#seras is a GAMER

[fittlebottom]

Timeskip shenanigans my beloved

Also finished girlycard doodle from yesterday .

[stdismas]

"Leon S. Kennedy"  &  "Luis Sera" in Resident Evil 4 Remake (2023)  

[clownakai]

Shuu-nii and his Pokémon, Masumi concludes, are the coolest duo ever. And she wants to be just like her big brother when she grows up.

She'll receive an Eevee sometime after her eighth birthday, just like Kichi-nii before her, and Shuu-nii before him. She'll grow up with her new friend, and it'll love her so much that one day it'll evolve into a Sylveon, and when she meets Shuu-nii again he'll definitely think Masumi is really cool, too.

(Enough to stay, perhaps.)

[spookydingus]

people talking about wanting Cole to come back from varrics house and sera to finally get a girlfriend and I'm over here like????? The adult man busy adventuring with his bardic wife and the elf who's marrying the gay dwarf lady? beg pardon?

am I the only one who spent like 50 extra hours getting everyone endings or what

[loadinghellsing]

!!! slice of life au- Anderson playing a video game!! What game is he playing? Is he any good at it?

He's playing Slime Rancher!

Well... he's not terrible at it?

He's dexterous enough to manage a controller, but beyond that? He's relying on Heinkel to help (since they were the one to recommend him the game)

Vlad's more the gamer between the two of them. Since Vlad gets bored easily its his form of enrichment when alone and not immediately required for work.

Key word... Immediately...

He has gotten in trouble a few times...

[mabaris]

that stupid comicbook.com article and also fan response in general to the companion romance situation annoys me so bad for the sole reason that everyone acts like the only people in the game are the pc and playable companions

[obessivedork]

OK but I will always never understand "playersexual" criticisms in video game romances. Maybe it's because I'm both bi and gender funky flavours of queer but most video game worlds don't share our perceptions of sexuality and gender also who really fucking cares, if I want to romance my blorbo I should be allowed to regardless of gender ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[stopaskingmetocreateanaccount]

hellsing fandom! i humbly ask your assistance.

made an acct just to post this. one of my favorite fics of all time has been presumably deleted and i was wondering if anyone had it downloaded/archived in some way and would be willing to share? it’s called “love on the battlefield” and it was a medieval/royalty au for alutegra with some background-ish seras x pip in which integra, a princess, was arranged to marry one of the princes of a neighboring kingdom in an attempt to broker peace. everyone also has wings, and heat cycles exist but it isn’t ABO. if anyone has it downloaded or knows anything about why it was deleted/if it might be back, i would appreciate the help :)

[brittacularrr]

Ada Wong Character Analysis based on the Separate Ways reveal trailer and Resident Evil 4 Remake!

[transmechanicus]

Goooooood morning gamers, Im turning 27 today!🎉 It has been an absolutely amazing year, getting to make so many new friends, meet some of you for the first time in person, going to my first anime convention, first concerts for 2/3 of my favorite bands, and covering myself in ink and socially acceptable stab wounds XD. It has been an honor and a privilege to share my year (and tbh the last 15) with you all, and i hope every one of you has a great day today along with me🖤🖤

Also if you’ve got a minute and a spare dollar it would mean the world to me if you could help support my friend @the-sera to get medical care!!

Hope everyone’s week finishes off with joy!!🖤

[circeyoru]

Dead By Demon

[Killer!Alastor x Survivor!Reader - Dead By Daylight AU]

By some interesting world reason or whatever phenomenon that is still unexplainable to your feeble little mind, you got sent to a game you’ve been forced to play by your friends called Dead By Daylight

It’s a horror game that’s designed to be a match based game. Each game there are 5 players, 4 as survivors and 1 as the killer. In each game, the players are all sent to a randomized map. Each side with a different goal

The goal of the survivors is to survive, how? By fixing 5 machines called generators, then 2 exit doors on the map will be allowed to be opened and the survivors can escape through that. The killer’s goal is to kill all the survivors, either offering them to the entity by putting them on another machine called a hook or executing them

Of course, the game is not as simple as that, since there are other variables that can give the players advantages and disadvantages. Not to mention the play style of each gamer is different, on top of the ever changing maps and new characters for survivors and killers. As a beginner moving to somewhat more causal player, you were proud to say you are familiar with the mechanics of the game and can survivor flawlessly

THAT IS IF THE KILLERS AND SURVIVORS WERE THE SAME AS THE GAME YOU KNEW

Somehow, the killers and survivors were all major characters from a show you watched called Hazbin Hotel. You didn’t understand it, when you were brought in, they were all familiarity with the game’s mechanisms. Everything that happened in the show was distorted as their background information

You were a survivor. The others were Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Husk, Niffty, Adam, Lute, Sera, Emily, and Saint Peter. You’re not surprised the hotel staff was all put in the survivor side, but you were surprised that the angels were all on your side as well. By guess, you can bet that the King of Hell and Overlords were all the killers

You learned that the hotel staff members were the first to arrive on the scene, then they were quickly sent to the maps of their former allies, Alastor and Lucifer

Alastor was formerly a radio host and serial killer during his days as a human, his maps were based on his hometown but the variety spread to a few, including his beloved home with his mother and the murder scene of his father, his radio broadcasting studio and work station where he writes his scripts and ideas, his swamp where it was his body dumping grounds, and his forest where it was his hunting grounds and death

Lucifer as the King of Hell also has a few maps. One was a smaller scale of Pentagram City, another was his garden, then his ducky workshop and kitchen, and last was his musical room which was still a giant map

There didn’t seen to be an issue with the first map as the 4 sent survivors were keen on escaping and Alastor was keen on killing them by placing them on hooks or executing them. For Lucifer though, he was a softy for whenever Charlie was present, always letting her survive while showing no mercy to the others

The first match was the scariest since they thought their lives were on the line, but when it was clear that they were only dead during the match and revived when the match ends, everything was more chill

But that depended on the killers and survivors. If there were bad blood between, things could get petty like taunting and letting other teammates die. If the killer wanted, they can watch the survivor suffer a bit before killing them. It was a twisted repeat day after day. Luckily, it was only 3 matches a day and the same survivor won’t be allowed to join more than 2 matches a day

Matches are placed in the morning, afternoon, and night. All players are random unless one volunteers, to which the opposite side would be notified and no other volunteers are allowed to allow for fairness. Matches can be quick or slow, depending on the players. Rewards for a win in a match are what the player wants. Like better living quarters, better food, entertainment items, etc

Outside of the matches, survivors and killers live in separate areas divided by a wall of flowing water. If a survivor or killer is injured, their condition will be fully revived during the match but returned to the way they are if they lost the match

All these information was all so overwhelming for you since it was on top of trying to adapt your new surrounding, but they were all used to it since it was slowly introduced to them. The second wave of survivors were the angels from Heaven and then the rest of the Overlords

It was only a matter of time before you also got used to all the stuff that you were thrown into

There was one change after your arrive. Whenever you were in a match, any other participants had more control over their own actions and mindset. The former desire to survivor or killer was weaken to none the longer and more experienced and familiar you got. You even found yourself getting familiar with the killers or former Overlords

Albeit you were trying to survive by buying time through chatting. The highest of success was high usually. Sometimes it doesn’t work because you don’t know much about them cause there was a lack of information revealed in the show

However, even though Alastor’s a favourite of yours. You hate being in the same match as him. Watching him from the safety of your home when he was just fictional was fine, but having him chasing you with a knife or a shotgun and a crazed smile? No! HELL NO!!!

Whenever it was revealed that Alastor was the killer in your match, you would immediately run to find your other teammates no matter who they are. You just can’t be left alone with him, even when you serve as a good bait to buy time and let your teammates fix the generators so they can open the exit for you to run towards

“There’s a limit to my mental stamina!!” You screamed at the top of your lungs while running away from the deer demon behind you. “I’m so beating you guys up when this match is over!”

Meanwhile, all your teammates are mentally thanking your sacrifice. “Keep up the good work, almost there.”

Before your arrival, Alastor could never enjoy his hunt. It was like he was wired to hunt and kill, there was no thrill, no entertainment as he would prefer. It was so dull and boring

Find a survivor, scare them, chase them, stab them till they can’t run, put them on a hook and watch them die or go hunt the other survivors, repeat repeat repeat. That was how predictable the matches became after the first few times. It got to the point that he doesn’t even try anymore when he was sent into a match, especially when he was so well off in his living conditions

He didn’t need the wins anymore, it was all meaningless

Then he heard from Zestial who got the honors of participating as the killer for your first match. He told the others after the last meal of the day when everyone was gathered around a bonfire to see if someone wants to volunteer for the next day

According to Zestial, when he entered the random map that was Carmilla’s weapons workshop, there was a weaken desire to hunt and kill the survivors, even more so when it was the unfamiliar figure he met. He had found a survivor fixing a generator, he tried creeping up to the poor soul, but your head was looked around as if you felt him

The moment he got one step closer, you bolted up and ran away from the area. His hunting and killing urge came back and he gave chase, when his claws came into contact with your figure and you screamed, he felt an unfamiliar ache. He watched your speed increase and ran out of sight as it was normal whenever a survivor was slashed by a killer, then he looked down to his bloody claws

That inferno desire weakened again, like he was returning back to his true self when he was outside of the match

Killer’s volunteer table was quickly filled up as everyone wanted a chance to test Zestial’s words. Though, only some were able to actually be in the same match as you, and fewer got the chance to see you. Turns out, you were a sensitive and perceptive survivor. If you were a killer, they knew you’d be something like an assassin or a sniper

When Alastor finally got a chance to experience a match with you, he was relieved that he could pick a target like the good old days and not whichever survivor that was around. Or even the ‘obsession’ that was randomly picked in the survivor team per match. He felt sweet control to do as he pleased

So he set out to find you. His mind raced. Will he hunt and give chase like his desires drive him to in his previous matches? Will he immediately try to slash you and bring you down so he can hook you? Will he have that weakened desire like Zestial did? What was your effect? Why are you special?

Finding you was easy as lucky wasn’t on your side. You were diligently trying to fix the generator but ended up busting it every so often which alerted him of your location, then that teammate of yours, Adam, as he recognized the golden wing design on his back, leave you and didn’t even warn you of the incoming killer

He got a fast ambush, a deep slash on your arm that definitely need mending else risk being rendered immobile. You quickly ran away like other survivors would, no difference. Yet, he was just standing there watching your form fade from his sight, leaving a trail of blood splatters in your wake

His legs moved as he decided he can’t let you out of his sight. No way, not after he felt that control and real killer instinct. You’re like his prey back in the days, he wants to get to know you then have the best chase of a lifetime. Cut you up and watch the lovely red paint you in beauty and posh

The best part was, he didn’t have to worry that it would be a one time thing. Both of you will never dead as long as this stupid game is on

“Darling, why are you running from me? Let’s play a game. Let’s enjoy our matches.”

Note: Okay.. I've been away for some time.... Haha.... I'm fine, just out of town and didn't have time to write. Plus I've been busy with a new game. Anyways, wanna get back to it with this and see how things go. So what you think of this?

Circe Y. 

My Works: MASTERLIST

Taglist:

@aconfusedwonderland @crowleysthings @donustellaron @mistpurpl3 @lucifers-silhouette @fluffy-koalala

[justjasper]

on the one hand i will miss the distinct storytelling potential of specfically gay and lesbian character romances, sera and dorian were great

on the other hand i love that bigot gamers are mad at an all queer romancable companions

also do y'all remember DA2 when you had to buy a DLC to be straight

[crows-templets]

Master post of all my templates!

Alter templates

Dark/light theme medium

Shinso Hitoshi theme normal

Pirate theme normal

Moon/plant theme normal

Tecnoblade theme normal

Scenecore theme normal

Space theme normal

Crow/raven/red theme normal

Crime theme normal

Candy/death theme normal

Fnaf daycare theme normal

Kidcore theme normal

Music theme normal

Foolish gamer theme normal

Angel theme normal

Tiny Tina theme long

Royal core medium

Science theme long

Fallen angel/demon theme normal

Barbie theme normal

Bird theme normal

Music/chess theme normal

🌀 theme normal

Ocean theme long

Music/star theme medium

Star/hibiscus theme normal

Tabletop games theme medium

Rosie hazbin theme normal

Taylor swift theme normal

Cute/game theme normal

Yellow theme normal

Pink/green theme normal

Emily hazbin theme normal

Alien theme normal

Angel dust hazbin theme short-medium

Angel dust hazbin theme normal

Angel dust take 3 normal

Shiver splatoon theme normal

Dark forest theme normal

She ra theme normal

Glass theme normal

Blitz helluva boss theme normal

Millie/moxxie helluva theme normal

Strawberry theme normal

Toby Creepypasta theme normal

Heart theme<3 normal

Fox theme normal

Stolas helluva theme normal

Legend of Zelda theme normal

Archery theme normal

Lucifer hazbin theme normal

Dark/creepy theme long

Brain/book theme normal

White tiger theme short

Sleeping beauty theme normal

White/red theme normal

Purple/white/red theme short

Hell/Alastor theme normal

Mina mha theme normal

Party theme normal

Bone theme normal

Raven/fire theme medium

Vanny Fnaf theme normal

Film theme normal

Apple theme normal

Werewolf theme normal

Fish theme normal

Carmilla hazbin theme medium

Nate fisher theme normal

69 templates

Dino theme small

Fall theme medium

Sunset theme medium

Tord eddsworld theme normal

Star and music theme medium

Music/love theme medium

Velvette hazbin theme medium

Danger days theme normal

River/wind theme normal

Pink/star theme short

Fantasy theme normal

Micheal angel theme short

Drinking/smoking theme long

Dots n’ stars theme normal

Sera hazbin theme medium

Husk hazbin theme medium/short

Vaggie hazbin theme short/medium

Orange clock theme medium

Cult of the lamb them normal

Casino theme long

Catnap theme normal

Dog days theme normal

Ranboo theme normal

❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿

System templates

Ocean theme

Life series theme

Space theme

Hannibal theme

Cottage core theme

Critter theme

Sky theme

Dark theme

And there we go! Only took me a few hours

[anneapocalypse]

DAI Companion Styles: Josephine

Dragon Age Companion Styles Series

Next up by special request from @magneticmage is the lovely, the gracious, the refined, the stunning Josephine Montilyet, Ambassador to the Inquisition. (And yes, Josephine is an advisor, not a companion; yes this series is called “Companion Styles”; yes I’ve decided to just lump the advisors in with them and not change the name, and we’re all just going to have to live with it. 😉)

Disclaimer: I am not a fashion expert, dress historian, or professional designer! I'm just a gamer who likes to sew and has a casual interest in historical fashion, and a great interest in fantasy worldbuilding and the implications thereof, and that's where I'm coming from on these posts. I'd also love to hear thoughts from fans who have a more in-depth background in historical dress, textiles, and armor.

Also, we’re going to be talking about gendered clothing, so let me state for the record that I don’t believe clothing has any inherent gender. However we’re going to be talking about fashion in a cultural context here, and in the context of Thedas (and specifically Orlais), fashion is heavily gendered, and how characters engage with those gendered expectations can be personally and socially interesting.

As with Sera, I’m going to be focusing mostly on Josephine’s style from an in-universe perspective because that’s what I think is most interesting!

Much appreciation to @dragonagegallery, whose posts have made the canon review for this post much easier! The Art of Dragon Age Inquisition was also a great reference.

(Look at her. She even looks good in the Haven Chantry lighting. Nobody looks good in that. Iconic.)

Josephine is an Antivan-born noblewoman educated in Orlais, who trained and briefly worked as a bard before becoming disillusioned with that life and turning to a career as a diplomat instead. She has been working as the Antivan Ambassador to Orlais up until the point she joins the Inquisition as its Ambassador. Josephine is well-versed in the Grand Game and the culture of the Imperial Court and the upper class. If I were to say that Josephine is fashionable, I don’t think most people would disagree with me.

Yet her signature outfit is quite different from what we see on the fashionable upper class ladies of Orlais. There is a fair amount of Renaissance influence in Orlesian high fashion, but as others have pointed out, there's actually quite a lot of variation in sleeves, collar, and understructures (things like crinolines or panniers that give a skirt a certain volume and shape), drawing inspiration from centuries of European historical dress. Yet Josephine still stands apart from the fashions for Orlesian noblewomen, in some very interesting ways.

I should note at the start here that I am working at a bit of disadvantage with Josephine because we've never been to her country of origin in the games, and basically every Antivan character we've met so far has either been wearing armor, or the same styles as the country they're in at the time. (Also, most of them have been Crows, which Josephine is not.) So I can't comment on how Josie's look compares to what is fashionable in Antiva at the moment, because we don't know. Instead, I'll be talking about her style in the context of Orlais, which I think is fair since she went to school in Orlais and has been living and working there for quite a while now. Just bear in mind going forward that there is a whole sphere of potential influence that we can't really examine here.

But I do think there's also good reason to assume that Josephine takes inspiration from Orlesian fashion, starting with her color scheme. One of the first things that strikes me (and I think many viewers) about Josephine's outfit is "Wow, that's very gold." And it is! It's very gold and blue—colors directly associated with Orlais and with the nobility especially. We see gold and blue all over Orlais, from the capital to the countryside, and Josephine has deliberately chosen to dress herself in the colors that signify power and influence in this nation.

So let's take a look at the specific pieces she wears.

Josephine is wearing what appears to me to be a blouse of gold-colored silk satin with puffed sleeves and a tie-neck or possibly a matching scarf, dark-colored breeches ending just below the knee, a heavier sleeveless overdress or vest in blue brocade or damask (possibly even fine tooled leather; it's really hard to say) that ends at the knee, gold stockings, and black flat shoes. She wears a wide leather belt at the waist, with a gold satin sash tied over it. You can see some better images of Josephine's outfit in concept art and her character model in detail on @dragonagegallery.

This outfit is fascinating to me, and if you've read my post on Sera's style, you might have already guessed a few reasons why.

Given Josephine's basic silhouette, it's easy to look at her and assume she's wearing a dress, but she actually isn't. Even if she was, it would be a break from the Orlesian high fashions of the day, which favor floor-length skirts. But this isn't a dress at all. I would actually compare the blue vest to the leather vests we see in some of the Inquisitor armor variants, for mages and for rogues. The detailing on Josephine's makes it look finer, but it's a similar style, with a similar utility: it's easy to move in. Josephine's vest even has large visible pockets on the sides! And this goes all the way back to her concept art.

I think it's easy to get distracted by the big shiny gold sleeves and miss the fact that Josephine's outfit is actually very practical. In fact, you know what else it reminds me a little of?

Variants of this outfit appear in both Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition, and it's always been a non-gendered look. Note the knee breeches, the vest, and the puffed sleeves (though with much less extravagant gathers than Josephine's).

Josephine wears flat shoes, easy to walk in, comfortable for all-day wear. The wide leather belt echoes but does not exactly mirror the popular underbust corsetry seen on gowns; it is of a more practical style and material, and I'd imagine it could be good for back support for those long hours she spends at a desk. And in fact, the way Josephine wears it over her vest with the sash tied over the belt is not unlike the way a rogue Inquisitor wears their armor:

Though Josephine has left behind the life of a bard, I feel it's undeniable that that life has influenced her style. This is rogue fashion—practical but still stylish, easy to move in, easy to carry items you might need. Josephine is dressed as a rogue, but adapted to her current profession and personal tastes.

It’s all an intriguing choice for a diplomat! Because despite the clear Orlesian influence, Josephine’s look does not very much resemble any of what is fashionable for Orlesian noblewoman at the moment. No long full skirts, no outer underbust corsetry (though her belt does offer a cinched at the waist look), no deep V neckline (though her blue vest does create a similar shape over her blouse). When we compare Josephine to these looks, it’s a very different silhouette with mostly very different shapes. Even her puffed sleeves are puffed in different places than the fashions of high noblewomen (which seem to have the most volume at the elbow or lower right now).

But you know what we do see in Josephine’s outfit?

Breeches ending just below the knee. An outer garment that ends at the knee. Knee-high stockings. A flat black shoe. A shirt with sleeves puffed at the shoulders.

While Josephine’s look is ungendered in the context of a rogue, in the context of a noble this look is undeniably gendered, in a way that might not immediately register to our modern eye.

In the context of Orlesian culture, this is a Menswear-Inspired Look.

Now, unlike Sera, I do not believe Josephine to actually be wearing clothing designed for a man; given her station, this was all likely custom made for her. But in the context of Orlesian high fashion, there is some undeniably masculine styling going on here! And this isn’t about “women don’t wear pants”; many women in Dragon Age do, in fact, wear pants, all the time or in certain contexts; see above about rogue looks. Cassandra and Vivienne both have a skinny pants/leggings thing going on, and they both read more feminine in their styles to me, but they’ll get their own posts! With Josephine, it’s the specific styles of the pieces she’s wearing that bear similarities to men’s high fashion in Orlais. In a modern context, think a woman with long hair in a deliberately feminine style, wearing makeup, some statement jewelry, with a custom-tailored suit. Maybe with a few feminine accents on the suit itself; still definitely a suit. Josephine’s sleeves, for example, are not simply a copy of the male sleeve style; they’re taking inspiration but kind of doing their own thing. And of course, her hair is worn in a style that is practical, but still very elegant and feminine. It’s a Menswear-Inspired Look.

And I just love the fact that both of our F/F romance options in this game are kind of playing with gendered clothing in their personal style, but each very much in their own way.

I'm also fascinated by this one set of concept art called "Displaced Pilgrims" in The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition, meant to represent "Fereldan and Orlesian refugees who arrived in Haven on a pilgrimage and were unable to leave following the disaster" (p. 75). One piece depicts an Orlesian woman dressed in what is from the hips up the same silhouette we see at the Winter Palace: exaggerated underbust corsetry that emphasizes the hips, a plunging V neckline with scalloped embellishment, a slightly puffed half-sleeve. But below the corset, the skirt has been cropped to mid-thigh and the woman wears a pair of breeches, stockings, and flat shoes with a rounded toe—strikingly similar to Josephine's lower silhouette. I can't recall ever actually seeing any NPCs wandering around Haven looking like this, which is a shame, because I love the concept of an Orlesian noblewoman blending masculine and feminine fashions in order to dress more practically for a journey into the mountains, while still appearing fashionable. I think this may be what Josephine is doing.

Josephine’s necklace is of interest to me as well, as it doesn’t bear a particular resemblance to anything I’ve found in Orlesian fashion; while we see a lot of necklines trimmed in gold, and a few necklaces, there’s nothing that looks like this piece. After a bit of research, I don’t think this is just a flashy piece of jewelry. Given the size of the chain and the way Josephine wears it draped over her shoulders, I think this might actually be a livery collar, also called a chain of office, that denotes her position as an ambassador!

Josephine’s whole look is very distinctive, and very put-together. In my opinion, this is a Choice. This is the kind of outfit that says, “I look like this on purpose,” and this from a woman who knows that a first impression may decide the course of a conversation that will affect the fate of nations. She is wearing a chain of office that immediately announces her station. She’s wearing expensive fabrics—again, I am interpreting that shiny gold fabric as silk and that is not cheap. Her vest shows fine detailing. Her clothing immediately says that she is both a person of means and holds a position of respect. Her color scheme speaks to her Orlesian connections. Her clothing conveys power and status. Yet her divergence from the styles of an Orlesian noblewoman also sets her apart. The practical elements of her look say, “I am no idle lady of leisure; I am capable; I am prepared for every occasion, even the unexpected.” And the roguish elements hearken back to her bard training, saying, “I know how the Game is played; I can be dangerous if I must be.”

Above all, I think this outfit speaks to Josephine’s self-assurance. She knows and understands social trends, but she is not beholden to them; she bends them to her tastes, rather than being bent by them. She acknowledges her past and what she has learned from it. She knows herself, and is in control of her own image.

I think this outfit does some pretty brilliant and inspired visual storytelling about Josephine Montilyet. I wouldn’t change a thing.

[kaija-rayne-author]

10.1 in review series for Dragon Age Veilguard

70 hours in, 68 actual gameplay

Obligatory I'm not an asshole disclaimer, feel free to skip to the cut.

Something came to my attention. I need to make it crystal clear that I utterly love the diversity in DAV. It's fantastic. I'm also a heavily left leaning, non-binary, queer as fuck reviewer, editor, and author.

I'm on media blackout while I play this, so I'm only getting second-hand info on how awful it is right now in the DA Fandom. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. Arguing with incels and white supremacists is completely pointless. They sea lion worse than an actual sea lion. Your mental health is important.

Though, every single time the anti-queer brigade comes out for a new DA game, I sit there thinking 'have you bozos ever played any DA game, like, ever?' My guess is nope.

Spoilers for Dragon Age Veilguard

Section 9 is here.

I haven't played yet today. I have to take my immunoconpromised ass into a world that doesn't give a shit about my life to get groceries. How do I know they don't care? They don't mask. It's as simple as that. If you care about immunocompromised people, people like me recovering from almost dying, pregnant people, old people, many children, people with immune affecting issues like long covid, depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia... goddess, the list goes on, if you cared? You'd mask. It's the number one way to help us survive. And no, us masking by ourselves doesn't work very well. Everyone has to.

Anyway. Yeah. Gotta risk my life for groceries because I can't afford delivery.

I was just sitting here, and I think I figured out some of the many issues that are bothering me about this game. The great big missing I've been trying to figure out.

They didn't make Veilguard for the adult gamers who have desperately wanted it for so long. They made it for children and teens.

Epler even outright said they'd changed things hoping to draw in a younger section of gamers. (In one of the first q&a sessions after the gameplay reveals.) I wonder if he bothered to do any market studies to see if that demographic would actually be interested?

I can only judge by my two gaming kids because I'm on media blackout while I finish this game. But no matter how much they simplified it for kids, they still have absolutely no interest in Dragon age. They're far more interested in indie games than anything a triple A studio puts out. Their opinions on Triple A studios are so low it's honestly ridiculous. They don't even understand why I love games put out by them.

So, the devs chose to remove things so that parents would be more likely to let their kid play what is still listed as a M level game (ESRB M for mature).

Ooooh, no. We can't have rogues picking locks and doing all the stuff rogues are supposed to be able to do. Why? Because that means kids will be delinquents doing the same! (The trust in the ability of older kids to understand the difference between a fantasy video game and real life is astounding, I tell you. /s) This is such a boomer thought process I'm shocked to see it, to be completely honest.)

Everyone is just so... nice. Not kind, that's different. But that sugary, false nice. None of the romanceables have anything tooooo controversial about them.

Blackwall Inquisition was a child murderer and lying about being a Grey Warden. Dorian was a spoiled, enslaving Tevinter rich boy (he did actually have a growth arc in Inquisition). Sera was a thief and a Red Jenny (people who worked against the entitled, rich nobility as needed to protect people without power). Varric (even though you can't romance him) was a thief, liar, cheater, and someone you wanted at your back in a fight because he fights dirty. Cassandra was bigoted, hide bound, and intolerant of any faiths other than Andrastianism. The Iron Bull was a failed Ben-Hassrath double agent. The ben-hassrath are a combination of spies, saboteurs, and assassins, among other things. Whatever was needed to defend the Qun. Cullen was a drug addict and such a horrible person in the previous two games it actually made me physically ill to try to romance him. Solas was, well, Solas. Who we all know had a lot of bad in his background. They've certainly hammered that point home in Veilguard. With a jackhammer. The only romance option in Inquisition that wasn’t dirty was Josey. And if you do Romance her, you find some dirt on her too.

I could say the same for almost every Dragon Age Romanceable in the entire damned series. They've mostly been not the greatest of people and when the writers were doing their jobs right, there were growth arcs for them that made them better people during the game. That's part of the fun of games with Romanceable characters. Picking out which broken bird fits your type of broken to romance. (And we're mostly all broken in some way.)

But all the romance options in Veilguard are... well, boring. They're nice, safe, decent people. And since most people have some darkness in them, it's probably not working for others as epically as it's not working for me.

If they're already nice, safe, decent people (even the fucking assassin!) then there's no room for growth. No room to learn that character and feel like your presence in their lives might give them a light to help them strive to be better people. They've truncated any potential for growth arcs for all of them. I'm a Romance author. When you're designing characters for Romance, they have to have a balance of flaws to good points. Otherwise they're just poorly designed characters with little potential to get hearts throbbing and knickers in a twist.

No wonder the romanceables aren't working for me. None of them have flaws big enough to make them well-rounded characters.

Moving on.

Have you noticed there's no blood splatter? You'll get a slowly creeping puddle around enemies, but somehow it never gets on the characters. I'll check if I have the energy to play after risking my life to get food. But I don't recall seeing a toggle for blood splatter in Veilguard. Like it or hate it, the blood splatter is very much a thing in games like these. They usually have an option to turn it off, but it's usually there. Especially in Dragon Age, blood splatter was a thing. A big thing. Hells, their logo was a blood splatter dragon for at least two games FFS. Edit. Confirmed there is no option anywhere I can find that lets us have blood splatter.

And honestly, having my characters coming out of hard fights looking like they've been through a meat grinder is part of the reason I enjoy games like these.

The choices for dialogue are also usually pretty 'nice'. The 'sarcastic' option usually isn't. The angry/strong one isn't either. It's all just... boring. And I'm into Act three now, so I'm thinking my hope of 'maybe the dialogue will get better' is probably an impossibility at this point.

Congratulations on learning the lesson of knowing who your fucking market is.

The simplified plot points, the puerile storylines, the lack of dirt on the romanceables, the lack of growth arcs, the completely ridiculous cutting of 90% of the dark horror elements that made these games so good... we've lost all of that because they made this game for kids. And I highly doubt kids will be interested. So they've fucked over, and at least in my case, utterly pissed off the older gamers who have loved Dragon Age for so long, and very likely failed to attract younger gamers, too.

The problem with trying that, which I really think should've been obvious to somebody. Is that Dragon Age has never been a game designed for kids. It's always been bloody, often harsh, horrific, dark fantasy made for adults.

Games for younger people need to be designed for younger people from the first moment of creation. Or it just doesn't work. You technically can transfer some concepts from adult games into things for kids, but the result is invariably something as awful as Veilguard. And something bound to satisfy few people. The condescension toward younger folks in Veilguard is pretty bloody obvious. Something I've noticed kids hate? Being condescended to.

It's crucial in any kind of content creation to know who you're making the thing for, and to not deviate from those genre expectations toooo much. Otherwise, you just have a mess of a disaster like Veilguard. They shot for two wildly dissimilar markets and failed both. Even the cartoony look of the art style is much more like a game for kids than anything like a dark fantasy game for adults.

And like... it's still listed as a mature rated game. So what, exactly, was the point of ruining Dragon Age like this? Many parents won't let their kids play M rated games regardless.

It's just so depressing. If they'd actually made this game for the people who had been praying for it for so long? It probably would have been phenomenal. As it stands, I'll be shocked if it doesn't sink Bioware. And if it doesn't, I'd think it because of bribery more than game quality.

I do have to say that you can decorate more than I thought. But you have to buy almost everything. And they're themes, so there's no intermixing possible. Like you could have Elven windows with Alamarri rugs and a Ferelden throne in Skyhold? All gifts from either people or cultures you'd helped, which tied it all together and connected it to the world... you can just change themes for the Lighthouse. It changes everything, and again, you have to buy almost everything. That really removes a lot of depth from the game.

People call all the collectibles and gifts etc. from the previous games 'filler'. But, frankly, that's a very uneducated opinion of what that 'filler' is supposed to do in fiction. The 'filler' (which is an actual technical term in writing fiction, and those things aren't filler) collectibles and quests gave depth to the games. It tied the world of THEDAS into the world of the player character. It's called world building in writing circles. And what confuses me is that I don't recall anyone having to do any of that. If all you wanted out of the previous games (especially Inquisition) was a fighting game, you could do that. None of the world building collection parts locked you out of any quests that I can recall. If you did enjoy deeper world building and collecting things, you could collect to your heart's content. There's none of that delicately intertwined, beautiful worldbuilding in Veilguard. It's stripped down to the very bare bones of mediocrity.

At heart, Veilguard is not a role-playing game. It's a fighting game. And not even a very well designed one. My not-a-fucking-rogue should never have aggro. That's not how this is supposed to work.

Why they felt going from a successful history of role-playing games to a stripped-down, poorly world built fighting game a good idea is just beyond me? Whoever made that decision honestly needs to be fired. And you will almost never see me say that. Jobs are too hard to find. But I will say it about Veilguard. The decisions made have ruined Veilguard in my honest, incredibly disappointed viewpoint.

They marketed this as a role-playing game. The expectation was for a role-playing game set in a richly detailed, deeply world built environment. Like most of the Dragon Age games have been. Especially Inquisition.

And we got a fighting game so stripped of world building that it's sad and just... boring.

Oh, heads up if you're disabled with any sort of disability that affects your hand eye coordination or ability to move your fingers quickly on a keyboard or controller. Don't buy this game. Even on the lowest setting with no death clicked on, you need a great deal of manual dexterity to use this crappy new fighting set up they've come up with. They definitely didn't think of physically disabled gamers at all in developing this. I'm just lucky my particular physical disabilities don't affect me that way. Though my hands are in agony from keeping my not-a-rogue out of the dragon on one side, stone wall on the other situation the fucked up aggro set up always puts me in.

They did bring gifts for companions back, which would thrill me if I actually had any desire to romance any of them. Which I honestly don't. And in games like these? It's often hard for me to pick which one. I often have to install a polyam mod so I can see the other romances because I'm usually so hot and bothered and just captivated by a Romanceable character or three that I won't be able to not romance them. Meaning I need the mod if I'm going to see the other romances.

I'm physically and mentally incapable of not romancing Astarion BG3. (I've tried!) Halsin gets me every time, too. Those are markers of excellent character development.

There's none of that in Veilguard.

Emmerich, and (as much as I hated his intro story, The Wigmaker,) Lucanis are the only slightly interesting characters to me. Bellara is sweet and awkward, but they reduced her neurodivergent qualities so much it feels... off, to my neurodivergent ass. In the autistic people on tv way of off. (To date there hasn't been much, if any, good rep of us on TV. It's all inspiration porn.) I don't feel seen in her. And I have quite a few traits she expresses. I feel... pitied. Like someone like me, or Bellara, aren't worthy of respect, love, and trust. It's not a good feeling.

Neve is so suspicious and bitchy that I have no desire to even try to romance her. I want to shove Harding off a cliff.

Davrin is really suspiciously similar to Halsin BG3. Big, more blocky than usual for an elf, wants to do good, carves wood... but where Halsin really works (because of his deep character development and darkness) Davrin, while definitely hot and with an amazing voice... just falls flat.

Emmerich is a doll of prince charming manners and adorable fussiness. He's probably the character next to Lucanis who actually has the most darkness to him.

I really wanted to love Taash. And I like them a lot, but their 'you must choose only one' thing showed up really fucking early in the game. I didn't feel like I knew them yet, so they're just never going to work for my demisexual ass unless I actually replay this (unlikely?) with a polyam mod and basically plug my nose and close my eyes and leap into a relationship with them far earlier than I'm really comfy with.

So, there's some clarity for me on what's missing and why.

Genshin Impact has more draw for me as an adult gamer than Veilguard does. And that is absolutely a game targeted at teens and early twenties folks. It's also an incredibly well designed game with good world building, balanced fighting, and devs who know who their market is.

It's an old saw in content creation. But Know Your Market is a saw for a reason.

Section 10.2 here.

[speargifted]

//benji and sera are bullying me for not being a gamer smh