matter - at least when it comes to maps. The Old West of RDR2 is absolutely massive, sitting at roughly 75 square miles of snowy mountains, thick forests, and open plains. The map is alive with countless NPCs and random events, from bandits ambushing you to helpless civilians that could really use a ride home. You could play this game for weeks, months even, and still find new random encounters all over the place. Exploring the West is surprisingly calming despite the dangerous wildlife and enemy crooks roaming about - the game features a “Cinematic Mode”, which allows you to sit back and enjoy the view while your horse follows whatever road you’ve put it on, without interrupting any story dialogue or important events that might need to happen on the way. The map of RDR2 feels real and lived-in, adding to the realistic nature of the game and its story.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet    The world of Pokémon has always been a vast and colourful one, and Scarlet & Violet opens it up for exploration like no game before in the series. The Paldea Region is the biggest map in the franchise so far, full of diverse environments populated by all kinds of Pokémon, new and old. The map is well-marked, letting you know exactly what is where, making it easy to figure out where you might want to go next. Certain locations can be quick-travelled to, but if you’re in the mood for exploration, the new legendary Pokémon acquired at the very beginning of the game, Koraidon or Miraidon, can be ridden like mounts to speed across the land! The map is heavily populated, so get ready to encounter new battles and wild Pokémon to catch every few metres - if you gotta catch ‘em all, prepare for a long ride across Paldea!

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga    What’s better than an open-world map? Twenty-four open-world maps! LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga takes the staple of LEGO games featuring open explorable hub worlds and brings it to a new level, with almost every single planet in the entire nine-film-long saga being a fully explorable map. Each planet includes dozens of collectables of various kinds, plus side missions and challenges that bring the total number of extra activities to over 1,000. That’ll keep you busy! From the desert sands of Tatooine and the frozen plains of Hoth, to the dark stormy Exegol and the towering skyscrapers of Coruscant, the game features every environment imaginable in beautiful brick-built detail. The various side missions will carry you from world to world, making the galaxy feel truly connected instead of being just a bunch of unrelated maps. If you’re a fan of Star Wars, LEGO, or just have that completionist instinct, the maps of this game will always have something for you.

Sunset Overdrive    One of the most important parts of a good open world is the ability to navigate it in an easy and interesting way, and Sunset Overdrive is a perfect example, with one of the most fun and exhilarating kinds of mobility I’ve ever played with in a game. Grind rails and bouncy objects line the entire map - you could jump, swing and slide a dozen laps around the city, taking a new route each lap, and never touch the ground. Speed and momentum is the name of the game, and it’s tied well into all the various collectables and challenges found throughout the map, such as timed races and items that require tough platforming skills to reach. You even get bonus points for battling enemies in the most stylish fashion possible! Add all that to the colourful and cartoony style of Sunset Overdrive, and you’ve got the biggest adrenaline rush an open-world game could offer.

   With that, our open-world exploration comes to an end. Which of these maps were your favourite? Do you know any other open worlds that belong on this list? Let me know! Reblogs and likes are appreciated, and thank you for reading!

[coicoa]

MY CURRENT FANDOMS

I have a lot, but to be frank I do not have an equal amount of knowledge about the original media. It is surprisingly easy to read fanfics about media you haven’t consumed yourself. I’ll read almost anything, but these are things I come back to regularly. I’m keeping a list here for my own organization and for others to see what I’m into.

DEFINITIONS

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION are fandoms in which I have actually engaged with the original media.

OF INTEREST are fandoms in which I have read or seen fan work of, but otherwise have limited or even no interaction with the original media.

PAST PARTICIPATION/INTEREST are fandoms in which I used to engage with, regardless of how much I’ve consumed the original media, but are now currently fandoms in which I have limited or no interest in engaging with anymore.

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION:

Godzilla Film Franchise, especially Monsterverse and Heisei series

Minecraft (original game, not Story Mode, Dungeons, or Legends)

OF INTEREST

Video games, from most to least knowledge:

God of War

Red Dead Redemption 1 + 2

Genshin Impact

Resident Evil Series

Call of Duty (surprisingly a lot of MW2 2022 fanfic…)

Elden Ring

Honkai: Star Rail

Animated series, from most to least knowledge:

The Owl House

Amphibia

The Dragon Prince

She Ra and the Princesses of Power

Avatar: The Last Airbender + Legend of Korra

The Amazing Digital Circus

League of Legends: Arcane

PAST PARTICIPATION:

Jurassic Park/World Franchise

Pacific Rim

Marvel Cinematic Universe and Spiderverse series

Transformers Franchise (only Bayverse, some Prime)

How to Train Your Dragon Film Franchise

Netflix Wednesday

Gravity Falls

ARK Survival Evolved

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, and Kane Chronicles (have not read Trials of Apollo or the Magnus Chase series)

PAST INTEREST:

RWBY (the fandom that got me into fandom)

Voltron Legendary Defender

Ghost of Tsushima

Kingdom Hearts

Nier Automata

Undertale

Five Nights at Freddy’s

[skelegun]

Been playing Red Dead 2, never finished it. I remember why now. So many quests are like “ride your horse for five minutes with interspersed dialogue, shoot three dudes, and then ride your horse for another five minutes with interspersed dialogue” which would be fine I guess if the “ride the horse” parts were cutscenes, but they aren’t. And I think that the devs sorta realized this and made the cinematic camera mode so you don’t have to steer the horse you can just hold down or rapidly tap X, but it this game is already carpal tunnel inducing with the amount of rapidly tapping X you have to do. Other than that it’s a really good and cozy game, but I really don’t like story doing the story missions because of how repetitive they are and padded out by horse rising. Also who the fuck thought it was a good idea to front load the beginning of the game with never ending non skipable tutorials

[roamingtigress]

Forging (feat. Brown Leopard Appaloosa stallion, Kevin Koe)

[mvtitta]

Superhot mind control delete recovering data

SUPERHOT MIND CONTROL DELETE RECOVERING DATA UPDATE

SUPERHOT MIND CONTROL DELETE RECOVERING DATA PRO

SUPERHOT MIND CONTROL DELETE RECOVERING DATA TV

NPCs like the Mushroom Red, a special kind of enemy which explodes in a hail of bullets upon death, make the player feels less secure about its control over the battlefield, forcing him to play smart around possible covers, something that wasn’t quite present in the first game.Ī number of minor additions also bring some additional quality of life improvements to Mind Control Delete. The addition of new enemies and weapons makes the gameplay loop a little more diversified and interesting: the additions in this regard aren’t mind-blowing, but surely appreciated. Mind Control Delete feels much smoother than the original Superhot This is hands-down the best set of improvements over the original game, which now feels just right, whereas the original Superhot was rather clunky. Both movement and interaction with the objects and enemies are much more fluid, allowing more precise control and way more enjoyable combat experiences. Gameplay-wise, Mind Control Delete keeps everything intact from the previous game, polishing everything the original Superhot had to offer. In addition to that, the arenas you fight in aren’t procedurally generated (only the position of the weapons and enemies is), so the repetition starts kicking even sooner, considering that there isn’t an incredibly huge number of them and all are pretty small. While this effectively fixes the original game’s length problem, the procedural nature of the levels tends to accentuate the replayability ones, with subsequent stages feeling too similar and thus repetitive in the long run. The new map can lead to fights, new upgrades and MORE This map makes use of different nodes, which can be a group of combat encounters or places where you can find new abilities. Mind Control Delete makes some additions to the base game and greatly improved its length by abandoning the finite levels system of the first instalment and using a sort of map with procedurally generated levels.

SUPERHOT MIND CONTROL DELETE RECOVERING DATA TV

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[random-movie-ideas]

Clark Kent & Krypto (Movie Outline)

This is another movie part of my plan for a cinematic universe involving most of Superman's core villains and allies, this one a sequel to Clark Kent, a series separate from the cinematic universe (at the moment):

The movie will begin with our young Clark Kent entering high school on the first day of his sophomore year. We will see most of his friend group has grown apart a bit. Lana and Pete have become an official couple, and don't spend too much time with the rest of their friends anymore. Leslie has grown more and more angry and spiteful in the years since her family died, separating herself from the group, and spending much of her time as a "social media influencer," most of the time badmouthing the red-and-blue blur who's been acting more and more as a hero. This leaves Clark with only Chloe.

They join the school paper staff, and Clark meets Chloe's cousin: the paper's editor Lois Lane. The pair clash right off the bat, Lois having no patience for nonsense and taking her job very seriously.

At one point, while watching one of Leslie's influencer videos, Clark and Lois get a clue that leads them to discovering that the school's creepy janitor Rudy Jones is involved in something bad. (Not sure if I just want it to be something like embezzling, or go all the way creepy. The second option feels like it might go a little far. Either way, dude's doing bad stuff). Clark stops him as the Blur, and Lois gets the evidence needed to get him fired and arrested. Their brief partnership does little to improve their relationship.

At home, Clark talks to his parents about wishing to know about his real heritage and where he came from. It's around this point that Clark's enhanced senses detect something crashing to Earth not very far away. Clark flies there to find a ship just like his own, but when it opens, he finds what looks like a pure white dog. The dog looks terrified out of its mind, and lashes out, only to be terrified by its powers manifesting.

The dog goes into full-on panic mode, which makes its powers manifest even more. It's all Clark can do to maintain the resultant damage, but he finally gets the dog calmed down and starts to play with it. When first investigating the ship, he had seen a Kryptonian word on the side, which he found he could actually read, and called the dog after the word.

As Clark takes Krypto home to figure things out with his parents, he fails to notice that the crash and subsequent panic had caused structural damage to the nearby building: the county jail, allowing Rudy Jones to break free. He finds his way to the alien ship, damaged during Krypto's panic and spilling a strange fluid from its engine. Rudy touches it and finds himself growing suddenly sick and passes out.

Clark convinces his parents to let him keep Krypto, if only so that Clark will train him to control his powers and not destroy everything the moment he sees a squirrel. Clark sleeps with Krypto inside a lead-lined room they had in the basement, ready to start his training the next day.

Several hours later, Rudy wakes up next to the alien ship. The entire field around him has become barren, every plant, withered and dead. His skin is a strange sickly pink and he barely feels human anymore. Even more, his every thought is caught up in a desperate unending hunger. Two sheriff's cars pull up, having gone looking for him, and the sheriff and her deputies try to arrest him. Rudy looks at them, seeing only food, and starts to drain them.

The next day, Clark has Krypto out in a park and is starting to train him. He can't even get him to behave, much less start to try to teach him to control his powers. He finds himself approached by Lois, who verbally spars with him initially, before helping him out with Krypto, saying her dad was in the military, so she spent most of her time with her dogs. They spend the afternoon training Krypto in basic concepts, Clark doing his best to hide the random superpower outbursts here and there.

Once he has the basics on dog care, he starts to teach Krypto about his powers on his own. Little by little, they start getting it, and Clark bonds a lot with his dog. Later that night, Clark receives news that the sheriff and her deputies were found dead, no more than dried, withered husks. Clark rushes out to where the bodies are, seeing them as desiccated skeletons. Krypto with him picks up on a scent and starts to howl and panic anxiously.

That night, Rudy Jones lurks around Smallville, consumed by hunger, his mind slowly slipping away and his body completing its transformation into an inhuman pink monster. He carries out multiple attacks that night, draining a couple, a random thief, and an old couple in their house of all life in them, but never becoming satisfied.

Clark and Krypto work together for a few days, trying to figure out the cause behind these attacks. He stops for a short minute, checking his social media and seeing a post from Leslie that gives him a clue. He races there only to find a monster sucking an amusement park worker dry. He knocks the creature over, and Rudy's barely sentient mind recognizes the blur as the same blur that had ruined his life. He turns on Clark, catching his punch and starting to drain him too.

Clark is stunned when he feels power draining out of him. The Parasite stares at him, feeling more power and life force than anything he'd felt before. It was like an all-you-can-eat buffet that would never run out. He held onto Clark, draining him more and more, until Krypto bit onto the monster, pulling him away from Clark. Clark slumps to the ground, feeling weak, and watches as the monster seems to gain his super-strength, forcing the dog off of himself, draining him of power, and throwing him hard against the building. Clark, in a rage, blasts the parasite away with a blast of heat vision.

Clark digs Krypto out of the rubble and finds him severely injured. He stumbles away, carrying him, unable to move as fast as he wants. Instead of going all the way home, he finds his way to Lois's house and begs her for help. Lois says he should go to a vet, but Clark refuses to do so. She sees his desperation and lets him in. Together, they nurse the dog back to health, Clark avoiding her questions about what happened.

On the news, they see Leslie being interviewed on the news, supplying all her video of the event. Though Clark's face is not shown, Lois sees enough of him and Krypto fighting Parasite to put things together. Clark admits to it, but tells her he's more concerned about his dog right now.

Meanwhile, Rudy finds himself regaining some small level of sentience alongside the powers he gained from the blur. He finds himself strong, fast, capable of flight and heat vision. He sees a broadcast of the news, watching Leslie being interviewed, and remembers her video being the reason he was fired. While he still has control of his faculties, he starts going after her.

Leslie starts heading home, looking through her videos and catches a brief shot of the blur's face. Just as she's about to realize Clark's identity, the Parasite rushes in and attacks her. While Krypto recovers, Clark's ears pick up on Leslie's screams, and he races off to save her.

The Parasite chases her into an electrical substation. The ensuing struggle leads to her getting a cut on her arm, but also managing to make him bleed in return. The monster manages to catch her, and slams her into a transform her, shocking her with a powerful surge, neither noticing a drop of the Parasite's blood dripping into her wound. The Parasite is blasted back, and Leslie falls, unconscious.

Clark arrives on the scene to see the Parasite a little fried from the blast. It goes after him, but no longer has his power or sentience. It does its best to grab hold of him, but Clark is smart enough to avoid it for a while. A battle ensues, and eventually the Parasite manages to get a hand on him, starting to drain him once again.

Krypto's ears perk up at the sound of Clark's pain, and makes to run for him. Lois decides to set him loose and he races for the substation, slamming into the parasite and biting him again. Together, Clark and Krypto work together against him, deducing that they might be able to overload him. They find the station's central power unit, let themselves get grabbed by the monster, and slam it into the transformer. The combined shock and their two energies fill up the parasite with more energy than it can handle and it explodes.

Clark rushes Leslie to a hospital, where the doctors say she has slipped into a coma. Lois and Chloe arrive, Lois pulling Clark aside and comforting him as he feels bad for failing Leslie again. Jonathan and Martha arrive, and they take Clark and Krypto home.

We get a couple more ending scenes at school, with Clark and Lois still sparring with one another, but in a much more friendly and flirtatious way, ending in them agreeing to go on a date in one of those "Fine!" "Fine!" "Fine!" kind of ways.

In a post-credits scene, we zoom in on Leslie in the hospital, to see that the skin around her wound is turning a grayish-blue. Her fingers twitch and sparks fly from them as the lights overhead flicker.

Anyway, this is a good way to work in Krypto as well as the Parasite. I hope you liked it, and I'll hopefully put out the third soon.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Existential Crisis Mode

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/H2bGuqz by LuciaInTheSky Peter was alone, mid-way through an existential crisis after the Erasure™ and was dreading the upcoming month of May. Jason was sick of people telling him how he felt. ‘You don’t need us anymore,’ Artemis had told him, as if saying it would make it true. As if Jason needed someone to justify keeping them around. But three weeks back in Gotham and all Jason felt was fucking bored and lonely. It was a relief, then, when some random New Yorker was thrown into his living room through a portal straight out of some LSD daydream. Finally, something interesting to deal with. Cue some wild family misunderstandings, criminal conspiracies and cults. Because there’s always a goddamn cult. Words: 2808, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types, DCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen, M/M Characters: Peter Parker, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Damian Wayne, Duke Thomas, Artemis of Bana-Mighdall, Dog | Jason Todd's Dog Relationships: Batfamily Members & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Jason Todd, Peter Parker/Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Dick Grayson & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Duke Thomas, Barbara Gordon & Peter Parker Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Post Red Hood: Outlaw, Slow Burn, like the slowest of burns, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Misunderstandings, of the comedic variety, Tim Drake and Peter Parker should not be allowed to be friends, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, POV Multiple, Identity Porn, Spidery Peter Parker, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, at best this is DC canon shoved in a blender, Cults, the author likes their cults, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Dog is Best Girl, Demisexual Jason Todd, y'all can pry that HC outta my cold dead hands, Bisexual Peter Parker read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/H2bGuqz