#then what' the point angsting over it

[pbaintthetb]

not to talk about a decades old game that has aged with some controversy but like LA Noire

and specifically homocide where, maybe im overthinking this, maybe it was an accident- but the game presents you with a choice of who to arrest (which is tldr the guy who probably did it, or the guy who probably didn’t do it but is also a far bigger hazard to society)

and it’s like? Do you do the right thing and arrest the guilty guy, sure-

and this is where storytelling and game mechanics merge because-

because if you do the right thing and don’t frame a probably innocent (of this) man you’ll get capped at a 3 out of 5 star rating (becuase your boss doesn’t really care about the guilt he j ust wants the one guy arrested, he just wants cases closed and things to look good. He doesn’t want doubt. Feel like there’s a commentary being made there if you squint /s)

and I knew this right. And I stood there, for ages, getting AFK dialgoues as I wondered whether it was better to fuck over my rating or to do the right thing. I even pressed the “ask your partner for help” prompt out of curiosity- and do you know what it said? It told me to do the right thing that penalises you. If you dither, if you go “shudl i do the right thing?” the game says “yes” and then it says “fuck you”

anyway I just think that’s really neat. LIke sure you could play it really emotionally unattached where you just care about statistics and achievements- but also isn’t that the point? That you care more about your job, about looking good than actually helping? idk just a very cool thing that came up there

but as i said, maybe im overthinking, maybe it’s an accident. but that was a very interesting moment of metagaming (if im using the term right)

[thatstoomanysausages]

Does anyone ever think really hard about Grian's inability to team? To stick with the same people he'd allied with at first after it shows the slightest hint of going downhill? Or about everyone's knowledge to be weary with teaming with Grian as he's notoriously disloyal with his teammates?

Cause the gutting thing is, he isn't. He isn't disloyal. He doesn't have an inability. In fact, I'd argue he is one of the few people who are tragically loyal to a fault, at least in most cases.

In Last Life, although he killed both Jimmy and Mumbo, he still felt the need to return to his allies after he'd turned red, feeling betrayed when they threw him out for being red. After that, he stuck with Joel and didn't dare betray him.

In Double Life, although he cheated on Scar and constantly complained, he stuck by Scar almost obsessively. His aim to protect him, even if he said it was for his own benefit, was painful. He didn't try to leave Scar behind like Cleo or Scott, he didn't try to sever the bond between him and Scar, nothing. It was almost like he was desperate.

In Limited Life, he was beyond loyal to his boys. He was loyal until the very end. And although he immediately switched to join the Nosy Neighbours, he didn't try to team with anyone permanently until Jimmy and Joel were dead. His silence when he realised he was truly the last Bad Boy was deafening. He hid his grief by saying that he had a backup team, just to save face, even though he built a gravestone for both boys and grieved them meaningfully.

In Secret Life, it wasn't as if he was fine with having no allied, like someone would be if they truly didn't care for loyalty, he was desperate once again. Having no teammates later in the game would hurt him, yes, but his desperation felt lonely, not power hungry. He didn't dare betray Etho nor Cleo, and stuck by them until the end. He was losing his mind on his hill before he teamed with the two, he needed to have close allies to depend on.

Now, in Wild Life, Mumbo is out of the series and Grian goes to say he needs to find some more friends, even with Skizz still around. Now, I don't think this is a power play thing, it's a desperation thing. He's hiding his grief by pretending everything is fine because if it wasn't he'd be vulnerable. For the past couple sessions, he had been working tirelessly to help get Skizz a kill so he could get off of being a red life, even to his own detriment.

Grian doesn't half ass teams. He will not team with everyone. However, he gets vulnerable when the ones that he connects to die.

Because that's how it went about in 3rd Life. He allied with Scar throughout the whole game, it starting simply because Grian felt guilty about what he'd done to Scar. He felt guilty. He stuck with him the whole game, undying loyalty, and all it ended in was him standing at the top with his best friend's blood drying on his hands.

To him, being loyal to someone like he was in 3rd Life ended badly. So, to avoid that, he found a way to still stay teamed with people, but not be left at the top of that mountain again, alone, even if his teammates die.

But so far, the curse keeps following him. He will always outlive his teammates. And this season is following the pattern, again, Mumbo dying right in front of his eyes, so close, yet so far. Always in a distance where he could've done something different, and he'd still have a teammate.

He may move from person to person, but only when they are dead or reject him. He is the forever Widow, cursed to always face his consequences, over and over and over again.

[starry-bi-sky]

mmmmmm read a disciple shen yuan/shizun luo binghe fanfic about two days ago where the first chapter was the Immortal Conference arc, and SQQ was the one who had to be pushed into the abyss (he was still the villain) except Luo Binghe was refusing and was like, lowkey losing his mind about SQQ being so close to the edge. SQQ ended up having to be the one to fall in himself because of the system's punishment system. The rest of the fic is leading up to that moment. But like, MMM i've been obsessively thinking about that first chapter for DAYS ever since.

now i've been in svsss for a grand total of *checks watch* a week. but god obsessed with that. I want to write/read a fic where disciple SQQ goes a little nuts down there. Like keep all of the things that make SQQ, SQQ, but just. Throw in a little bit more trauma in there. A little bit of a mental break. Let him go a little nuts as a treat. Just a tad unhinged. I wanna see him go, just a little, "god fuck it, i've tried so hard to change this shitty story's outcome and it feels like everything i've done has been for nothing. I'm going to die in this world no matter what I do, I've been doomed from the start, so might as well die the way I want to." and he just, breaks a little! Under all the stress.

He still retains the traits that makes shen yuan, shen yuan, like his overwhelming kindness. But he's just! yk. A little less patient. Paranoid. Jumpy. Colder. A little more aloof and closed off. A little more Shen Jiu. He's no asshole child abuser, but he was a Number One Hater in his past life and he's leaning into that old habit a little more now.

(On a totally coincidental not-at-all related note, there's not enough SJ-and-SY-are-the-same-people fics out there that i've found. This is totally unrelated...)

The Endless Abyss turns the mind into an over-sharpened blade, and SQQ is both fascinated and perhaps a little excited to explore a place that doesn't have a lot of info on it in the mortal realm, but still terrified out of his mind. And he's no Luo Binghe, he doesn't have the sheer brute strength and power to just bulldoze his way through, so he has to be a lot more sneaky and cunning if he wants to survive.

The fic itself role-swapped LBH and SQQ so that SQQ was the half-demon (which lowkey fucks) and LBH the human, but I'm equally-if-not-more obsessed with the idea that LBH remains the half-heavenly demon and SQQ the human. If only because I keep thinking about SQQ befriending some demons (particularly and specifically a group of succubi) and they grow very attached to this Human Cultivator so through magic plot stuff they create some kind of seal/illusion/talisman that makes SQQ appear as a demon because a human cultivator in the endless abyss may as well be the equivalent of putting a giant neon target on your back.

And iirc Shen Jiu was taught demonic cultivation by that one guy(?? i've only been here a week so im not caught up in ALL of the lore yet) so that could totally happen here.

(On the other end of the realms, poor Shizun Luo Binghe is just. losing his fucking mind over losing his most precious and beloved disciple. About .5 seconds from burning down the peaks himself. somebody sedate him.)

The Endless Abyss sucks and SQQ is having a really terrible time and can feel himself going lowkey mad, but also holy shit look at all this WORLD-BUILDING. look at all this flora and fauna, and oh if he had the equipment for it he'd be writing all of this down. ALL OF IT. He was kinda-sorta-already planning on never leaving the Abyss as some sort of fucked up self-exile and self-preservation thing, but now he might? actually just?? never leave if he can help it, like he lowkey likes it down here.

anyways the next time anyone ever sees SQQ again he's got hair so long its almost touching the ground and he's either in rags and half-feral or he's been completely dolled up by his adoptive succubi sisters and still about three seconds from biting anyone who tries to touch him. (he's also lowkey trying to book it back down to the abyss even if he has desperately missed all of his friends and shizun)

[little-pondhead]

The Curse Of Hope

_

Danny is in another universe. He had a reason, but he doesn’t remember anymore. He can only stare, horrified and disgusted, at the sickest city spirit he’s ever seen. Shivering and swaying with every step, core exposed, and ectoplasm leaking from wounds that are decades old. A ratty blanket was thrown over their shoulders, barely hiding the spirit’s pale grey skin and protruding black bones.

The spirit didn’t even sense him until he reached out to touch its wispy shoulders. The spirit flinched, clutching at the dozens of trinkets hanging from their neck and tucking in on themselves like they were expecting a blow.

“Oh, shit,” He swore, floating back a few feet, hands in the air, to show he meant no harm. “I’m sorry. I promise, I’m not here to steal from you.” The spirit shivered again and rolled a pearl necklace in between their fingers. A nervous habit. “Uh, I like that pocket watch? It’s very nice.”

That got their attention. They peeked at Danny, and he saw that more tattered cloth was covering their eyes, blending in with the stringy hair that reached the ground. Their blanket fluttered weakly, revealing hundreds of thousands of tiny marks etched into their skin. Scars, really. Scars that wrote out curse after curse onto the spirit’s very being. They burned with evil intent, and even reached inside the spirit’s body and wrapped around their core.

Occasionally, blinding specks of color raced across their body, temporarily erasing the writing, but it always returned quickly. He watched, a little detached, as one particular line rewrote itself across their rough forearm, drawing fresh ectoplasm like someone was writing it with a thin knife.

“Are you…alright?” Danny stuttered. A stupid question.

The spirit cocked its head. He couldn’t see their eyes, but he felt their burning gaze as they pondered the question.

“The pain of others becomes mine own.” They rasped. “The lights of the city dim as rotten wealth clogs mine veins. Magicks long forgotten have eaten mine skins, pulled mine cloak, and darkened mine skies. Helios has refused to grace mine doorstep, and the seasons of the Earth have revoked their kindness.”

Danny held his breath. It felt like he was the one with the exposed core, not the spirit.

The spirit shivered once more. “Tell mine soul, little lamb. How could this Forsaken City know peace, when it was long since ripped from mine hands?”

Shit, he needed Frostbite. And maybe Clockwork. Now.

-Or-

Danny meets the spirit of Gotham City. The villains and rogues that have plagued the city for decades are literal curses that are taking quite the toll on Gotham, and honestly, Danny isn’t sure how much longer they can hold out. The heroes seem to be doing some help, and are probably the reason Gotham made it this far, but the poor city needs help from the Realms if they want to get better.

Luckily, Danny can provide that help.

But only if he could get Gotham to leave their city behind. Because recovery is going to take a very long time.

[harbingersecho]

let me go, please -- i don't wanna do this!

[puppyeared]

The garment, worn by those in good standing with Hyrule royalty, has been reworked with the latest improvements, such as a new shoulder guard.

[treasureplcnet]

also quite obsessed with karl being as detached from the story as he is. there's nothing that makes him have to be the detective that has to be involved, but he unknowingly dooms himself by agreeing to work with the KYAL cult. every other detective basically deals with elias head on except weissman, who only meets him right before he kills him. like he's right when he says "by my choices" because everything that leads him to being mixed up with the mannix cult is himself. it's the gambling debts and the choice to do the dirty work for an organisation he knows nothing about. he's the only one that doesn't encounter that body doing police work and it's specifically because he's told to cover it up. he gets himself into the mess and eventually fixes it but the fact that esther always dies in the doomed timelines and he's always too late even if he starts wanting to change things ("till this child. esther.") it just makes me very ill

[lunarharp]

:')

[maya-caffrey]

can we bring back procedurals? or at least just proper shows like how TV used to be? 5 to 15 seasons, a generous amount of episodes per season, 45 minutes: the sweet spot between too long and too short, pilot episodes that are wildly different from the rest of the show, filler episodes that overall contribute nothing but are extremely fun because that is what god intended, random musical episode, crossovers, waiting an entire week in anticipation to see what happens next, like, this was the PEAK of television, where did we go wrong

[hellonerf]

unusual face post where i don't bring up caname marriage. all of their gangstalia childhood photos have been shown! i've been very captivated by their answers

the question is virtually the same for each of them with different wordings. here lord and owner have a goal for their future. between a distinguished admirable grown up and a welcoming hotel runner. meanwhile hero and parrain's answer are like. so vague. [(i?) can be anything] and [(be?) me] makes me laugh. what are these kids even saying? such blatant different personality dynamics. i actually don't have any coherent words i just point at a difference and go wowwww coool(keys jingling in front of me). but really. how sweet!!! the different similar answers

[creativitwin]

no you don’t have to get rid of remus’s ‘idgaf attitude’ for remus angst you have to fucking dissect it!!!

[kon-konk]

I can't help but think of Ren having a crush on someone that Sho is flirting up.

Ren's watching from the counter every time Sho brings them with him to the diner. Ren wants to shout that Sho's just trying to get into their pants. He groans every time they laugh at something Sho says because he can't help but picture what must be going on behind closed doors and he hates it so much

And one day Sho's trying to help them get something off a high shelf, and he grunts as he stretches and Ren just knows they've got to be secretly banging in the storage room instead of getting equipment off the shelf but he doesn't have the fucks to give to tell them to knock it off

[bleue-flora]

hi this is very random but do you happen to know the vod where c!tommy kills c!tubbos bees and burns down the house by any chance, I cant remmeber what it was, Im currently watching back old vods of many characters.

Omg yesss, I’m so glad you asked. :) This lore is so important to the dream smp, it is the reason why spawn is blocked and a mess, why Dream and Sapnap burn down Tubbo’s house at the start of the L’manberg first war [post], this is I think perhaps the only time Tubbo actually asks Tommy for one of his discs, also Tubbo makes some interesting attachment points in this stream that are quite notable, and in the aftermath I believe it’s the first time Wilbur makes an appearance.

I’m not surprised you struggled to find it, Tommy deleted his vod (and video?) I think or never streamed it (but I swore when I watched the dsmp the first time I watched him kill the bee and yet I can’t find it). But here are the vods of all of the povs since like I said Tommy’s is missing and I don’t think Punz streamed (I tried to cut out the grinding part, but I will say I think Tubbo and especially Purpled talk about plans and kinda lore related things during that), as well as the playlists where I found the vods for future use.

[Tubbo Vod Playlist] - requested vod

[Fundy Vod Playlist] - requested vod

[Purpled Vod Playlist] - requested vod

Here is also the Blueberry TV videos which combine the different povs and condense it a bit:

Part 1 - Part 2

(though I have to say there are some moments they don’t have that I like) including Fundy calling Tommy an “incendiary maniac” [clip] and an interesting conversation Tommy and Tubbo have about the different values of attachments [clip].

[sleepis4theweak]

What would Leo and Mikey think of Waffle and Milkshake?

Would leo get jealous of waffle 👀👀👀

Lol no, Leo would not get jealous of Waffle.

I think they would get along pretty well! I imagine there would be an adjustment period where they kinda got used to the idea of having friends that aren't April, especially ones that are turtles like them, but then they would all be friends. None of them are trying to replace anyone as a brother, and I think at the end of the day Leo and the others would know that they matter to Donnie and Raph more than Waffle and Milkshake, so there wouldn't really be a problem.

I think Mikey and Milkshake would get along really well, and he would get along well with Waffle too. Leo would be more neutral towards them, but like them too. :)

[pkmoth]

having swap au thoughts. *slaps roof of claus* there's so much mental illness in this guy. im gonna blow up everyone in the room and then myself

[thenamesapollo]

Quite curious to why you thought that Ink's dads were a diservice to his character in the first place lmao

man I don't even knooooow???? (⁠´⁠；⁠ω⁠；⁠｀⁠)

I think I was just really up my own ass and that 1) i forgot that my interpretation of ink isn't the popular one, and basically no one knew of him. and that 2) I forgot I didn't create him lol.......

I was like 'him having dads doesn't make sense cuz he's supposed to be lonely' and like. no man.... u didn't make him what do u mean 'supposed to'.......

probably also bcuz I was pretty salty that a selfcest ship (<- something that makes me MAD uncomfortable) was canon to my special interest, and coming across something that makes me mad when I'm just trying to enjoy my interest pissed me off (⁠｡⁠ﾉ⁠ω⁠＼⁠｡⁠)

but honestly every other point I made was kinda stupid lmao..... like it was my first ever L........