#the fact that you are railroaded into decisions…

[discard-celestia]

USE MOUTHWASH / DO NOTHING

[mwolf0epsilon]

I got bored waiting for my brother's therapy session to end, so here's a vague description of every TTTE Movie premise in order of release:

Thomas and the Magic Railroad - Sugar, Spice and a lot of Crack Cocaine gives us the most whimsical nonsensical Thomas adjacent adventure.

Calling All Engines - Love thy neighbours, or suffer the most horrific existential nightmares ever (no seriously).

The Great Discovery - Thomas gets ostracised because he's a jealous self-saboutaging little shit, and other repeating little blue tank engine motifs.

Hero of the Rails - In which yet another engine puts into question the existing timeline, oh and Spencer hates old people for petty reasons...

Misty Island Rescue - Thomas does not, in fact, make good decisions.

Day of the Diesels - Neglect causes needless problems for everyone involved, especially if they're not the fat controller...

Blue Mountain Mystery - Communication is key to problem resolution, but hiding in a cave for several years is much easier I guess!

King of the Railway - Old man spotted! Very exciting news for the Old Man Appreciation Brigade!

Tale of the Brave - James woke up and chose violence, and it becomes everyone else's problem. Also something about fossils or whatever...

The Adventure Begins - What if we re-did the entire first season, changed a few things, and made it a nicely animated movie? 10/10.

Legend of the Lost Treasure - No one ever taught Thomas about Stranger Danger, also his jealous self-saboutaging ways get him in trouble yet again.

The Great Race - Thomas nearly causes an international scandal because of one-sided beef, also Gordon almost dies. The Flying Scotsman is in this one tho, so all good!

Journey Beyond Sodor - James chose violence 2, electric boogaloo. Oh and can someone teach Thomas about Stranger Danger already? Next thing you know he'll follow some race car on an ill-conceived trip around the wor--

Big World Big Adventure - Australian Lightning McQueen breaks several traffic laws, Thomas's crew is probably wanted internationally for crossing borders without papers, and a homeless tank engine from Kenya decides a British island is the perfect place to move to...

[unveiling-unguarding]

Veilguard pulls so many punches, but perhaps the worst punch to pull is not allowing the player to properly contend with the fact that Rook, for all their good intentions, unleashed a double blight on Thedas. There are what, maybe two or three dialogue options in the entire game you can choose for Rook expressing any emotion about it? And each of them is glossed over faster than it takes for the VA to even deliver the lines.

It's especially egregious given that they're so very clearly trying to create parallels between Rook and Solas. But for what? All of the conversations have been written without taking into account anything the player might be interested in exploring further. Your options are so railroaded they might as well not exist. It's always in a rush to get to the next moment.

I can't help but compare this to how regret and trauma are treated in KotOR II. Now, granted there's a big difference there, with kotor being years after the fact and veilguard being in the midst of it all (not that the plot structure or companion quests ever really give you that impression). But in KotOR II you are given multiple opportunities to rebuke or justify the Jedi Exile's actions that led to the near destruction of the Mandalorians and the Jedi and even the Republic as well. Cataclysmic consequences for actions your character felt were necessary to save the world. And the entire game is about you either succumbing or moving past the regrets and trauma that resulted by perpetrating more selfish harm or helping communities heal.

Like, you can't just state that regret is a theme in the game and give the player no meaningful ways to reckon (or not) with regret over their character's actions. You can't assert there's a theme there you didn't bother to actually write. I'm certain they absolutely had it in mind as a theme when writing, but you as the player do not interact meaningfully with it until the Big Emotional Set Piece about Regret™. Until that point it's kind of like a light sprinkling of seasoning on the bland companion characterizations.

It's so frustrating to think back on this game, to try to meet it halfway, only for all the creative decisions to shrink away before you've even started to pry into it.

[utilitycaster]

Following on the last answer you gave about Laura/Ashley.

What I'm stuck on is that this fear of making a mistake is not a new thing? They've been like this for all of this campaign, note Ashley not wanting to take the shard, Laura's constant fear of letting Imogen's mom stay on the moon, etc. And to a degree, I get it! Exandria is a pretty expensive and important source material - there's an Amazon series!!! - and it's scary to make any huge decisions in it. Additionally, I understand the feeling that there's something specific that the DM wants and you're just not getting it. But I keep wondering, how hard is it for Matt to sit them down and be like. Fuck around man, it's fine! (Or even the opposite! Give them some railroads, they're all over the place!) You know? It just feels to me that Matt can solve so many of these problems outside the stream with a quick convo and I'm so confused why that's not happening.

(I didn't watch this episode completely because the discussion at the end was giving me a very bad case of secondhand embarrassment due to how stupid it was. So if this happened and I missed it, feel free to ignore this.)

Yeah that is where I am at, and this is the MOST speculative I will get to the point that I'm making it nonrebloggable but my personal guess is that like. I watched a LOT of interviews at the start of C2, as a new viewer who was looking for more stuff (which...ultimately just resulted in a C1 binge) and the cast was at the time very cognizant of wanting to prove C1 wasn't a fluke and that they could tell another great story in the world with new characters. But they also prepped EXTENSIVELY for it; and also, in this case, I think a lot of the world was in a somewhat more nebulous state (ie, I think Matt probably had the concept of an ancient archmage plotting to release a god-eater possibly that far back...but I think Liam's concept for Caleb very much influenced the nature of the Assembly and gave Matt a place to put proto-Ludinus).

I think that with two campaigns under their belt, I don't want to say they rested on their laurels, because as I've said repeatedly the caliber of the vast majority of other things they've put out has remained high. But I think that because Campaigns 1 and 2 came together so well Matt might not have realized that Campaign 3, and his fairly specific intended plot, required more work and different work. Like, it required the level of planning and railroading you see for dimension 20 seasons. Campaign 2 could meander and focus on characters because the main goal it needed to achieve in a presumably 3 campaign story was worldbuilding, and I wonder if the fact that it diverged almost entirely from Matt's vision and still came out great obfuscated the fact that this wouldn't work for C3. Campaign 3 really needed to have realized and invested characters right out the gate with knowledge of the world. Like, I think it could have been solved with a conversation but I also think that there's been some sufficient "wtf" choices (bringing in Abu as the Arch Heart without any specific guidelines is one that comes to mind) that I wonder if the cast has entirely internalized how much this doesn't cohere narratively. And also, to be fair, I've played in D&D campaigns that didn't have a great plot or really any at all but I was having enough fun hanging out with my friends that I didn't really care, and since we weren't being filmed it didn't matter. It's a lot easier to see this stuff from the outside, is my thought. I don't think it's hard in terms of time and effort, but also, I know I kept thinking "oh HERE'S the course correction, finally!" pretty much up until the last ten or so episodes. I wouldn't be surprised if he kept thinking "surely this will pull together."

[sinisterexaggerator]

I finally beat Fallout 4!

I sided with the Railroad and destroyed both the Institute and the Brotherhood, basing my decision on the fact that:

A) The Brotherhood fucked with my Ghoul husband and made fun of him.

B) The Institute threw my darling Synth boyfriend out with the trash and hurt his feelings.

You fuck with my men, you gotta answer to me (sole)!

[glitter-stained]

I know you probably aren't familiar with the character, but thinking about DC and mental health and John Constantine.

Hellblazer comics lead, magician, con man, seriously messed up life.

I'm pretty sure he's the only (semi) heroic DC character who is explicitly shown with the 'ugly' kind of mental illness, and has spent time in a mental hospital as a patient.

Constantine's backstory involves an exorcism attempt by teenaged Constantine and friends horribly backfiring. What regular people see is Constantine stumbling out of a house full of corpses, holding a little girl's severed arm and babbling frantically about demons and hell.

Obviously he gets railroaded as responsible for all the deaths, and ends up in Ravenscar hospital - basically Arkham in UK, only more tough to escape from.

There's a lot of scenes where he is treated horribly - beaten up by guards, the doctors ignoring his injuries, unnecessary drugging, all that. Everyone feels he deserves it, because as far as they know, he murdered half a dozen people, including a five year old.

Even Constantine, talking in retrospect, feels he deserved all that - though in his case it's because he made a horribly wrong decision while sane, and caused the kid to be dragged to hell.

The actual diagnosis is never stated, but he is clinically insane for at least a while - apparently as the result of the mindbreaking trauma that happened during the botched exorcism.

There's a couple of incidents where he's basically dragged out of the hospital (usually by bad guys) to deal with some magical crisis or the other, all the while protesting that he is not okay, that he needs the meds, needs the hospital.

And when he is released from the hospital to an outpatient program basically for cost cutting than because he was better, he is shown begging to be let back in. A lot of his issues stem from not getting the help when it was needed - and that, given his power, lead to worse decisions and spirals.

There's a lot of fics which have Constantine involved with the Batfamily. Haven't seen one go into the premise, but the potential... His attitude towards Arkham or the Rogues... Towards how mentally ill dangerous criminals are treated, given he himself was in the role of the mentally ill dangerous criminal once...

I am in fact familiar with Constantine's character, rest assured his ass is sitting patiently in my waiting room for when I'm finished with Jason, Cass and probably Mia. Yeah, the waiting room's a little bit crowded btw, we're not taking any admissions for the moment.

[waitmyturtles]

Hot Take: Be On Cloud and Sammon out GMMTV-ed GMMTV with that lame-ass 4 Minutes finale

(TW: Ummm, this ended up being a rant, so don't read this if you enjoyed that finale.)

WOW.

This is not the central thesis of this post at all, but I need to get this off my chest, FIRST OF AWL: GET AN ORIGINAL OST. WOW.

LIKE, ACTUALLY, I want to not get into this, but I actually need to talk about this for a second. ICONIC OSTs like, SAY, "Why Don't You Stay" or "Just Friend" (OR THE DARK BLUE KISS THEME SONG, THE BEST ONE) are meant to invoke THE SHOW FROM WHICH THAT SONG HAILS, AND THE FEELINGS THAT THAT PARTICULAR SHOW MADE ONE FEEL. WHAT THE FUCK WAS 4 MINUTES THINKING?! THIS SHOW WAS NOT KINNPORSCHE. NOT AT ALL. I FELT NO KP FROM 4 MINUTES. I hope Jeff Satur sues BOC for copyright infringement. ANYWAY.

I mean, this is gonna be messy, but in yet another case of shippy roooooomance, a kind of rooooomance that's supposed to leave us feeling like the central couple is worth redeeming against both the obstacles that the story gives them, AND/OR a weak script as well (I wrote about this recently during a rewatch of The Eclipse), I mean, BOC and Sammon just threw an otherwise really amazing storyline to the dogs.

We were supposed to get a lot of moral and ethical loops closed here. I would have been okay with a Ton Kla redemption! I would have been okay with Korn living the rest of his life in pain and suffering for neglecting Ton Kla! Instead, they're both "redeemed" by their own deaths?! I get Win being upset, but Win, you knew who you were sleeping with! Come awn!

AND. I'm supposed to believe that Great is worth redemption because he threw a corrupt government minister under the bus and prevented his parents from coming back to Thailand, while we see him walking away from a woman having a heart attack???? Like, THAT'S NOT GOOD!!!! He's had a messy life, but he's not necessarily a good person, folks!!! HELLO!!! "He's a good person?!" TYME?? Like, Great's hot, BUT LIKE, DON'T BE LIKE THAT, TYME, GURL, ACTUALLY LOOK THRU AT WHO YOU'RE DATING.

ALSO, TYME, HIPPOCRATIC OATH, DUDE. I KNOW YOU WANT THAT GUY DEAD, AND HE DESERVES BAD THINGS, BUT YOU CAN'T MAIM HIM PURPOSELY, HOMEY, YOU'RE ABOUT TO BECOME A PROFESSOR.

And LIKE, WHAT THE FUCK, putting a whole new story point about Warit's kidnapping from some dude named Wanchai who we don't even know, and finding out that Warit is a general?!?! It was JUST CONFUSING.

Also, Den dating a patient. I know medical ethics are probably different in Thailand, but they cannot be THAT DIFFERENT, friends, they can't (right? right?).

And. Finally. TYME GOT SHOT MULTIPLE TIMES IN THE CHEST AREA. He survived after two months of recovery?! HE SURVIVED POINT-BLANK SHOOTING?!?!?!??!?!?! AND GREAT SURVIVED HIS POINT-BLANK SHOOTING, TOO?!?!?!?!

LISTEN. LISTEN. I get that BOC wants GreatTyme together. JesBible are a good pair. It's fine Great and Tyme are together. It's nice.

But there was an ACTUAL storyline, told WONDERFULLY for seven episodes, that had these characters in moral and ethical chokeholds that could have received different and very much more appropriate endings. This is fiction, of course, but the moral and ethical prisons these characters were in were very real-to-life by way of what humans value, and how you balance those values against the real-time decisions that humans need to make for themselves and their families.

Instead, BOC took the wild GMMTV playbook of late (The Eclipse, 23.5, Only Friends, Wandee Goodday, even Last Twilight and My Precious) and just railroaded ethical explorations for, my GAWD, guitars and boats. GUITARS AND BOATS! If either Great or Tyme had died, how would the story have expressed regret, uncommunicated feelings, unsolved mysteries?

The ending sucked the mystery out of this series, and frankly, made light of the fact that we were not in a Series Y for seven-eighths of a runtime, only to truly suck us back into Y territory -- real, sugary, cheesy Y territory, GUITARS, THE KP OST OMG -- that just clashed with the tonality of what was shaping up to be a great queer crime murder mystery show. GMMTV already does this. BOC did not need to go there.

Funny that some of us are watching Kidnap now, and commenting (I'm stealing @shortpplfedup's words here) that Kidnap is not a crime BL, but a crime BL. Kidnap knows what it is: it is shaping up to be a fun, unserious Y series that's centered around two himbos not really understanding the consequences of their decisions, and being googly while doing it. It seems to be taking its unseriousness seriously. Good on GMMTV for taking initiative there.

4 Minutes? 4 Minutes needs moral closure, not sappy romance. I could have used a hint that we were gonna get punked earlier. I wouldn't have taken this show as seriously as I did if I had known otherwise.

[eluminium]

WOOO! WE MADE IT LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND EVERYONE IN BETWEEN AND OUTSIDE! SKIZZ WEEK 2 DAY 7!!! YIPPIE! Can't believe I managed to actually get all the days! Crazy ngl. As your reward, and mine, have some Imp and Skizz being silly and dancing with each other. Is it platonic or romantic? Eh, that's up to your interpretation.

AS ALWAYS BUT DIFFERENT, thank you to @skizzlemanweek for organizing this round of Skizz Week! It was really fun to do! You better go to their blog and look at the other Skizz Week 2 creations when you're done here!

Prompt 7: Free day!

It's not often Skizz finds himself in an environment like this. Specifically, he hasn't been at an off-server party in lord knows how long. He got most of his partying out of his system by the time he was 25, if not even earlier. So excuse him if he's a bit rusty, he's doing his best. His best being standing on the sidelines with a glass of overly fancy strong cider in his hand and watching the whippersnappers have fun on the dance floor. The noise of people having fun and partying is music to his ears, if a bit loud. Above him, beautiful light shows play out in the dark sky to the beat of the generic but still bopping music discs the DJ is playing. The massive and beautifully decorated Decision Dome stands proudly in the background.

He's honestly grateful that they're outside, not just because of the beautiful view but because it keeps the temperature comfortable. Back in his day, they used to party in whatever run-down shack they could find, and those turned into SAUNAS by the end. And they were TIGHT too, which sucked for a guy like him, with his clumsily large wing span. Said wings puff up at the memory and he makes sure to stretch them out just to bask in the fact that he has enough personal space to do that without knocking someone flat on their ass! It may not be fully fair to compare those parties to this one though, considering this isn't just some random party. This is the afterparty of one of the biggest events in the multiverse. MCC. Of course, it would be a bit fancier!

Skizz brings the glass to his lips and takes a tasteful sip. The refreshing taste of pear hits his tastebuds gracefully, hiding the mild but fulfilling taste of popped chorus fruit. The alcohol leaves its familiar burn as he swallows, his eyes wandering back to the dance floor. It's like a little rainbow in there, everyone's color-coordinated outfits blending together into a light show of its own. Various wings, tails, ears, horns, antlers, and other distinguishing features stick out of the crowd, clearly enjoying the opportunity to stretch out as much as Skizz. He can't help but smile, a sappy happiness rising in his chest at the sight. Although that may be the alcohol making him soft.

"Hey man, you thinkin' about something nice?"

Skizz looks to his side and meets a pair of kind chocolate brown eyes and a teasing grin. "Nah, not really Dipple Dop. Just enjoying the moment," he responds, patting the spot next to him. Impulse takes the hint and sits down next to him, a fresh new drink in his clawed grip. His second that night, surprisingly.

"Where's Top? Did he decide to head home with Etho?" Skizz asks when he notices a lack of firey hair anywhere nearby. Impulse takes a sip of his drink before he answers.

"No, he's still here. He got caught in a conversation with Cub about Railroad Rush. They're in the Dome, by the bar, if you're wondering."

"Aha, I see," Skizz responds with a nod. A little bit of pride hits him at the information. Usually, Tango avoids busy social events like the plague. It's nice to hear that he decided to stay a bit longer! As for Etho, there's no convincing him. He dipped as soon as it was socially acceptable. Mysterious as always, although maybe it's because many of the players here are Etho fans. Sounds like his worst nightmare to be stuck in a conversation with people who admire him and are probably drunk. Maybe he should consider not being as awesome then, but Skizz digresses.

Suddenly, a very familiar sound reaches his ears. Specifically, a song. He can't help but snort.

"Oh my god." Impulse says with a surprised and slightly flustered laugh as he also realizes what song they're playing.

It's an oldie, but a goodie. A tune from when they were but naive teenagers. But it's not the song itself that tickles Skizz's funnybone. It's the fact that, with this song, comes a specific dance that was all the rage back then. A partner dance. If you wanted a girlfriend, or a boyfriend back then, this was what you practiced to perfection before you took them to the club.

Oh, he remembers it like it was yesterday! How a soft-faced Impulse timidly approached him and asked him to be his practice dummy for the dance because he wasn't satisfied with just practicing it in front of a mirror and he really wanted to impress this one girl. And of course, a younger Skizz helped him out, after laughing at him for a minute for being such a cheesy romantic. He remembers every attempt, every re-try, and that's impressive because there were a LOT of them. Bless his best friend and his need for perfection.

Skizz meets Impulse's gaze again, and it's clear that he also had the exact same flashback. Skizz can't help but giggle, a giggle that turns into a full-blown laugh as Impulse covers his face with his hand.

"I'm never escaping this! It haunts me!" He exclaims as he takes a deep swig from his drink like a depressed alcoholic detective in a mystery movie.

Skizz has to wipe a tear from his eye with how hard he's laughing. "Come on, dude! You got SO good at it! You were great!"

Impulse gives him a playful glare. "Oh yeah, I got SO good at it, huh?" He shoots back, his voice dripping with salty sarcasm, which causes another bout of cackling from Skizz.

"It's not your fault she was a lesbian! If she wasn't I'm sure you would have had her smitten with your dance skills!" He knows he's rubbing salt in a decades-old closed-up wound but in his defense, it's funny.

Impulse struggles to hold his faux seriousness in the face of a torrent of Skizzleman laughing. "God, I still can't believe I didn't know! I was so in love yet I couldn't figure out something so obvious!" He says with a barely repressed snort.

Skizz's laughing eventually dies back down into giggling. "Come on, you were both still cool with each other after that! No harm, no foul."

"Yeah, except my dignity," Impuse quips in an overly whiney and weepy tone.

Skizz rolls his eyes fondly. "Shut up, man!" He fires back. They both giggle and Skizz takes a gulp of his cider. A comfortable silence settles between them as they both look back to the dance floor. Multiple people have paired up with each other for the song. Others have created some sort of three-people version of the dance. One is even a group of five! Makes sense that the dance has evolved to be more casual as the years have gone by. Now not just couples and potential couples get to enjoy it, but friends too!

However, there is one difference Skizz spots that he's less than impressed by.

"Wow, they kinda suck at this." Impulse dryly comments before Skizz can even say anything. He can't help but laugh at Impulse's uncharacteristically sharp observation. The booze is getting to him for sure.

"What, you think us old farts can do it better?" He pokes back with a raised eyebrow.

Impulse splutters a bit, borderline offended at the mere suggestion. "Yeah, obviously! They don't even know where their feet are!"

Skizz is content to laugh it off at this point. The song is basically over by now, so it's not like they'll get a chance to prove-

The sudden cries of "ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!" force him to reevaluate. Well, that changes things quite drastically!

"You wanna go put your money where your mouth is, Dipple Dop?" He jokingly says, pretty sure he's gonna need more than just that if he wants to convince Impulse of anything. He has to swallow his prejudice when he meets Impulse's gaze one more time. His best friend's face is flushed from the alcohol, and his eyes are a bit glazed over. But even more terrifyingly, he can see that familiar glint of competitiveness in his eyes as well. And if Skizz is honest with himself, he can feel the buzz of his own drink clouding his brain. He's ready to make some questionable decisions.

Impulse doesn't even respond, he simply slams the rest of his drink, places the glass down, and starts walking towards the dance floor, tail whipping back and forth. Skizz quickly slams his own and follows him.

They get there just in time for the encore to start. Impulse lunges to grab Skizz's hands in time so they don't miss the rhythm. Skizz raises an amused eyebrow at his best friend's antics, and he gets an unimpressed look in return. Impulse's slightly scaled hands rub up against Skizz's scarred ones, but it's a feeling Skizz is extremely familiar with. It's like two puzzle pieces fitting together. Then the melody starts, and it's off to the races.

Skizz can't lie and say he isn't impressed by both himself and Impulse's ability to remember the motions. Moving around each other almost feels subconscious, each sway to the left and right perfectly timed. At first, they're both looking down at their feet to make sure they aren't stomping on something important, but they quickly realize they don't need to. Their gazes slowly connect instead, and a dumb goofy smile graces Impulse's face. Skizz feels himself responding with just as stupid of an expression, but he can't help it. It's like he's back in that memory again, except without any teenage awkwardness.

One step left, two steps right, twirl back around, two hands connected reaching for the stars above. It's silly, really. Two middle-aged men dancing in a crowd where the max age is early thirties, to an old love song, with a dance originally meant for wooing potential partners, after competing in the biggest competitive event in the multiverse. But Skizz never cared about useless details like that. He's having fun with his best friend, m'kay? And they're smoking the competition at the same time!

Skizz eventually gets lost in the motions, lost in orbiting around his other half in long-ago practiced steps. For all he cares, the only things that exist to him right now are Impulse, the music, and the ground they're standing on. His best friend's familiar marrone eyes keep his blue ones locked, and the few times their bodies graze each other in the dance it causes a certain softness in Skizz's heart to spike. Impulse's hand in his is solid, but the hold is gentle, casual, despite the energy in their motions. But eventually, the song starts winding down, each step taking them closer to the end. As the singer lets out the final words, and the instruments their final notes, their right hands detach and fly out behind them. At the same time, both their right feet take a step backward. They strike the final pose perfectly.

The song ends, and the new one that plays plunges Skizz right back into reality. Oh my god, he doesn't remember being this tired afterward! He lets go of Impulse's hand to place both his hands on his knees so he can try and regain his breath. Impulse seemingly has the same idea, but he also has the brain cells to grab Skizz by the shoulder and lead them out of the crowd and off the dance floor. They both crash on a nearby bench.

"I am so sweaty dude, holy moly" Impulse exclaims as he wipes his forehead.

"That was fun though, man!" Skizz responds between his huffing. Impulse gives him an acknowledging noise, but not much more.

Suddenly, someone is applauding.

"Wow, didn't know you guys could dance like that!"

Skizz looks up to see Jojo.

"Thanks, Junior Shabado," He says with a kind smile. "What he said," Impulse adds on.

"Maybe next time we have a training session, you could teach me!" She adds on, a slight slur to her words. Skizz has to fight for his life to not start laughing.

"Yeah, I'm sure Impulse would love to pass down the tradition!"

The unexplainable noise that Impulse emits at his suggestion will fuel him for the decades to come.

(What he'll also be fueled by was that someone managed to record them dancing and posted it online. Sober Impulse's flustered but still proud reaction was nothing short of glorious. Because yes, as the comments on the clip point out many times, they really did SLAY the competition.)

[kogratorm]

QSMP's Candidates Statements (Translated)

From QuackityToo June 19th Stream.

DISCLAIMER: My native language is Brazilian Portuguese, not Spanish nor English. Due to that and the differences in language expression, I made some changes/paraphrases while translating to accommodate the context, but the overall understanding remains 98% loyal to each candidate’s speech.

BadBoyHalo

BBH proposes that he is the only person capable of carrying out the necessary decisions that the president of Quesadilla Island must take. He believes he is the only one who has the courage to make the difficult decisions necessary to keep the island safe and sound for the residents and prevent a dictator from taking power, all while protecting the eggs.

Foolish

Foolish is excited about the opportunity that the island has provided. He says he wants to enjoy and make the most of the situation because it's not every day that you end up on a crazy island with a diverse population speaking a variety of languages. Some people would prefer to get out of here [Quesadilla] as soon as possible, but he wants to make friends with everyone and enjoy everything the island has to offer.

Etoiles

Etoiles stated that he is charismatic, generous, and that the only negativity he carries is for himself and never for others. Etoiles sets out to explore the island in order to better understand the environment of where they are; he will visit as many dungeons as he needs to get a better understanding of the island.

Baghera

Baghera stated that she has her head screwed on the right way and wishes only the best for the islanders. She values communication and maintains positive relationships with everyone. Baghera believes she is capable of dealing with any fervor or rash situations that may arise. Quesadilla Island is where she was introduced to motherhood, and as a result, she has a specific goal. The place that gave her family and friends is one she must protect at all costs.

Felps

Felps work(ed) as a shipping officer, bus driver, artist, and gardener. What he wants to do is make everyone happy by giving more rights to eggs, noodles, and pasta.

Forever

Forever stated that he is one of the most active players on the island, and as such, he will always be there to protect the people's interests. As a professional Minecraft player, he has many ideas for community projects. Forever describes Richarlyson as one of the happiest things that has happened to him, as well as meeting all of the island's inhabitants (despite the fact that the French make a lot of noise at the egg hotel), given how everyone is very friendly and entertaining.

Mike

Mike promised to restore order to Quesadilla Island, his favorite aspect of the island being the islanders themselves. He would forbid the use of waystones, which would improve the island's dynamics by forcing players to build paths between their bases, allowing them to finally implement a railroad train system.

Cellbit

Cellbit has had prior work experience as a tribute (HG), murderer, prisoner, and detective. He claimed to be Roier's husband, capable of making eloquent arguments and pose intricate inquiries in various scenarios and circumstances. In summary, he believes he is a good president for the Island's future, both for introducing new creative ideas and new narratives to other content creators, as well as for protecting the eggs. His husband, son, and friends are his most valuable things on the island.

Gegg

I swear this isn’t bad translated; it is literally what has been said.

Gegg said he's a businessman, going door to door Gegging. He's a Geggwar criminal. He is an influencer of the family lifestyle. Gegg changes the world. What Gegg likes most about Quesadilla Island is the humidity, the damp places and caves. Gegg promises you freedom. Gegg promises the truth. Gegg promises you power. Gegg promises the abolition of all government rules, taxes and any existing laws. The government establishment holds us, so Gegg will release us. Just one geggrule: believe in Gegg, because Gegg believes in you.

El Quackity

His speech is about his character as well as the election scenario (from the perspective of a Content Creator, not a character). I decided to put it all together because it was somewhat scrambled and also because it was an important reminder for the community.

According to ElQuackity, there is a lack of organization and order. He believes that in the ideal scenario, this can be resolved. He believes that his candidacy in this work and position is critical, and that it will be the best possible. One thing to be clear about it: during his campaign, he will do whatever it takes to ensure that the people have a good president. Thus, he reminds and states that this election event isn’t predetermined, scripted, or planned, and there is no pre-written ending. Elections will be decided by the votes of creators, the efforts of creators, and the votes of the community. He warns that if If he decides to kill a candidate or an egg because it suits his political campaign, he will do so. And, if another candidate decides to kill him for their own benefit, it will be done. No one (except the creators) can say anything to encourage another narrative. We, as a community, need to understand that none of the creators will truly hate each other if one decides to attack the other or kill the other for their own campaign benefit. He encourages the community to support their favorite candidate, but if a creator decides to do something bad to another creator within the game at any time, those who send hate towards creators for actions taken by players in game will be rightfully banned and restricted from all QSMP chat streams. It is, after all, a game. It's a block game. The decisions made within the game will be made by the creators themselves. If the creators ever have a disagreement, it will be solved in private DMs. And nothing bad will ever happen because all the QSMP members are adults who understand that this is all for entertainment purposes. The QSMP Elections ARE for entertainment purposes ONLY.

[capcollector]

so, you feel the Railroad would stick around after the Institute? I don't usually choose them so I don't know their faction as well as the MM, but they seem like they have a really specific goal that no longer exists after the Institute has stopped creating and keeping synths, so in my canon they kind of fizzle out or all split to go towards different (still important) goals. maybe some sort of outreach/advocacy group? what's your take?

well there’s definitely still a lot of scattered synths in the wake of the institute’s demise, and there’s still the looming threat of the brotherhood as well. and the BoS is 100% targeting them next bc they view them as ppl taking technology into their own hands. in fact i think the whole battle that eventually unfolds in my canon picks up so rapidly bc the brotherhood begins targeting/picking off railroad members.

i don’t really see them as short-sighted bc if you listen to what they say/read their terminals it’s pretty clear that while some of them are still working through their own issues, they have a lot they’re dealing with, all while being short-staffed/having few resources. one of deacon’s recurring lines is “the commonwealth can be the enemy just as much as the institute.” having their specific goals and ideals is just part of being a working organization. the way i see it is 1) they’re still working towards something no one else is bothering to do, 2) are already willing to help other ppl (just having very little resources and having to keep things narrow for the time) and would focus on expanding more as time goes on, and 3) have a very specific way of working already that makes for much better work involving something like espionage. can do much more covert work than i think the minutemen can do (on the other side of that, the minutemen are better equipped for larger scale tactics involving lots of ppl at once). they bring other strengths to the table.

if you side w the railroad in-game, just as w any other faction, you’ll see them in places like diamond city, flying their flags, no longer having to stay a secret. this pretty much confirms to me that they’ve definitely expanded into helping more people, especially now that they have the resources. and that’s actually something that influenced bunny’s decision to go back to the minutemen bc she saw how little the railroad had to work with and knew they needed more ppl and weapons so they could stand a chance. in my canon i think both groups infiltrated the institute together, each having a specific role in the plan. post-game it’s definitely a matter of continuing to figure out how to work best together. ultimately they just want a better world for everyone, and the only way we’re gonna get that is to work together.

[danvolodar]

Pathologic and the Town's Russianness: 5

In this last numbered part of the miniseries we'll explore the issue that, honestly speaking, prompted me to write on the subject to begin with: the Town's eating habits, and whether they match those of the historic Russian Empire.

As in the previous parts, a warning is prudent - the Town's unique situation must affect its cuisine as much as the rest of its life. So an unusually large share of meat in the local diets, or the shortage of grains and legumes due to the lack of fields we've discussed prior, cannot be used as indicators of difference.

Still, some amount of grains must be making it into the Town-on-Gorkhon, since they do have bread available. It wouldn't be fair to say it's un-Russian for not having black rye bread, though, since it only makes sense the Town makes do with whatever's shipped in, and it's likely wheat grows better in the climes near the steppe (in the Marble Nest demo the Bachelor even notes that "the local [bread] is greyish in color and crumbly to the touch, making you doubt if it was actually made from grain"). What is decidedly un-Russian, though, is the lack of any buns when there's flour available: pirozhki stuffed with beef or fish, rasstegai, or vatrushkas. Those were the street food of choice in the Imperial Russia, so extremely common, which means not seeing them is a strong sign the Town is not a part of anything like it.

And since we've mentioned vatrushkas - it's surprising that there's no stuffing for it in sight, no tvorog. Then again, there are no cheeses other than the steppe qurt at all, so I guess that can be attributed to that. There's a decisive shortage of diary foods in general: other than milk and tan (ayran), ice cream is spoken about but never shown (but at least it must be available), and kefir (widely spread throughout Russia by early XX century) isn't even mentioned.

But those are all foods one can carry; even if not exactly a cornucopia, they got at least some representation. Cooked dishes, the foundation of Russian cuisine, did not, at all. "Schi and porridge are our food" is a Russian saying describing the commoner diet throughout history; but I don't think I've seen even mentions of any soup or porridge in the game. Vegetables might be lacking for a soup (although I imagine it's pretty easy to catch scurvy with a diet like this), but where there's bread, there must be grains, and where there are grains, there can be porridge - especially minding that there's a source of milk always available to make it tastier.

The fruit and berry variety is even stranger. There are raisins, lemons and coffee beans available, yet the Haruspex has never eatern nor even seen in person a strawberry or a raspberry, both widely cultivated in temperate climate - despite him having studied outside of the Town for years, and likely joining the Army for a while. From that alone, one can imagine that the Capital-based civilization must have a climate radically different from the Russian Empire; further supported by the fact that the railroad to the Town is called "the north-western" one. This could suggest a state somewhere south-east of the steppe zone, in the mediterranean clime maybe.

Finally, while there are as already mentioned coffee beans for the healers to chew raw (like a wild animal would), there is a remarkable absence of the quintessential Russian drink: tea. Neither in compressed bricks, which one would expect in the steppe, and which would be the right thing to bite into, nor as the beautiful brew. Minding that a fancy samovar was a common way of showing prosperity at the beginning of the XX century for the lower classes, the absence of these is also telling. Lack of tea in historical Russia was a sure sign of utter societal collapse, only seen in the worst days of the Revolution - and even then people drank hot water from cups, even if there was nothing to brew with it.

Furthermore, drinking tea necessiates having sweets and confections, and there are noticeably few of these, too. As mentioned, ice cream can be found (in the dialogs), Murky says Sticky made her some candy, and Fellow Traveller calls the coupons he sells "candy wrappers", but that's about it - it would be nearly impossible for a Russian to properly drink tea in the Town to begin with!

I think this factor settles the original question decisively: a Town in which no one drinks tea ten times a day cannot possibly be a part of anything resembling the Russian Empire.

[archon-maenad]

wake up babe new thought exercise just dropped! if worm characters became protagonists of slay the princess how would each of them shape said princess with their thought patterns?

this could be done with characters from any fandom really, but I came up with the idea from imagining taylor hebert reacting to being told that "there's a world ending threat in the basement over there can you please kill it thanks!" with absolutely no evidence to back it up.

girlie would be suspicious as hell about everything, from the situation to the narrator to the voice of the hero. but she wouldn't dip from this premise because she's taylor hebert (don't think I need to elaborate on that point).

she'd take the knife because better to have and not need and all, and would come face-to-face in that basement with a cynical manipulative bitch. the narrator's warning about the princess' scheming nature ironically enough ensured she'd be someone tay would never underestimate, since the blend of "pretty primadonna at the top of a hierarchy" and "prone to lying to get her way without a care for who gets hurt" obviously reminds her of emma.

the narrator is very happy that his protagonist refuses to trust the princess. the narrator is very unhappy that his protagonist believes the princess to be the most insidious kind of dangerous.

I think taylor would end up on the adversary route. she fully believes herself able to defeat the princess because tay knows she is ruthless and strong enough, but without her bugs or even armor her mortality is stark in her mind. so when she decides to kill the princess it ends up with both of them dead after an actual fight.

meanwhile lisa, and rachel, and a lot of characters probably, would end up on the stranger route by nopeing right the fuck outta the situation and continuing even after the narrator turns them back around towards the princess. lisa because she can tell it's making the narrator annoyed even as he tries to hide it, and rachel because she's plain stubborn. since you only need to turn around three times they wouldn't give up before going to the next chapter.

since the stranger is a railroaded path (the cheev you get from completing it literally references "the illusion of choice" lol) both of their following actions, while different, would still end up in the same place.

does anyone else have enough context for more interesting explorations of this concept? I'm caught up on the fact that pretty much every character from worm would take the blade, cause they come from a world where not carrying a weapon even if you don't plan to use it is a dumbass decision. and that cuts off half the paths available, admittedly making this less interesting.

[ibbity]

I haven't followed the main Fallout 4 questline that far (current mission is "find Virgil in the Glowing Sea" and I've been ignoring that for several in-game months) but I'm not satisfied with the only option at the end being to nuke the Institute. I feel like the most just thing to do in-universe would be to execute and/or expel the Institute's leadership and hand the place over to the non-courser synths as reparations, since their labor was what sustained it. Gameplay-wise, this could be an option for the Railroad and/or Minuteman ending - if you got kicked out early on, you would be stuck with "nuke 'em" as your only option, but if you managed to stay undercover long enough, a quest with this as its final stage would become available. Maybe there would be some tasks or a specific mission you would have to accomplish to open up that possibility. The Brotherhood of Steel ending, however, would remain as just "nuke 'em" since the BoS hate synths.

Coursers who were willing to accept the changeover could stay on as defense; those who weren't would have to share the leadership's fate. Maybe a new ruling council or board of governors could be elected from among the older/more knowledgeable synths. The rest of the non-synth Institute population would have to get their own fates decided by the new synth ruling council. Perhaps they could choose to extend mercy to those who weren't cruel to them and decree execution/exile for those who were. Or they could simply kick all of the non-synths out, since all of them benefitted from synth slave labor. In-game, this could be accomplished by having them lay out various options to the sole survivor and ask what sole thinks would be the best option. The synths could then choose whether or not to continue expanding their own population by creating more of their own kind. Maybe some of them want to be parents, and so could use their own genes/combine their genes with a partner to make a child for themselves to raise. This could also be a decision made in-game by having them discuss it with the sole survivor. Or it could just be stated that the new ruling council will make such decisions based on what they feel is best.

The Institute could then become a synth community, optionally with some non-synth researchers/workers there as well depending on what decision was made about that, and could serve as a center of free learning and progress, rather than closed and slave supported. Maybe it gets a new name at this point and isn't called "The Institute" anymore. The synth leadership could arrange for trade with other communities like vault 81 does - maybe there could be random encounters with a synth trader from the Institute after this was all accomplished, like Rylee from 81. Or random encounters with synths who wanted to go out and see the world. Other post-ending aspects could be that the sole survivor gets to have a permanent base in the Institute and is granted special status as a valued ally. At this point, the Railroad's original purpose would be obsolete, so they could pivot to spreading the word about what went down and advocating for synth acceptance now that the Institute, as such, no longer exists and will no longer do the things people were afraid of. The fact that the Institute's scientific and technological achievements can now be shared with the Commonwealth - if its people are willing to deal with synths as equals and allies - could be a good bargaining chip for this. As a special ally, and as the official Railroad/Minuteman liaison to the reformed Institute, the new synth management could sometimes ask the sole survivor to do quests for them. These quests could be things like persuading infiltrator synths to stop spying and come back to the Institute, or fixing a problem/helping with some work within the Institute, or rescuing an adventuring synth who went out into the Commonwealth and got into some trouble.

This endgame allows the synths to benefit from the results of their own labor, puts them in charge of their own destinies, and avoids the problem of "oops now there are a ton of homeless synths running scared among a surface population that fears them to the level of committing murder, and that doesn't understand what's actually going on." It also seems like the most just and equitable solution to me - the problem-causers are gone, the advantages of scientific/technological progress and development are retained, and the former slaves now have control over a safe and familiar environment that they've already been managing on the ground level anyway. Plus it opens up the possibility of some more interesting post-game missions and gives the Railroad a meaningful postgame raison d'etre.

[neo-somnovem-thirst-account]

Okay I'm not current on CR at ALL (every time I have enough time try and catch-up I'll get through an a handful of episodes and then be inundated with time consuming tasks and have to set it down again, but one day I will catch up) but I'm hearing about some ™️Discourse happening so I'm just gonna say something, but I don't even know if it's at all relevant. (I think it might actually be anti-thetical to whatever is currently happening but I'm having thoughts) I guess let me know if I'm making a fool of myself due to lack of context, this is maybe more about CR in general though so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

When in real play, TTRPGs aren't always going to flow smoothly or have characters make the smartest choices or even the choices that make sense for them as characters. It's just a fact of how weird the play space that role-playing games exist in can get, especially when it's done in formats geared towards an audience. Sometimes a player will just be in a weird place and it will blend into a session, or time between sessions might get stretched and suddenly you feel very differently about certain in games decisions. If you care a lot about making a perfect story that can be sold as a streamlined story, then it would be an issue, but if your just playing for fun then it doesn't really matter.

I feel like this is exacerbated by the fact that CR in my mind has always tried to be a game/player first situation over being a story/viewer first situation. What I mean by that is, in the game itself they don't always try and force a streamlined well thought-through story, though they definitely do try to make it more polished and well written. It's one of the things I always liked about CR, that the funky amorphous feeling of the role-playing heads pace is way more tangible in the campaign. Characters sometimes make wildly out-of-character decisions, or stories take weirdly convulated and unnecessary turns. It makes it feel more wobbly and imperfect and I love it dearly, as that just happens sometimes in role-playing, Shit gets weird when you let your friends into your brain.

That being said, when you're viewing it as a weekly show, that aspect can be so VERY frustrating because we're used to getting streamlined thought-out storylines from media. It can totally be enough to stop people from watching CR altogether if it bothers them enough. It's almost certainly the reason why people prefer other TTRPG shows like D20 or TAZ (refering entirely to the mini-seasons as ive never made it all the way through the big seasons of TAZ, so major grain of salt on this one), but it's also what makes CR feel different. D20 and TAZ and most other live play shows are usually short-form stories which allows/forces them to cut through the role-player brain fog and just focus on telling good stories.

Obviously CR does sometimes let the fact that the audience is watching 👀 affect their in game moments, and that's okay... because their role-playing, and role-playing is inherently imperfect. CR is more likely to experiences both ends of this dichotomy (being widely unstreamlined/convulated and being very streamlined/railroaded) because they are longer form and trying to capture that role-playing headspace, but they are ALSO a company who has based their careers around those organic (and imperfect) stories they tell, and how they are recieved by fans.

At the end of the day, I guess what I'm saying is, if you want CR but as a perfectly streamlined and well told story, but also maintaining some well-placed and intentional wobbliness, then the live campaign just isn't what you're looking for. Honestly in my mind that's what you'll get from the adaptations of the campaigns (Tlovm, TM9 show when it comes out, the comics, the books etc.) so I bet people who don't like the wonkiness of the campaign love those right!...right?

Obvs I'm not saying you can't be upset with whatever decision the Hells made (or didn't make) that has people fighting, but I also think that this decision they made being wrong, imperfect, or unsatisfying from a story perspective is just what can happen in TTRPGs. Capturing that is, to me, what CR is all about, and what endeared me to it so much before other liveplays. It captures the unique thing that happens during roleplay that is specifically experienced by the roleplayer and not the audience. Which can obvs be a little unsatisfying for the audience member sometimes if we're wanting it to feel like a show and not an experience.

[utilitycaster]

You described C3 as frequently feeling like it's accelerating only to pump the breaks, and that really perfectly articulates some of the mixed feelings I have about this campaign. There have been a couple of times now when I've been really excited and invested in where the story is going (Laudna's death, the party split, Ashton blowing up, now with FCG's death, etc.), and then it's felt like that momentum has been either derailed or softened (either immediately or after an episode or two). It's all moments on the darker end of the emotional spectrum, so I wonder if it's folks wanting to pull back from it, but it feels like it's been a theme in this campaign in a way it wasn't in C1 and C2. Maybe there's something else going on that I'm not thinking of though?

So I think this post about pacing I made earlier this week covers this indirectly. I think it's a mix of the early groundwork for the party developing a culture of checking in with each other, working through conflict, and deciding what to do being constantly interrupted; and the fact that this is a more heavily railroaded campaign. I want to be clear - I don't think the railroading is bad at all! But I think that the prep for a campaign that had a more defined plot, especially starting quite early on, needed to be more extensive. I think it should have probably had a session zero that was a tradition one - not a playtest of two or three characters who knew each other, but the main cast members sitting down and saying "oh, huh, no one here has a high INT score" - or a heavier hand from Matt.

I think, for example, Ashton exploding was great and the choices afterwards were sound, it's just that the party doesn't have the tools to resolve this sort of conflict and so they shy from it. I also think some of the players who tend to embrace difficult choices and conflict that ultimately lead to those darker places and, in my opinion, better story, have chosen to take a back seat; and some of the players in the position to make those bold decisions have declined to make them, which is their right in terms of agency but is less of the story I personally wish to see.

I do want to note that like...they have interrupted the story but they have not yet been proven to have pumped the brakes now; it is possible the cast will pick up seamlessly with the next episode. It's really just that like...as you said, it feels like a pattern.

I suppose the next thing I'm going to say is going to be unpopular, but let's be honest, that has never once stopped me. I think a lot of Campaign 3's more passionate defenders are people who prefer what I'd consider quick, easy, feel-good highs, with a trade-off of a deeper narrative since that requires effort. The people who unironically said "must a story have conflict?" The people who just want weeks on end of downtime after this moon plot (and look this campaign has surprised me many times, and as this question indicates, not all were positive nor narratively satisfying, so I absolutely could be wrong here but I'm just increasingly like...what will they do after this moon plot. Name a significant plot hook that isn't part of the moon plot.) The people who are like "why would the party attack Bor'Dor simply because they tried to kill them? Why would Orym contact the person he clearly has a massive crush on when he's upset when other people are right there? Why would the people of Gelvaan have reservations about mind readers? Why doesn't Ross, the largest friend, simply eat all the other friends?"

But getting back to the original point I really do think that because of the different nature of this campaign - and it is different, structurally, and I don't think that's the root cause - more intense prepwork needed to be done both leading in (character creation) and in the early stages, and I think because it was going to be so tightly plotted later on I think it needed looser plotting earlier to allow the party to mesh and be easier to guide.

[bullet-prooflove]

Killing Me Softly Part One: Livid - Alexander 'Tig' Trager x Reader

Tagging: @mortal--soul @yourwinchesterbros @buddinglinguist @spookyboogyuniverse @nessamc @ritasantosworld @bl4ckt00thgr1n @anime-weeb-4-life @redpoodlern @ravencrow83 @nu1freakshow @@oureternalbond @the-wandering-lunatic @lexondeck @keyweegirlie  @theplacewhereallthedemonsgo

There are two things that neither you or Tig will compromise on and that is Luann and the club. Everything else has a degree of flexibility. It’s why the two of you work so well. That is until something forces an impasse, such as Clay’s decision to keep Georgie Caruso alive when he re-enters the country.

Tig has never seen you this furious, there’s a fire in you that blazes like the fucking sun. He can feel the rage emanating from your skin as you stand in front of him. He’s infuriated, aroused and livid all at the same time because you’d gone behind his back and taken matters into your own hands, pointing a gun in the face of the man that had murdered your friend. The only thing that stopped you from pulling the trigger was the fact that Clay had left him babysitting.

“You are fucking killing me here darlin,” He’s yelling when he hauls you outside. “…killing me.”

You wrench yourself out of his grasp, twisting to face him with a fury in your eyes that he thinks would be at home in the seven circles of hell. You look wild and untamed, a beautiful force of nature. You shove him hard, he falters a step, so you do it again and he lets you because all of that rage your feeling, it has to go somewhere.

“I’m killing you?!” You snarl at him, your palms smacking on the leather of his jacket. “I just walked in there, to find the man I love cuddling up to the man who murdered my fucking friend. He’s a fucking animal.”

“Cuddling?” He hisses, grasping you under the arms and drawing you close. “You think we’re sitting in there taking turns with that fucking blow up doll? It is taking every single fibre of my self-control not to wrap my hands around the little fucker’s throat and choke the life right out of him.”

“That feeling you have…” You tell him, jabbing him in the chest with your fingertip and it feels like a fucking railroad spike straight to heart. “…is what I live with every single day, knowing that bastard is sitting comfortably on his throne of fucking cocks, jerking off while Luann lies in the ground rotting. Give me back the fucking gun.”

“I’m not giving you back the fucking gun.” He snaps, meeting your ferocious gaze with one of his own. “I’m not letting you do twenty-five to life for killing him, I’m not letting you sign your own death warrant because you know that’s what will happen don’t you? He dies and Clay comes after you, is that what you want?”

“It doesn’t fucking matter.” You snarl, tearing yourself out of his arms.

It’s like you’re screaming into the fucking void, and no one can hear you. All the agony you feel in your chest, it surges through you until it becomes almost unbearable.

“Of course, it fucking matters.” He tells you, his voice cracking as his hands come to rest upon your shoulders. His eyes are fucking stinging because he senses that the inevitable is coming, the two of you are at a crossroads and he knows there’s no turning back.

“Fuck you Trager.” You spit, tearing yourself away before retreating back to the shelter of your car. “Fuck you and fuck your club.”

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