#so far the only characters ive really clicked with in this game are the ones where i blast everything in sight sky high

[dawnthefluffyduck]

Another sunday doodle I missed lol

[3gremlins]

feel like im having a DA2 experience again where I really liked it and was in my little "this is good" cocoon where i played it many times only to emerge from underground and find everyone else hated it (i mean ive found the other da2 cicadas since but at the time it got really slammed). i've been really enjoying DA:TV so far ( lol tho obvs have notes) here's an early thoughts review, may be a bit spoilery, def rambley, trying to stay vague on stuff still (i think i'm about half way maybe? im trying to not look things up and doing it blind on my first run through. it's hard to tell b/c i went hard on all the side quests and am now way over level for the msq)

the combat system is a little jarring at first and i still miss at least being able to switch to and play as party members if your character dies (instead of the god of war style of full wipe), but i've gotten used to it (it's more annoying for boss fights, regular combat it's very zippy and fun). the targeting at least on controller is kind of annoying sometimes- i'll think i'm pointing at one enemy only to have rook turn and fire at nothing or companions to hit an add instead of a boss. I wish we at least had more control over how it queued who it was hitting. some of the arenas are obnoxious design wise - there's bosses that teleport to you and they give you like a tiny little box to dodge around, not the most fun. i do like that you can punch way above of your weight class sometimes which reminds me of DAO a little bit (like how you'd just wander into a fight or hit a gong and be like oh no, those enemies have skulls over their heads, oh well YOLO). sometimes it doesn't work out but when it does it's very satisfying. It's nice to be able to conquer something mechanically even underleveled (smol fromsoft vibes) Having always been a big fan of the strange composition parties (i.e not just war/rogue/mage), i like that this is now even more viable (and not just me being cheeky "we're having a leather party!" of all squishy rogues). but like the main thing about bioware games is the companions/interpersonal shit and i'm enjoying the heck out of that .i only do main quests to get more side quests from companions (or more side quests in general so we can troll around for more banter). i like petting griffons (and cats and dogs) and playing games with manfred*. I wish the gift system was more interesting like DAO or DA2- i was so excited to see it again and then it was a little disappointing to have them barely react when you get them stuff.

my current fave party are rook and the poison boys (emmerich and lucanis) since they're a rogue too and we just stack necrosis, bleeds and other elemental effects on things till they disintegrate. i like the lighthouse, it feels much cozier than skyhold. I love that you can just wander up to companions having convos and awkwardly eavesdrop. I do miss the little interactions/quests you could get with cole esp*** i think the animations are a little lack lustery? Idk there's something with the face model morphs that sometimes feels weird but the voice acting is strong enough that I don't notice too much. i do miss some of the more bioware-y cheeky things like item descriptions or weird notes near random silly environmental tableaus (there's a little but i just want to read all the notes! there's some in the grey warden areas where i was just like WAIT I HAVE QUESTIONS but there was no plaque about them T.T). where are the stacks of cheese (i do appreciate the fereldens love cheese jokes tho and harding getting so excited when someone says something nice about ferelden) i was esp bummed that there were no random things to read in the black emporium and it's all codex entries instead (that's my favorite tiny bit in DA2 where there's junk you can click on and xenon says weird shit to you). i also wish more had been done with accents of npcs- like i wish all the antivans had similar accents or your crow rook had an antivan accent, stuff like that (having a lot of "ferelden" generic british accents everywhere is disappointing. takes you out of the immersion a lot) My biggest gripe is probably the pacing - I wish it had more horror/mystery pacing like dao and da2 had- the reason we're all scarred by the brood mother is b/c the build up to that was so so creepy (also the necromancer bit w/hawke's mum in DA2). They gave us time to be unnerved or afraid and I do feel the evanuris reveals have been a little rushed so you can't really feel that worried about them (some of the side quests get close to this but still not quite there**). I wish they'd let them breathe a bit more instead of rushing from one giant world changing event to the next. Some of the reveals have been not so great- like lore that the fandom has poured over for 15ish years explained in one line?? i wish there'd been more build up of rook as a character too, maybe even a time skip from a prologue to finding solas kind of thing. the first trailer made it seem like that's what was going to happen but then it in media res'd us in a strange way. the first 10 hours of the game are probably the weakest imho, it took it a bit to get rolling and feel more natural. I appreciate that the first major decision doesn't really let you scum save for it (bit of a jump scare for me lol).

I also don't really need this much varric anymore, i kinda wish we had a different narrator if we have to have one. He feels really awkward to just have there and not doing anything(and not just kill off or have something happen to him? he got stabbed by the dagger and harding only touched it is what i'm saying). at least let him get better pjs and slippers or something Idk it does feel like bits of previous iterations they were working on are still there and they don't completely serve the plot well. And ofc there's the decisions not meaningfully carrying over thing- which is a huge bummer. But in reality they've never been good at that- the characters from previous games we see in new games don't really carry through their plots/arcs that much (it's more like cameos or they're a new person now) and the world states are usually effectively the same just with aesthetic faction swaps. I was sort of hoping we'd get some solavellan SOMETHING but it doesn't look like we will get much at all past the stuff in minrathous. i feel like if they were going to only include the one choice it really should have had more impact on the story. (i am also still a clown and want to talk to solas constantly still even tho he has no reason to talk to my rook at all, i do not care, i love a sad woof. i wish we could just casually visit him in the fade. i wish we could switch to lavellan and visit him in the fade, idk something. need more gareth david-lloyd pls) the interpersonal character decisions have been the only ones that mattered much and then only within the constrains of their own games- the bigger world changing stuff is usually the illusion of choice. It would have been nice if they let us have one protagonist carry through but i can also see why they liked changing it up and felt stuck in that format. tl;dr: i'm really like it for what it is but it's def got flaws. Parts of it feel super polished while other bits do not- i think knowing how game dev works that they had to make decisions on what was going to get prioritized and some of it works while others not so much. I wish the pacing was better for sure but i love the characters/companions which is generally what bioware is best at. sad it won't get meaningful dlc, i don't really care about mass effect 5 tbqh. So far I like it better than inquisition for the most part- it feels like a bigger/more polished DA2 in a lot of ways if that makes any sense (with similar budget/pacing issues, but the environments are more fun). as i mentioned in my other post, i really appreciated the trans/non binary inclusion into the story/cc tho. like that can't be discounted, even if the rest of the game has issues. (all the holes in the narrative make me want to do fan art and fan fiction tho so idk, maybe that's an okay thing. maybe dragon age is best at inspiring us to sandbox around in it)

*side note, i am surprised at how much i like emmerich like holy shit what a lovely soft nerd of a man! going to have to play through a few times and romance him and also bellara for sure (romancing lucanis this time round) i find myself shipping my companions with each other more than i normally do too. I just want them to be happy! I wish they'd let us have polyamory, like i could see little polycules in this squad so easily. i need to give bellara hugs and lucanis head pats. taash deserves head pats too, but my rook will need a ladder.

**i am going to cry if they do with the griffons what i think they're doing with the griffons. like straight up, feeling like it was a cursed wish to have them now T.T *** do we think the caretaker is cole? the character design makes me wonder (like the hat/silhouette is very cole like but maybe not. maybe i just want it to be cole lol) there's def characters i want to see show up that aren't going to and then bioware is like "what about this fan favorite??" and i'm like "eh".

[i-rate-horse-games]

rating horse life for pc

this is the closest thing to a title screen i could find lol

the player character is shorter than the horse, i dont think ive ever had this pov looking up at a horse, it's scary, eyes right next to their teeth, short people are so brave, wow. this is my horse Ramune out at pasture.

she always has her ears back in the pasture and ignores me the first three times i call her but as soon as she comes over she seems happy? like she really hates socializing but is acting like she does to seem cool to her friends? i have no idea

this game is abandonware now and my copy of it seems to be poorly translated from french, so i'm not going to comment on the funny bits of dialogue, but the dialogue lines themselves were incredibly repetitive!

the game goes like this: you take care of your horse (feed, clean stall, sponge, or brush - not all at once though) which feels like it takes forever but might just be three minutes on average. you compete to win gold medals in show jumping, dressage, cross-country, and eventing.

jumping and cross-country both use the same jumping mechanic, where you change your speed between every jump to the one the game wants and then press the space bar when the ground in front of the jump turns green or white. dressage has you click the left and right mouse buttons to the beat of a metronome, except the beat of the sound and the beat of the flashing lights on the screen don't match and if you follow the lights, you're sunk. eventing is just all three events in a row.

whenever you win, the resident Mean Girl accuses you of cheating, and the Stud Farm owner says he’s so proud of you. there’s a morning-evening cycle and after the sun sets, the stud farm owner tells you the day is over and to go get rest and come back tomorrow. this happens instantly and changes nothing.

you get coins from winning, which you can use to purchase unlockable wearable items for your horse and your rider! although i don't think anything can save this outfit.

you can't customize this rider at all, either, and there's only like four horse color options and then a few custom markings.

next you go to Training in the Training arena, and the stud farm owner teaches you the one trick that distinguishes your competition level from the next, and then you compete at the next level. the mean girl is always competing in the same races as you, and she always scores exactly 85, which is honestly more impressive than getting 100, that's so specific. you have a childhood best friend who shows up every now and then to remind you to take care of your horse like you used to, and that you’ve always been such a better rider than her.

then, although i swear it’s not in the tutorial, you eventually realize you can click on the woods north of the map and go on trail rides, which get you involved in cutscenes that tiptoe around the idea of the game having a plot. so far the mean girl has been caught trying to tire out my horse & we got to chase her “to stop her from hurting herself” and then there was no resolution after she was caught. i was so surprised that she would do such a thing that i tried to take a screenshot and got this weird glitch where half of the stable turned invisible, revealing a second secret stable in the distance... so mysterious...

then we were ordered to ride out there and take a picture of the town using the camera function, which you can use at any time when on a trail ride which Is Fun! here's a picture i took of some sheep!

they're so smooth...

after that, a vet came along with a sick horse and made me ride the entire trail with him slower than a gallop, which is frustrating because the entire trail takes like seven whole minutes to complete, so i started watching videos some random kid fight a giant spider in Grounded while doing that. i also got tired of taking care of my horse ramune, but just feeding her boosts her health, and so far there's been no repercussions to just feeding her a lot and doing nothing else.

the game is pretty repetitive, but if I were still a preteen or younger and not yet aware of my surroundings and the world around me, my dreams of someday riding a Real Horse would elevate this game to a new level. you have to use your imagination and get yourself invested in it in order to have fun with it. and for some, that’s what you’re looking for. overall, it sure is a horse game, and it’s not actively bad, it’s just mid.

i'm rating this game 2.5 out of 5 stars!

★★✬☆☆

smooth cows

[monotonecomplainyguy]

For the send a fandom: Tsushima.

Left field. Bitch.

Mofo making me add yet another game onto this blog, spoiler alert I loved ghost of tsushima and think everyone should play it. ps. spoilers ahead cause I cant for the life of me figure out how to hide text till you click it.

The first character I fell in love with: tbh Yuna, her blatant disregard for the rules and expectations in favor of doing good is great, even if that good is selfish from time to time. Her growth throughout the story just reaffirms this even more too.

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: That'll have to go to Masako, her introduction led me to believe that her as a character would be nothing more than a cheap revenge ploy, and while her questline kinda leaned into that hard her as a character grew on me. The duel with her had me literally yelling that I better not have to kill her.

The character everyone else loves that I dont: Shoot me, but Ryuzo. As a character hes as good as every other major character but thats why I dont like him, his betrayal hits hard especially after listening to the banter between him and Jin about their childhoods. As they spoke about parting ways after their initial duel I seriously hoped they could reconnect over the course of saving their home.

The character I love that everyone else hates: I dont know if hes necessarily a hated character but Ive heard several people say they really didnt like Norio. A lot of people say his quest is two dimensional and bland but looking past that Norio feels like the only character that really understands Jin's struggle with what needs to be done and his expectations as a samurai. Through the second and third act he feels like a reassurance at Jin's back, that his decision is a difficult one but one that needs to be made.

The character I used to love but dont any longer: Ishikawa, Initially I thought he would be the basis for a growing understanding that what Jin and Yuna did was necessary, especially with what he did with Tomoe. But he remained just as stubborn and while I can understand why it doesn't mean I have to like it. Hes a good character but not my cup of tea.

The character I would totally smooch: Probably no one in the way you would expect, but Yuriko needed a kiss on the forehead and praise for doing such a good job even in her old age and told not to worry about Jin. At least she was one of the few that got to pass peacefully.

The character I'd want to be like: Taka hands down, he tries so hard to be something hes not, and when he found a way he could help he put his heart into it. Then even in the face of the Khan he put on a brave face and knowing full well he stood no chance tried to do what he thought was right. In many ways hes a reflection of Jin yet not so gifted that he can fight for his home, yet he still raised a sword when it mattered the most. His death by far killed me the most.

The character I'd slap: Lord Shimura, this man infuriates me so much yet I cant hate him because of how sad he is. The ending killed me, seeing his pain in having to face Jin, losing the person he considered his Son, and even more so after sparing him. He could've helped change everything and even if he disowned Jin officially he could've still let him go after everything that happened. But now he continued to be shackled by his idealology of honor and it forced him to push away his son all the more. I get its not easy to change what someone is raised to believe in whole heartedly but you would expect the loss of the last of your family to help with that, but no.

A pairing that I love: Jin and Tomoe, I feel like they are two very different edges of the same coin. Jin choosing a path that leads to a great many regrets that become overshadowed by the good that followed, and Tomoe falling down a selfish path filled with many more regrets and struggling to correct it. Is this generic? maybe, is it cliché enough that I like it still? of course. What do you want from me cliché is my middle name. Also yes Im aware she hardly had any screen time and her and Jin hardly interacted, I like thinking about unlikely things, its called headcannon for a reason.

A pairing that I despise: I dont despise it but I dont really like it either, Jin and Yuna feels kinda wrong. The two of them went through so much together and it feels like one of those dynamics thats very rooted in a deep friendship and nothing more. Plus after spending so much time together in so many stressful scenarios changing how they see each other would be a monumental challenge, especially after Yuna lost Taka and would most likely be hesitant about getting close to someone else. Losing a family member often causes people to push away the thought of relationships for awhile.

[barbatos-sama]

so far these are the pros and cons of this game, there will be a lot of comparing to gembin because the game makes no effort to hide how much of a gembin clone it is:

cons:

• character designs aren't great, a lot of them are very busy and the ones that aren't are kinda plain because the colors are kinda muted

• colors are more muted and less whimsical because this isn't a historical fantasy like gembin, like i said it's supposed to be a futuristic game so it's almost like they're trying to take classic gacha character design but make it fit into a futuristic sci fi theme and they don't really execute that very well

• the sci-fi aspect itself just doesn't appeal to me, this is obviously a matter of personal taste though

• it takes a lot of big made up science words and spits it at you all at once, making things hard to understand. gembin has some complicated fantasy terms as well but they ease you into it, starting in mond where everything is pretty easy to understand and terms are mostly normal and easy to understand. by the time it gets real bad in gembin is in sumeru, but you're so far into the game at that point where you're invested enough to actually learn and memorize these terms. this game spits them at you immediately so i was quickly discouraged and decided i didn't care abt the plot if they were gonna immediately make you do homework in order to understand anything

• speaking of the plot like i mentioned before i started skipping most of the dialogue and cutscenes because i just didn't care, it was boring. i Tried at first but i just couldn't understand what was going on bc of the nonsense technical terms they wanted me to learn

• THE INTERFACE okay my god the interface is so hard to navigate at least for me. i don't know what any of this shit is or what it does. the interface over the gameplay is almost Exactly like gembin's so that's easy to understand but the menus? nahhhh. it's like they wanted to copy homework but make it different but they made it different in the wrong way

• back to the character designs unfortunately has the "most women have big booba" problem. i don't have a problem with booba women, i kind of used to bc it made me dysphoric but it doesn't anymore and i think having some titty every now and again is fine. but when almost Every woman has big booba it makes them feel less unique. like in gembin for example there's ladies with all sizes of booba, some even have flat chests like furina and hu tao. ladies with like super big booba are actually not Super common, shenhe and yelan come to mind. in gembin you could say "the lady with the big titties" and those two would probs come to mind for whoever ur talking to, but in this game it would be like "ur gonna have to be more specific." like you know what i mean?? ahdjd not Every woman can be a booba woman you've got to branch out.

• obviously they only have twink which is a crime against me personally. the game came out rather recently so maybe there will be more, but maybe not having many twinks is a good thing bc i wont feel enticed to pull for many ppl.

• jumping is weirdly floaty and sprinting is weird

• fighting is kinda boring, ive been button mashing and things die lmao. so far there's not as much strategy as there is in gembin, but maybe i just dont know enough abt the combat system? it gave me tutorial trials tho and most of it consisted of "click four times then use your skill" so it doesn't seem very promising.

• exploration is a lot more boring than in gembin, gembin has chests and puzzles like jam packed into its world but those are much farther between in this game. since exploration is literally my favorite thing abt gembin this game is seriously lacking to me lol

• sometimes it can be kinda frustrating trying to do the things it wants me to, like it gave me a challenge to do backflips 10 times in a row without falling off a box, and the box would get smaller on each difficulty, and it took FOREVER because first of all didn't even tell me what i was doing at first so i didn't know i wasn't supposed to flip off the box, then once i figured that out it was just a rly hard thing to do but the quest marker wouldn't go away until you finished it. i finally did finish it but it was v frustrating and i was like "i come back to this game and the first thing you do is frustrate me? hello?" also there was a domain that was literally a side scroller so it was like, sonic the hedgehog but worse and very clunky. that took me several tries as well bc the controls for this segment are like, not great. i had to remap the buttons for that specific part. idk maybe someone with bigger hands can do it better but i have small hands and can't even reach the left shift button soooo

pros:

• i have just realised that almost every pro i have would be "this is like gembin" such as it having practically identical features such as how characters are built, constellations, battle pass, welkin, how quests are organized, etc. like i can't even tell you how much this game truly is "gembin but worse". they took gembin and used almost identical mechanics but made the characters uglier, the interface worse, and the exploration more boring. like i was sitting here like "okay but as a clone it had the opportunity to improve on gembin" but it didn't. like... okay it's got a bigger resin cap? you can walk up walls? i'm struggling to think of something here

[flokali]

seen ur hsr charas and there's only one thing in my mind....

h-how u got all of the mats?? 🗿🗿

(i mean yea, there's "ways")

oooohhhhh but prob just good management of the trailblaze power/fuels or r they just leveled up? (i meant the others,,, (⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠*⁠) ) like genuinely curious fufu

Hello, hello~

To be completely honest, the main reason I’ve been able to advance in the game so fast is because I’ve been sick and resting - so no class nor work for me - which means I’ve had a lot of time to do nothing other than playing. It’s partially why I’ve been able to reach lvl 36 in under a week, compared to Genshin where it took me almost twice the time to do so;;

When it comes to mats, I’ve set up a bit of a system for myself!

UTC because it got… really, really long - I did not think this game would have me this excited, alas here we are - almost 760 words of me just rambling about it…

I try getting exactly what I need rather than grinding and hoarding as many mats for the future; if I need, let’s say, 3 character ascension materials then I’ll set the rewards to get me exactly 3 mats!

Since I’m at Equilibrium lvl 2 and only have until lvl 3 to set, I know I’ll be getting 2-3 drops per round, so I’ll set it to use exactly the needed amount of Trailblaze Powder so as to not waste it.

I’ve also used up a lot, and I mean a lot, of the Trailblaze Fuel, which means I haven’t had to wait as much time to have the Trailblaze Powder filled up again.

Then there’s the local shops for each location, you have them in Herta’s Space Station, Jarilo-IV, and the Xianzhou Luofu! They use unique world currency that you have to get via quests and progressing through the story, but they have a lot of materials for both Light Cones and Character Ascension! There’s also the rewards you get from spending a certain amount in each shop where they give you Stellar Jade, Wrap Tickets, and other materials.

Another pretty good way to level up your characters fast is to claim the Level up rewards Pom-Pom gives, some of the drops are Trailblaze Fuel, Travel Guide, Adventure Logs, Refined Aether, Condensed Aether, Wrap Tickets, etc.

Then there’s the classic Embers Exchange (the little blue things you get from the Wraps), where you’ll get Trace and Light Cone ascension materials from 4-12 Embers, this resets each month so you have plenty of time to get them!

Other than that, I tend to work on all the characters at once when it comes to leveling them up and ascending them; I don’t prioritize my main team from the others, though I tend to treat my favorite characters a little better, I don’t know if that has helped me much but I thought I might add it? I do tend to try and always have all my characters at a certain ATK and ascension level - mostly because the game relies a lot on having different characters with different paths and elements. I kind of, just click add and see if I have enough for them to reach the next level, lol.

I do tend to neglect Relics a lot, mostly since I can’t really get the five star sets yet and I’d rather wait until I can get my hands on the good stuff than waste my resources on something that I’ll be replacing, so I can’t give much advice for them (T^T);; I tend to mostly use the ones I get from chests and completing quests/missions but it’s worked quite well so far!

These are all my tips and reminders for material compiled into a list:

1) Don’t hoard yet! Try getting only what you need, that way you’ll save Trailblaze Powder and grind for different materials.

2) World Shops are your best friends, they’re a quick way to get your hands on materials and give you rewards the more you spend on them.

3) Don’t be too afraid of using your Trailblaze Fuel, it’s there for you to use!

4) Some characters are easier to grind for, some are harder - some use the same materials as others, some will be the only character that needs a certain material: make a mental (or physical) list of characters that have similar materials and choose who to level up first and if you’ll grind for both of them or not.

5) Learn to prioritize what talents/cones/characters you want, even with all of what I’ve said; there will be times a character will be slightly behind, that’s okay - just focus on having fun and on the ones you’ll use the most.

6) Do both the Simulated Universe and Hall of Echos, if I had to pick one I’d recommend Herta’s SU since it gives weekly rewards for points and hands out EXP and materials as well, it also doesn’t use Trailblaze Power so you’re free to do it as many times as you wish.

7) The game is incredibly generous, it’s not afraid to give you materials the more you progress in the story and levels.

Hope this helps;; it’s kind of (very) long but I racked my brain to give as many tips as possible!

[whosthatdccharacter]

Heyo! We've done six of these so far and it's been fun running this little game for yall. I hope its entertaining for you!

Now that we've got some under our belts I wanted to open up for feedback on a few different points. Im going to go over how ive done stuff so far, so if you have any thoughts on aspects of it you can chime in.

Putting the rest under the cut since it's kind of long.

1. Timing

So far I've tried to post new ones at sort of random times in the day so it doesn't give any one a consistent advantage. Im US Eastern and posts might go up anytime between 8am and 2am. I might even use the queue to schedule round the clock.

Another timing thing is that when someone guesses right, I give at least a few hours more before posting the reveal. It's just to give people a little more time to play, even if someone gets the answer right away. That's not to say you cant play after the reveal posts go up, but if youre anything like me, as soon as the ability to see the answer is available im clicking that link lol.

And since the reveal post tags the winner, I wait at least a few more hours for the next silhouette post so the prev winner doesnt have the advantage of being notified of the next one.

So a question here is should I wait longer or shorter on any of these areas? Do you like that its only one unrevealed at a time?

2. Difficulty level

This has been the hardest because it's a learning curve to find what's easy, what's hard, and why. There are SO many characters and runs, so it's hard to know if something I thought was memorable was even a blip on other people's radars. So ive tried to do a mix of difficulties.

Easier ones mean more people have the satisfaction of guessing and maybe getting it right, but if it's too easy then it might feel like these are puzzles for babies.

Harder ones mean a challenge and a lot of satisfaction if you figure it out or know that it's some niche thing. But if it's too hard then nobody gets it and it can feel kind of bullshit.

So what im wondering here is, do you feel like these have been too easy or too hard? Do you like it being a mix?

3. Character and image selection

If I put up a straightforward silhouette of Etrigan, everyone's going to get it and there's no challenge. On the flip side if i did a silhoutte or jason blood standing in a contextless room its like that could be literally any random man, so itd lead to random guesses. So ive been trying to find the sweet spot of the silhouette being somewhat familiar but not completely unique, and the rest of the image with some stuff going on. I think that's been going well but it does mean it relies on me and my ability to make a good little puzzle of it. So i hope I've been doing an alright job in that area.

Choosing from particular runs is interesting. I usually think of a character first then go find something they were in. Im finding the stories with other characters and team ups are good options to provide that extra context. But then the tricky part is that i have to be at least somewhat aware of whats popular and whats not. I dont want to use a panel from a run nobody read (unless its really good), and I also dont want to do one so infamous that everyone knows it like the back of their hand. So as with choosing particular images, I hope my choice of titles I'm sourcing these from has been fair.

4. How to guess

I went with tags so it encourages people to reblog and hopefully spread awareness of the blog. I think its also the easiest way people are inclined to interact per post. We couldve done asks but sometimes those get dropped by tumblr, and all the reveal posts would be answers to asks instead of standalone posts.

I like the idea that even for old ones people can still play and have fun with guessing on their own. Not sure if theres a clever way to encourage that.

And i hope the leaderboard is fun. Just a small incentive to participate. Its like saying nice job, thank you for playing.

5. Hints

As mentioned previously, if over a day goes by and nobodys got it ill post a hint. I've only done one hint so far and i was really not sure how subtle or overt i should be. Idk if anyone has thoughts about it?

--

So that's it. That's the process behind things and kind of where my mind is on it. I want it to be fun and chill, so if you ever have feedback about something you can always send an ask. It can be about the topics here or really at anytime about anything.

Thanks for playing everyone! Keep it up!

[v-arbellanaris]

some ~critical~ thoughts on my exp with pillars so far under the cut for negativity ig

so i gave up on pillars (for now?) and i might pick it up again later but right now, i'm really, really frustrated with it. i'm really stressed out, and frankly, upset. i'm not having a good time playing it, and every attempt to just stick it out is making me MORE frustrated and upset. the "tutorial" barely did anything, i'm still incredibly lost most of the time for combat. and idk, i dont wanna just say the combat system is garbage, but if i've been playing it for a week, and it's still really difficult to navigate or play, i have to wonder at the "mystery" behind it. like why make it so impossible to play the game, why make it so difficult to figure out the combat system, why isn't there an actual tutorial or actual helpful instructions on the system??? i'm playing on EASY because a) new combat system and b) i want to know more about the story but i just keep getting bogged down by all these stupid encounters that KO multiple party members, even when i have the chara ai switched on and everything, and it's really aggravating and upsetting. i explicitly DID NOT sign up for a hard time, so why am i getting a hard time from the game???

it's also not super RSI friendly to me? the amount of clicks i would have to go through just to cast a spell or cast a healing spell is absurd - i have pause, then click the character, strain to click the tiny thing in the corner of their character portrait to pull up their abilities, find the ability, aim it, etc etc. and presumably there's an easier way to do this but - you guessed it! there's no tutorial on how to do it. i had to fucking google how to select my whole party at once because it's not intuitive and i had to manually click each character AND their summons to move them. it made my RSI flare up so badly a few days ago that i couldn't use my arm at all that whole day.

and finally, it's really hard to get into the story for me because it's so, so heavily text-based. there's a lot of dialogue, there's a lot of descriptions around the dialogue - and there's some conversations you can't revisit so you just miss key details. i don't feel like i know anything about the companions, or feel particularly close to them - i don't even really feel all that much interest in my pc - and the amount of text to read per conversation really really bogs me down; there's a lot to read and a lot to process, to the point of it being overwhelming. going into the cyclepedia or whatever doesn't help me, i feel like information is scattered everywhere and there's so much that it's difficult for me to filter it. ive played text-based games before, so i know it's not a problem with the text, but it feels like it's not anchored in anything and it's really difficult for me to process it. i can't remember specific conversations with my companions - only some lines are voiced, and others are not, and there's no way for me to anchor those specific conversations in more memorable lines or anything like that. i remember a few of eder's ambient dialogue, because it's funny or witty or interesting, but i can't recall what the other party members have said or remarked???

and i think that really sums up my experience with this game so far; it's too overwhelming, and it feels like the game really does not want me to play it, it's made for other people and at times it feels like actively hostile to players like me, who are not familiar with the system. idk, i know loads of people enjoy this game, so there's obviously good things about it, but this feels really unwelcoming to my adhd and my RSI, and i'm upset bc i wanted to have a good time playing and i didn't. i bought both games during the autumn sale, and i cannot get through the first one. i feel like i spent so much money on a game i can't even enjoy playing (because i've been trying, thinking it's a scaling issue and maybe after i'm a couple of levels in, this will stop happening. im at level 5, and it's still happening, and i'm STILL lost) and i'm really upset abt it

[justalazytrashpanda]

if you don’t mind me asking, do you perhaps have a list of fangans that you like/are into and seen? And are we possibly allowed to make fangan recommendations? Just curious :0

Ahh sorry for the late reply!!! You are allowed to make recommendations but that doesnt guarantee that I’ll get into them. I dont have as much freetime as i used to im afraid… alas

Anywhere heres all the fangans ive gotten into ranked on a scale of 1-10, 1 being terrible, 5 being perfectly average, and 10 being the best thing ever written. If you want a more indepth opinion on any in specific just shoot me an ask X]. 

Complete fangans

Danganronpa another - 8/10, pretty good! Follows Trigger Happy Havoc a little closely in spots, but whenever it does that it’s trying to subvert whatever its mirroring in the first game. The cast is fun and bounces off eachother really well

Super danganronpa another 2 - 7/10, while it does improve in a lot of aspects when compared to the first game on both a technical and story level, I honestly preferred the first game to the second one. I was spoiled for most of the events in this game and the whole luck transfer thing was really convoluted. It’s still good tho! 

Danganronpa Lapse - 7/10, I really liked the unique artstyle, and the reduced cast allowed for everyone to shine a little bit more! The story was good as well, tho echos whole thing could’ve been explained more clearly. honestly this didn’t even need to be a Danganronpa game, it felt the weakest whenever it was trying to do that. Although I did enjoy the trials

In-progress fangans: have at least 2 chapters out

Danganronpa blowback: 6/10. Not the biggest fan tbh. It does have some cool ideas and characters but when it misses it misses hard. Granted this is one of the oldest fangans ive played, so some aspects can be forgiven based on that. I do wonder if it wouldve gotten better or worse had it gone on for longer

Danganronpa antebellum: 9/10. I had so much fun when playing this game its unreal. Its not perfect by a long shot, it definitely feels like a fangame, but thats whats so great about it. It doesnt take itself too seriously, which is an issue that can easily affect a fan project. The designs for the cast are super fun and i cant say that there's any characters i actively dislike. 

Danganronpa despair time: 9/10. Another really good one! It takes advantage of the medium its presented rather well. The story so far is really good and the parts “inspired” by the mainline games are changed up enough where it makes the tropes feel refreshing. I dont like all the characters but hey its rare to have an entire cast of faves

Just started fangans: only the prologue / first chapter is out

Project edens garden - 7/10. It’s got me hooked! I found the prologue very interesting. It set up the characters well and let them have a chance to shine while also setting up the main story. I found the animal theming interesting and am excited to see where it goes. I just also really like the art style. Each characters color palette is really distinct and i really like that :]

Danganronpa (he)artless deceit - 6/10. It’s alright. On a technical level it's very impressive, and it's clear the people making this really care about it! It just… didn't really click with me. A couple characters did interest me, but i wasn't very invested in the main two focused on in the proluge. I'll be interested to see where it goes but atm I'm more of an observer than a fan.

Danganronpa mauve - 5/10. I dont know what to think about this one. Its only got one chapter out so its hard to judge it, but it just didnt really captivate me all that much. Its clear a lot of work and time has been put into this, and i can totally see how someone could like this! Its just not my cup of tea X]. Out of every fangan ive seen this definitely feels the most like a danganronpa game, but thats a double edged sword. The characters were alright, but it felt… odd to me how many of them resembled characters from other fangans or the mainline series (looking at you satsuki). 

[petegrammarman]

Monthly Consumption - October 2023 Part 2: More Games

Here are the rest of the games I played in October that are considerably less scary.

Baldur’s Gate 3

I am about 7 hours in and I still feel a lot of friction from the systems. So much so that I can’t enjoy the story that I’m sure is a blast. There is just too much, an explosion of choices and options and systems that I don’t really want to bother to interact with, because when you are not handling 50 separate icons for every possible physical action a human can perform, you are in huge conversation chains with a bunch of british elves and demons or whatever. There is an issue with focus for me here, the game attempts to do EVERYTHING, and I can’t get a grasp on any of it. A tabletop roleplaying experience allows you to do ANYTHING, and trying to represent that in the form of a computer game just doesn’t make sense to me. I thought my past experience with DND 5e would give me a leg up on this but I’m still just floundering every time I play it. I’ve lowered the difficulty and watched some tutorials and I will continue to give it a chance every so often, as I still haven’t seen what people love about this game. Hopefully it’s a hurdle worth getting over, lots of games haven’t clicked with me immediately and then I end up obsessed, like Monster Hunter or Soulsborne.

Party Animals

It was a fun time and I got my fill. I like the gorilla.

Paleo Pines

Good loop, adds a little something else to the farming sim by allowing your dinosaurs to help around the farm. It’s also got a collection aspect to it, which is just enough to keep you going through the typically boring (to me) farm stuff. When you find a big dinosaur you love and then get it working with you on your farm, it’s great. Then you can personalize it by naming them and pairing them with other dinos, you get a nice little community going. I hope they keep adding stuff to this one, the main focus of the game is very strong but it is weak in the game’s actual story and characters. You really have to make your own fun, but the game allows for it.

Diablo IV

Played the trial, and only up to level 8 into the first town. I didn’t really get a sense of the main loop (I assume its more diablo) but it is a pretty game, and the attacks feel good. It just looks and feels better than any Diablo game before it, and there does seem to be a more focused story this time, with stakes that can be understood, which hasn’t been a thing since the first Diablo. The addition of cutscenes are a nice break from the click-fest, and I’m sure there are less of them outside of the intro zone. Overall it seems fun and I would like to get back to it someday. I’m glad there was a trial and I can easily wait for it to become cheaper.

Sea of Stars

Started this on the 29th, seems promising. The art and music are all really impressive, the amount of unique encounters, puzzles, and areas are pushing me to see more. You don’t see this amount of work with an indie project, so I am excited to see where the game goes. The battle system is a lot of fun too, let’s see if it sticks around too long. The only gripe I have are the two main characters, they are so bland, in both design and writing. They have been locked away in a magic school for their whole upbringing, so maybe that’s why. The story so far has been touching on that a little bit, but I feel like the game won’t acknowledge it very much more than that, but I would be pleasantly surprised if their blandness becomes a plot point. Excited to see more of this.

Super Mario Bros Wonder

I feel like companies like Nintendo and Fromsoft are just on another level at this point. Able to make entirely way too much content for a single game. There is just so much bespoke content put into this game, that no other dev could begin to compete with. Every level has a completely crazy change to it halfway through and there are just TONS of levels. It’s a blast to play through and has a lot of challenge to it. I was very surprised how much it is pulling from Super Mario World, in terms of secrets and level design. It’s fantastic and I’m glad 2d Mario is back.

COCOON

GAME OF THE YEAR BABY. Played through this twice and I almost forgot to add it on this list. WHOOPS. I’m in love with the puzzles and mechanics of this game. Forget about the art music and story, I’m just fascinated by how all the interactivity fits together. It is inspiring and something to aspire to. I can’t get over how each orb contains the levels you interact with, while also having a unique mechanic, and all those things interact with each other in new and interesting ways ALL THE TIME UNTIL THE GAME ENDS. There is a puzzle towards the end where you have to use every orb’s ability while also nesting each orb in a specific order and seeing it all come together is a feeling you could only get from a game. It is truly a masterpiece of game design and I love it. The fact that it looks and sounds amazing is just a bonus, you could probably make the same game with grey cubes and I’d love it. Anyway big recommend for anyone interested in puzzle or game design.

TABLE TOP Mork Borg

It’s a fun lightweight game, with plenty of crazy crap and violence. My character is dumb.

[penguin--person]

hey. hey you. I’m way too nervous to leave an actual comment on it but the rain world fic you posted recently. Fucking slaps. It’s so good. Idk how to put it into words but it’s like you make the characters so clear and and…idk but I think your fic is so cool and good. AND I DONT EVEN RAIN WORLD IS SUPPOSED TO BE. I came in through PAFL but I’ve been curious about rw for a while now, and this has made me want to check it out even more. Also, take your time on the swap au!! Stay healthy(physically AND mentally. They both matter) and don’t burn yourself out! Always remember that you are priority #1, and that your needs should always come first. Alright that’s it bye :D

AWAWA!!!! wawawwaaa!!!! explodes and diessssss ..n"!!! thanke you!!! thank you:3!!!!! your kind words are always so!!! nice and cool!!! and a pleasure to receive!!! <3333 rain world my good friend rain world... its a game for sure!!! ive been engaging less w the fandom lately, but, i still rlly like the game:3 ive been into it for. checks steam achivements. like two years now (i got into pafl not long after i think) !! rain world has these thangs tho - slugcats! :) the link leads to my rw pafl au... i have. SO Many pafl aus. you dont even Know. i havent even posted half of them. you dont know about my wandersong pafl au. you dont know about my buddy sim pafl crossover. you dont know about my pathologic pafl au (yet) (>:3). and thats because i never draw anything for them ❤️might write smth tho... ..

mm . youre rlly cool. thank you again!!! for your support!!! as a thank you, heres what ive got so far for the next chapter of swap! its not much, and mostly just first draft, but! just for you ❤️the '*' signal words/sentences im gonna italise

It’s another day. Just like always.

Half-asleep, Yura glances at the door, halfway through his breakfast. His mother’s standing there. She’s already fully dressed, while her son is still in last night’s clothes. He hasn’t had much energy as of late. It’s not like he ever has any energy, even more as of late, with the trip to the zone coming up... Not to mention everything that’s happened with Dmitry.

Yura grunts at the thought of that… *monster. 

Why didn’t he stick around? Maybe he’d have been able to convince Sergei to let him stay, or at the very least, not report him. Maybe he could have helped Dima escape. Maybe he could have seen the police coming and warned him. Maybe if he had used his brain, he’d have told Sanya to let Dima stay at his place and avoided all of this. But, no amount of *maybes is going to change the fact that he’s gone. Dead, maybe, for all they know.

The door clicks shut. He’s alone now. Anya is either at school (Is there school today? What day is it?) or, more likely, at Olya’s right now. She probably won’t be back for some time. Yura will be all by himself until then, getting swallowed up by unnecessary feelings.

… Whatever. He only knew him for a week. He shouldn’t care. His eyes shouldn’t sting at the memory of the guy. It doesn’t matter that Yura wasted so much time and money helping him out. Feeding him, giving him a place to stay, hanging out with him even though he was *such a pain in the ass.. But none of that matters now. Never will matter, because he’s gone.  The only thing that matters is that he- *it, Yura corrects himself - killed a few people in Sergei’s flat.

… Well, not really people. Not ones that matter, anyway. Three or so cops. Blew up their heads, Sanya said, that it looked like that’s what happened. Yura got the feeling she didn’t tell him more than she had to during their phone call. It was clear that she wasn’t pleased with how things turned out. Maybe she was hoping Sergei could help Dima. Let him live with them.  Find some place for him to stay, at least.

Yura can’t find the strength to not blame her for this. The rational side of him argued that she was the *least to blame, actually, she didn’t know this would happen. Most likely, she didn’t even know that Dima’s a mutant. Still. Though the final nail in his (hopefully only metaphorical) coffin was decided by Sergei, *she took Dima to him. She should have known.. but, how could she have? There was no way for her to know.

A frustrated groan escapes the teen. There’s really no need to be thinking that much about him. About *it.

He groans again, frustrated by his inability to call Dmitry what he is. It’s not like he didn’t know the truth all along, either. Again, he internally reprimands himself for getting attached. Sanya isn’t to blame here- no, she’s not the one responsible for all of this. Maybe for getting him reported so quickly, but that was always going to happen, one way or another. Better soon than later, the teen thinks. Before he let that not entirely uncomfortable feeling grow more than it already has.

Before he can ponder this any further, his phone buzzes. With one hand, he rubs his eyes, with the other he picks up his phone.

*We need to talk, a message from none other than Mr Kazarin himself. The tone of the message makes him sound like he wants to break up, Yura thinks to himself. Funny. Maybe it is one. Yura runs a hand through his hair, staring at the message. His stalker times are over before they even started, his only hope at making it in this godforsaken world, all because of that.. *thing. Nothing he can say could fix this.  

Luckily, before he can ruin Sergei’s view of him any further, another message. An invitation, if one can call it that, to meet up at an unimportant location. It’s not like he has much choice in this - so, he sends back an *ok, gets dressed in his unitidy clothes and heads out.

—

something something sergei angst

“You know what this is about.” Sergei proclaims. Yura doesn’t need to reply for him to know he’s right, but he still does, accompanied by a dry chuckle. “‘Course I do. It’s about Dimochka.”

“*Don’t call it that.”

The air is thick with tension. Despite this, Yura nonchalantly holds a cigarette out to him. Like nothing’s happened- like this is just a regular training session. With a sigh, he takes the cigarette, and with one quick motion, he takes out his lighter. Yura is fiddling with his own. 

[touchastar]

@macabrevampire

ah!! that's so sweet ty ;__; sorry for the delay; i hope you're still interested!

long long ramble about the two stories under the cut

apoworld and marsworld are placeholder names for two of my story projects. im not sure exactly what format they'll end up as (going back and forth between marsworld being a point and click game or a podcast tbh) and both of them do need a lot of refinement and writing to be done. marsworld does have a blog for posts that make me think of it and the occasional ramble :) @13blues13moons

i'll start with apoworld since that's the smaller project! and i want to preface this with saying ive come up with this when i was ~16 and long before i knew what h//zbin h//tel was.

its a story about angels, demons, and other things. takes place in midwestern or western america, haven't decided yet. im hoping to make it a series of short, interconnected stories with a couple recurring characters, but nothing has been really set in stone yet.

the main characters is ezra (lucifer's child), apollyon (the angel of death), and the lamb (a 16 year old emo who has decided she wants to become the antichrist.)

apollyon (he/it) is the angel of the pit. ancient, hateful, and tired. takes a LOT of pleasure in terrorizing humans, deeming them all inherently evil and unworthy. it fails to see any beauty or kindness in humanity, and as a result, got cursed by higher powers. im not entirely sure yet what the curse will exactly entail, but its going to be very much unpleasant and only drives apollyon deeper into his hole of hatred.

i want apollyon to be representative of how trauma makes people ugly and hurt and getting better / recovery is incredibly difficult and oftentimes doesn't even feel worth it. but even the worst victim still deserves compassion and love and does have a chance at recovery. you can't do it alone, no matter how much you want to, and you're going to need to rely on other people to support you. as well as a caution towards nihilistic thinking and generalizing humans as inherently evil, which will inevitably make you worse off and fascist in some cases.

ezra (they) is the child of lucifer. they are wildly, recklessly in love with humanity. they've also taken it onto themselves to try and "fix" apollyon after falling madly in love with apollyon - as in both healing apollyon's trauma and breaking the curse. they have the best of intentions, but i fear ezra is a bit too idealistic and immature. basically the (extreme) opposite side of the (extreme) spectrum apollyon lies on.

ezra is still a wip, as im trying to reclaim them from an ex friend who pretty much took the character and ran with them + kinned them. so they aren't as deep and detailed as apollyon yet, but i have made progress in making ezra mine again!

the lamb is a newer character. your standard midwestern emo girl who hates it here and wants to die to make a statement. she got into the occult and decided she's going to become the antichrist. inevitably, being the angel of the pit, it caught apollyons attention. and ezra wasn't too far behind. apollyon and ezra took her from her abusive family and now they kinda roam midwest / western america until i can figure out a cohesive story!

i do have one in the works but ive already typed up so much and i don't want to overwhelm you. they're very special to me and one of my older stories, but doesn't have as much work put into it due to the ex friend i mentioned before.

as for marsworld!!

essentially: marlow "mars" is an engineer for a company that specializes in disease control and research (for profit). daisy is a supercomputer / ai built to assist the company's endeavors. daisy is in love with mars and desires to become human to be with him, and is slowly hoarding bodies and meat and various bits and pieces to build herself a human body.

meanwhile, the company is quite literally playing god.. things go from point a to point b (still working on this aspect), and reality itself slowly starts breaking down and corroding into a gross, disjointed hellscape.

again, this needs a loooot of work and im still trying to figure things out for it, but i love it so so much and think about it always.

tysm for expressing interest :)

They should invent someone who wants to listen to me talk about my ocs (specifically marsworld and apoworld ocs rn)

[biolizardboils]

The Sonic movies have gotten me curious about the game lore, but I’ve never played a sonic game since they aren’t really the type of games I’m normally into gameplay wise so idk

oh thats great!! the struggle is real, ive chosen to learn about lots of games instead of playing them, Sonic and otherwise. luckily for you, there's three great ways to do just that:

Watch cutscene compilations on YouTube! So many people do this that there's lots to choose from nowadays. In some games the characters have important (or at least flavorful) dialogue during gameplay, so if you see it, don’t skip past it. Most of these videos are an hour long, so get some food and make it a movie night!

Read Sonic News Network and Sonic Retro! These are by far the most expansive Sonic resources on the internet. I'd say the former site is more helpful than the latter in terms of Lore, though there's a few exceptions I'll explain further below. Anyway, I suggest starting with SNN's page on the series as a whole, to get a feel of how the games' universe "works". At the bottom, there's a collapsed widget reading "Navigation templates to Sonic the Hedgehog series". The first two lists in there contain nearly every lore-important game: read those in order, and you should be set!

Read the Encyclo-speed-ia! Okay, I only recommend this one if you find the Wiki format distracting and have at least $50 to spare. It’s got some minor lore goofs, but it gives precise, yet detailed summaries of all the plots that require such. I own a copy, but it came out less than six months ago so I won’t be making or sharing a full scan. I can, however, transcribe certain sections and DM them to you if you ask nicely enough

here's some extra tips that I wish I'd known starting out, feel free to ignore them if you’re here for a good time and not a long one:

Almost all the games “happened” in a single timeline that matches their order of release. The few exceptions are Mania (which takes place in the Classic era) and some next-door neighbors that can be swapped around without changing much. No Zelda-style clownery here!

Some games are non-canon for various reasons. These include being alternate takes of canon games (8-bit Sonic 1 and 2), Sega declaring them so and reintroducing its characters later (Knuckles’ Chaotix), being developed by different studios and borrowing from other canons (Spinball, Chronicles). Feel free to skip them... or look into them anyway, because they’re still interesting in their own right!

Like many Japanese franchises this old, the older games were subject to regional rewrites and honest mistranslations. When in doubt, assume the Japanese script or text is the canon one. This comes into play the most in two areas:

The Classic Era Quadrilogy (1, 2, CD, 3 & Knuckles). Since elaborate cutscenes weren’t possible yet, the specifics of these games’ plots were written in their manuals. These were changed for Western audiences, but the Japanese ones can be read in English on Sonic Retro. Click on their titles at the start of this bullet point, then scroll down a bit!

Sonic Adventure 2. This game has possibly the most nuanced script and lore of them all, but it came out when game dubs were still often sub-par. If there’s any one Sonic game to watch subbed, it’s this one. If you go the YouTube route, look up “sonic adventure 2 retranslated cutscenes” and you should be good.

Don’t neglect the handheld and spinoff games! They’re on separate lists in that SNN widget, but more of them are canon than meets the eye! The ones with the most impact are the Advance trilogy, Battle, and the Rush duology in vaguely that order. There’s also the first two Riders games (the third one doesn’t introduce much lore) and the Storybook Series, which are self-contained but beloved studies of Sonic as a character.

In the series' first 15 years, every mainline game’s story was somewhat connected and built meaningfully upon the last. After the low reception of games like Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) and Sonic ‘06, this kind of storytelling was scaled back in Unleashed, then dropped altogether by Colors. The games that have come out since then have been standalone adventures without much lore between them. I’m not saying they’re not worth checking out, I just want to explain what happened since you might notice the change while reading/watching.

this came out way longer than expected oops fghjghjh. best of luck on your pilgrimage!! if you have any other questions, im all ears!! (also anyone else is free to add to this post if i missed something!)

[sugako]

game over

timeskip!kenma x f!reader

sum: kenma gets a little jealous that you're ahead of him in a game and does whatever it takes to mess you up

cw: 18+ minors dni, nsfw, smut, dubcon (you just wanna play ur game) fingering, later implied oral (male receiving), established relationship, petty kenma, gaming

a/n: ive been replaying botw recently and im just imagining kenma dying to darkbeast ganon loll

kenma was busier than he had ever been in his life. it took a lot of time to oversee a business, go to university, and play games. you, on the other hand, only played casually for fun.

it was an accident that you had gotten so far ahead in the new open world adventure game than he had. honestly, you didn't even really know where he was at in the game nor did you think about it. kenma was usually so realistic about himself he didn't get jealous of other players. but for some reason watching you battle against the second to last boss sent him into a petty tizzy.

while you were often the one to initiate most intimate times with him, you had barely looked at him all night. instead you sat, nestled beside him in bed silently clicking away at your device. the soft music and sounds you had turned down low mocked him.

you were oblivious to his feelings. although, it was difficult to not be. he was just tapping on his laptop like usual, answering emails and making plans.

nothing seemed amiss until after he had put the computer away. he shuffled back to the bed and maneuvered around you so your back was resting against his chest. his arms wrapped around your middle as he rested his chin over your shoulder to watch. for a moment, his plans were thwarted by his own attention being moved to the action on the screen.

you sunk back into him, innocently enjoying the comfortable moment. his hands kneaded up and down your torso and you tried to pay it no mind. you had already lost this battle a good handful of times, but you were so close to the finish now you could nearly taste it.

"kenma!" you gasp when he tweaks your nipple under your shirt. but still, your motions don't falter. "in a minute, i'm just so close." you sigh.

"mhmm." he hums in agreement, but his hands keep moving. finally, his fingers are toying with the hem of your sweatpants. "just ignore me."

you're really trying. but those soft touches that graze up and down your skin have already made you lose some of your focus. you're character is getting hit more and more with each passing second.

when his lithe fingers slip against your slowly leaking folds your hand clenches around the device. he presses a soft, little kiss against your clothed shoulder as though he's done nothing. secretly, he's enjoying watching your health bar go down - a sign that he's winning.

a finger slips into you, making your hips buck up, to gather some slick. he agonizingly drags it up to your clit before starting easy circles against it with the pads of his index and middle fingers.

you try to clamp your thighs shut, but it only makes him inadvertently apply more pressure. at this point you know you should just put down the game, but you also really just want to win even if it is a losing battle.

"k-kenma, what are you...?"

"shhh, you should really dodge that." he whispers into your ear. his hand that isn't preoccupied with your throbbing clit is toying with your hardened nipples.

his advice is correct, but your find yourself unable to follow it. the damage you take it almost enough to kill your character. that's not as high up in your mind as how close you were to cumming though.

"close..." you purr out, back arching against him.

"yeah, you are." his eyes are glued to the two hearts you have left.

he glances to where you head is lolled to the side, leaving your neck wide open. seeing his opening, he nuzzles his lips against you and bites down into your delicate flesh.

the buzz between his practiced hands on your body to the sting from his nip is enough to send you over the edge. you come crashing into an orgasm, seeing stars. you clutch the game device against your chest and the sad little tune that you're character has died plays out across the screen.

huffing, you finally make it back from your release just as he links his hands across your waist again. "you did that on purpose," you pout. too tired to carry on, you save and set the device on your bedside table.

"you might have died anyway." he deadpans into your shoulder.

"sure," you scoff as you roll over onto your knees and hover your head just above his hips. his cock is already half hard from all of your squirming, but the look you give him makes him perk up a little more. you snatch your device back off the table and shove it into his hands. "let's see you do it." you hum against him just before you begin to mouth him over the soft fabric.

he's unsure he even wants to play, but with your lovely hands pulling down the band of his boxers how can he say no.

[theblackrivergame]

hi ^^

i found your game yesterday and have been playing the demo, im really liking it so far but i have a few questions.

ive been playing with all the hints and everything on and a few things caught my attention

(i haven't finished the demo yet so maybe some of the questions get answered in the part i haven't read yet. feel free to ignore if thats the case 😅)

1. when you first meet soillere and ask him questions, there's this option that gives +1 to his 'ascension' stat. what is the ascension stat? what does it mean/do?

2. is there a way to check your relationship with the characters? there have been several chances to increase or decrease the relationship and i like keeping check of how everyone feels about the MC, so i was wondering if that is already in the demo or will be added eventually? (or not)

3. what are all the different familiars you can get if you play as Lamerran?

thank you!

Hi, thank you for your message!

Some of these have some spoilers of various levels in their answers, so I'll give a brief explanation first and then go a bit more in-depth under a cut so that people can avoid spoilers if they prefer.

1. each of the characters has a secondary stat that helps govern their behaviour and some of their decision-making. These can be raised or lowered completely separately to their base approval stat, though in some cases things like being cruel to the character might lower a Trust stat as well as their approval, for example.

2. If you click on the link marked "Character" at the bottom of the UI, it will take you to a page where you can view various stats regarding your character; as you progress through the game, your pc will write down some thoughts regarding each of the characters you've encountered. It doesn't open up properly until partway through the chapter, though, so you might need to play a little longer to reach it. Currently this - a text-based summary - will be the only way to really check on your relationships with the characters (other than how they behave towards you in the game at least), as I don't plan to display a numerical measurement of peoples' relationships.

I know some games do that, and some players like it as a system, but I just personally don't feel that it fits very well with the game's mood and tone. Being able to use the hints to see which choices raise and lower certain things should at least give an idea of which direction you're heading in, hopefully.

3. This is an exciting question! I've been hoping someone would ask haha.

The non-spoilery answer is that your soul-familiar is determined at least in part by your faction (which god you choose to follow, or whichever one is randomly selected if you choose to have amnesia). Because lamerran soul-familiars often reflect aspects of their partner's personality, members of each of the four churches almost always have a familiar that reflects the symbolism of their gods.

Your soul-familiar will be determined outright in the next chapter when you select a class (there's a different one each for magic users, ranged fighters and melee fighters), if you don't have amnesia. (It's a Bit more complicated if you do.)

More spoilery answers below here!

Regarding the Ascension stat in specific, it's a stat that all four of the main ghost characters (Soillere, Barthelemy, Bettina and Gervaise) each have, that governs in general how each of them feels about moving on to their next lives to reincarnate. You can raise or lower this stat without any real correlation with approval in most cases (although again something like being cruel isn't likely to make them feel At Peace); it's more closely related to the PC's faith than whether or not they're good friends with the characters in question.

At the start of the game, Soillere, Barthelemy and Bettina's Ascension stats all begin quite low (functional 0), whereas Gervaise's is sort of... middling. Obviously if you're looking to pursue a relationship with any of the three ROs involved, you might want to consider which options you think are best, but the whole thing will obviously become more complex and nuanced as I write more of the game.

As for the soul-familiars, the full list is here:

The Hallowed Heart

magic user: turtle dove

ranged fighter: kangaroo

melee fighter: ram

The Spectral Court

magic user: owl

ranged fighter: wolverine

melee fighter: stag

The Judiciary

magic user: blue kingfisher

ranged fighter: giant river otter

melee fighter: tiger

The Gatherers

magic user: raven

ranged fighter: dog (a Romanian Raven Shepard Dog, to be exact)

melee fighter: black bear

Thank you again for your ask! I hope that all this helped to answer your questions!

[captainkurosolaire]

I challenge you to pick five Tumblrs in your social circle and tell them something you admire about their blog!

Only 5? I could probably do 500. However, that's determined by what's considered my social circle. I'm often in my head being incredibly social continuously is really a challenge of mine. I'm always actively marching to something, my flame of passion when I have it, I can do some crazy stuff but it diminishes relatively quickly, so I try to cling. But I'll up your thing and list 25 of my fave people. Ask me this same thing in a Month, I'll keep doing 25, until I do all the people. How about that? (If anyone wants to be taken off mention let me know.)

@eligos-venator

- Has one of the most intelligent and sophisticated minds, I've had the pleasure to know. Literally admire all his aesthetics, work, head-cannons, ideas. It's only a benefit that the dude shares some OC characteristics to my own (Winning features). I really enjoyed the short-thread we did. It was incomplete, mainly because of my faults. I want to actually be better to give him a proper delivery and RP worth his time, but he's incredibly worth the investment of eyes.

@mischiefandmystics

- If there was a Mount Rushmoore of writers who kept me in this endeavor, encouraged me. Sun'ra is one of them. His characterization skills, writing, the delivery and how believable his character is, they're masterful acts.

@mishivymendi

- I wouldn't be nearly tamed or as creatively freed if it wasn't for this gem. She broke my shell, I really didn't at a time ever see myself being anything really beyond a smut writer, but Mishi not only saw potential in me, but brought it out. Her stories and world's she brings to life are so majestically colorful.

@asymphonyofash

- My go-to. He's another pillar individual who saw things in me past just the obvious perception, (Probably second longest XIV RPer I know.) Taught me a lot of the lore, I shot him up and he's sort of become my stapled rock. He's right aside Sun'ra met them about the same, both took me under their wing's as I quietly observed and absorbed.

@lavender-hemlock

- We're always up and front with each other, never feeling like I couldn't say anything around, extremely rare to share that these days. Her gif's are legendary, something on my own terms I want to soar in quality. The writing she does is astounding. Character has so many mysterious pages that are quite addictive to want to explore and learn them. (Encore 20 below-cut)

@under-the-blood-moonlight - Her sweetness and artwork and overall is just a friendly presence to be around. I cherish them so much. One I can jive with more darker undertones with. She's one the most hardworking and ambitiously creative people. I'd mail them infinite hugs if could. Thanks for being you! @roxinova - I owe a lot of credit to her. She's constantly OOC and everything was nudging me too be more inclusive to things and involved heavenly. It's rare for me. I'm really horrible about that my autism sets me back socially, I constantly will be drowned by the next day and be reverted back to better off alone, that's my major crux and weakness. But her thoughtfulness, these things, aren't ever foreign to me, I do pay attention probably better than any would ever give me credit. She's a beacon model to have as a friend. @corpse-dancer - Haven't ran into many words with them, but her character, screenshot game, expressiveness, they're all a marvel to constantly see, alongside her attitude and bringing life character. I do think if I were better, we would click quite splendidly. They've recently reminded and motivated me to pick-up my daily-practice, or try too. Keep being a rockstar. @fair-fae - Few who wouldn't know who she is in this community. She's been in my opinion a huge core. I'm certain she's inspired many who weren't even RPers too try it by seeing her at the Quicksands or elsewhere, a tyme ago. Making no exception, I was even one of those. I used to be in QS every-single day and was often doing my shameless stuff. Though her presence first did show me there's a lot more. I admire her in all fields. Also appreciate her adopting me to the FC and her always thinking of others and giving events, or her aesthetics and portrayal, its the epitome of swan elegance. @thorcat - One of my most treasured friends. Been RPing with them for a longtime. There's never anything complicated between us or a rift of drama, it's just let's go and have fun. We really mesh well, I've welcomed nearly ever character and got the privilege to RP with nearly all them. They always open up envelope and help me, settle on back and just laugh. Whether used to be waking up to their characters humping my afk one or use randomly having a hardcore banter between Ufah and Captain and capturing them as a voidal pet. Memories with them isn't something I'd ever want to lose. I love ya! Never stop enjoying life for anything. @lukawarrioroflight - I get in the gutter find myself lacking motivation or writing, discouraged even... But I never have felt, I could ever do any wrong with this person, they bring the light out of me. So no matter what, how many hospital-beds I yearly visit, it's because of this rare nature, that I come back, even if they're the only one's ever to read my stuff. I would do it for them alone. @scholarlybreadbun - I've only been back recently and they've so much warmth. Their presence is the sun of inviting. The couple and posing all the shipping that stuff makes me even melt. I'm not particularly talented in regards to posing couples, but I took notice of them along time ago and set on quietly improving. Really like them for them, wouldn't ever want them to change that. Ideally look forward to be in their orbit longer so I can bask in them. @seascrapes - Been mutual with them for a while. Their aesthetics and character is all S+ level. I appreciate throwing back tagged prompts with them, one of many people I really think would be enjoyable to collab with any other seafarers. The artwork and pieces of Tal Brook, are breathtaking as ever exceptionally too, not to mention. Love your stuff matey, you're a king. @mai-takeda - Is a myth. Her absolutely sheer friendliness and her attitude, are so positive influencing, I was so thrilled to be welcomed with her and boosted by them early on. I couldn't see myself, wanting to exist where they didn't have happiness like the same she always delivers by just doing so many soft-things. Not to mention her writing... She's a whole world to throw yourself gazes

under. @zhauric - It doesn't go far either without the same breath of Mai, I could say about Zhauric. He's someone worthy to look-up and also recognize they're passionate and inviting, hoisting up literally everything. Could easily find any of their characters comrades with my own, or jiving alongside. Not to mention last XIVWrite, they slaughtered it. So enjoyable to read them all. I like how organized their blog is too, motivated me recently to redux my entire thing. @cadrenebula - They have so many diverse characters and their entire roster is vibrant and is imbued with a massive flux of life. They are able to encapsulate so many character's voices and portray them so effectively too, I really admire that greatly. They've made me think bigger and try myself recently at actually undertaking a huge roster of characters too. I've taken many breaks, but I always am so graciously returned often with them close-by and that's so incredibly sacred. I've seen a lot of people get discouraged or quit, leave, departure, etc. But they always seem to have a bigger house then they had last I took a break and I enjoy peaking in. @silvernsteel - Her artist and gif-work are awe-aspiring, there's little unrecognizable by her photo-sets and edits. They helped me even tip-toe into uncharted with giving me the recipes to try incorporating gifs into my arsenal. Plus so delightfully pleasant to actually talk with and just chill. I want nothing less in life, than the beauty they give, to be returned to them for eternity in all their glorious air. If ever needed anything of me, they've got me. @spotofmummery - We talk about passion or friendliness or overall a person to even remotely try to be, I got to include them. Their web-series and writing, screen-work, everything they do is fantastic. And that's furthered back nearly any I've met showcase or immortalize how just genuine of stellar person they are. I wish them always the energy to create and sparks. @snow-covered-moon - They've never been anything less but absolutely a diamond to know. I enjoy their character, their almost always abundant of energy that's very rub inducing. Their WoL character stories, writing, screen-shots, everyday they open up a new pandora box of joy, there's no mistaken love behind their character and that's infectiously easy to also enjoy something when the author does too. Always healthy to be around, I never feel short of vitality when they're close-by. @letheofthelost - Always cheerful or least encapsulates with me, they're a carnival ride. Just pure epic story-telling and engaging equally as passionate, constantly writing characters, not looking for anything outside of RP or anything really just being their selves, they fade all others. I love their presence, them as a person. Enjoy any character they'll ever come and throw under me, or a change of pace. Always feels easily understandable between one another. @crow-iv - Together we're an unfiltered, unstoppable wake of pure passionate writers and art. But I would say they're far ahead of me, in every regard. Already able to portray multiple characters in a scene and do such in-depth thinking, alongside even sketch or draw right afterwards or a scene. They're so talented, huge reason I set-out on giving them a Crew of cast and actual stories to-tell when I'm actually caught up and if they interested and we both have the room, I really think if further myself, I can be better and supply more for them to draw and I want to see them soar. I want to give them all my improvements and effectiveness. @trishelle - They've such a reinforcing personality and aura around them that easily bolsters anything that dares thinking they're about to be depleted so energizing. Aesthetics, characters, all them are so lively that further compliment their own mun's great welcoming presence. Worth hundreds of smiles and stars, keep high. Wish I had more time to dedicate to learning you! But I do notice and appreciate you. @fracturedfantasia - One of my people, I like to retreat and just talk my full

head-cannons with or learn, share insightful and inquisitive thoughts about philosophies and multi-culture things. Or plotting and in-general, they're a well of information and brimming ideas, they are every making of what makes a quality friend. When you can generally be open-about-all that's a real one right there. Their characters and tarot readings, I always would implore if they're offering. Thanks for giving me any-time. You're truly a treasure. @violet-warder - Never have even came to words with them yet unfortunately but didn't mean as a mutual, I haven't admired all their screenies, writing, or the aesthetics they bring of their character. Glamours is real end-game, I like all what you've done and put together. I care strictly about what represent and give, I don't want to see them ever think anyone want's them gone, they are abundantly so talented and possess things only they can deliver. I think recently came back too, and I'm glad to share, hopefully, overtime I can build you better up. Or eventually even talk, but I'm certain you are a busy-body person too, so we're relatable. @layla-grey - I have a lot of underline issues that set me back as a flawed person, but I've never not been anything but someone who's open, it's why I always do include my f-list in anything or etc. I'm not here to present this facade, and really don't care to be an image crafted by another. No one as of recently or now, am I close with as an RP partner or friend with then this stunning masterpiece. I never let-up on story-telling or anything so I can eventually use my Crew or other Characters, to give them anytime a master entertaining day, they push me to not be short-changed. IC and OOC I would devote my full attention too cause they've never shed from me. Didn't ever matter how much silence or anything, they're always around. And don't expect anything out of me or pressure. Just accept me and I equally share that sentiment, I want you to have everything in this world has to offer. ----- This is just a fraction of people, I've paid attention, noticed or know. I've been around in this Community for many years. There's a lot of things I could say about it, more probably then anyone else. But what matters to me, is recognizing the people who are here, that work hard, build others up, support, constantly are a beam. I don't need to interact with everyone, to know when someone is generally out for good. Or they're out for bad I've learned inquisitiveness longtime ago, I had to survive and remain afloat. I just go out and be me, and along the way, I get to find people like these, who help bring out the best me. I am nothing without these people, creators, writers, artist. I'm a terrible friend, horrible person, I don't have the energy to interact NEARLY with as much as I'd like with you all, If I could clone myself, or if things were different, I would drop it all to be in your orbits more if could. But, do know I appreciate you. And even if you ever do depart from this whole community or anything, know that anything you share, or give, that stuff does matter, somewhere, someone was aspired, if nothing else, by me. ONLY you can give the worlds you see and I am thankful. Do love yourself.