#there’s a lot of them! I love all the detail put into the npcs!

[gaylittleguys]

it’s actually so fucked up and evil that random white npcs from bg3 that show up twice got more dedicated fans than Wyll

[azuresage]

It gets talked about a lot but I still can't stop nerding out about Link's characterization in TotK. It's done through his many creative dialogue choices and his expressions of course, but it's also done so subtly through what he *doesn't* say. Notably, he doesn't talk about himself. And this is why nobody recognizes him unless they've already met him. Because he doesn't tell them when they've got the wrong impression of him.

The meme about Link having Tony Hawk syndrome is so real. People will look at him and straight up say, "Wow, you look exactly like Link!" without a hint of irony. Lookout Landing has a detailed picture of his face in their watchtower and the search party still doesn't recognize him. Penn works with Link for a long time and thinks he's unlucky that the Yiga keep "mistaking" him for the Hero (granted, Traysi asked him to deliberately keep quiet, but Penn still didn't put two and two together himself). I think the reason for this, aside from it being really, really funny, is that Link just doesn't talk about himself. He doesn't feel the need to.

Characterization isn't just about what we see a character doing, it's also about how other characters respond to them. Link is so unassuming and humble that he doesn't match people's expectations of what "Link" should be like. The three Gerudo ladies hanging out around Outskirt Stable are one of many perfect examples. Link stands in front of them carrying the Master Sword, but they expect the Hero to be taller than they are, with a giant glowing sword, so they don’t believe it's him. Obviously that's not the reality, but they don't know that. Link doesn't correct them, either. Again, he doesn't feel the need to.

This is also why many NPCs from BotW don't recognize or remember Link. To them, he was just a passerby that did them a good turn once 6+ years ago. Nobody's going to remember a person like that for so long after. They had no way of knowing he was the Hero, unless it came up for story quest reasons. When they hear stories about the Princess's Appointed Knight who woke up from his 100 year nap, defeated the Calamity, and rescued Zelda, they imagine someone larger than life. Then when they see what Link actually is like, they can't put two and two together.

This is true even during the Hyrule Restoration efforts. Link always follows behind Zelda as her shadow, which she notes in her diary, but the people in the stable investigation quests and in Hateno don't recognize him either, even though he went everywhere she did. Link is just that unassuming. He resigns himself to being a shadow, allowing Zelda to take the lead and do as she pleases but always staying nearby to support and protect her. He doesn't need to be recognizable to do his job. And we know from both BotW and now TotK that he's wholly devoted to her. He's content with this. Many people more eloquent than I have spent many paragraphs elaborating on this. I just wanted to focus on what it says about his character.

Link is humble and unassuming, so much so that nobody believes that he's the Hero unless they already know him. He's devoted to Zelda, so much so that he's willing to do anything to chase even a glimpse of her. He doesn't talk about himself or correct people who have the wrong impression of him. He doesn't need to do that to chase his Zelda. He is a person of great humility in spite of his station. I think that's so interesting and neat how the comedy of him being unrecognizable also tells us all this about him. It's also cool how this is only one aspect of him; all the dialogue choices and expressions he makes during cutscenes and actions out in the world show a whole other, lighter side to him that meshes with this. It's all so good. I am in love with it. It always kills me inside when people dismiss his characterization as being nonexistant or flat just because it's not spoonfed to them or when they say Link being unrecognizable is lazy writing instead of a deliberate choice. I am biting and gnawing and gnashing over him and his relationship to Zelda. I love them so much.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I read ur twst chars analises a lot,n I just wanna say I really love how u write em!!! I like ur nuanced interpretation, how they r very detailed,thoughtful, n objective, even tho its not about ur favs or even ones u dislike, also made me realize how good twst writing can be. So if I may ask, which of the cast do u think is the/one of the best written char(s) in the game?? N vice versa if u may, like ones u think need improvement :^]

[Analysis masterlist here! I believe it’s currently full so I’m working on putting together a second one :>]

First of all, thank you very much for enjoying my analyses ^^ I try very hard to research and to put myself in the shoes of each character I’m writing about, and I’m glad that it seems to show in my writing.

If we’re talking about the main 22 NRC students + Grim… (I’m not counting blank slate Yuu, NRC staff, Halloween characters, RSA students, and NPCs because they have such limited lore + vignettes and I feel it wouldn’t be fair to compare.) Honestly, I feel like they’re all written pretty decently, with perhaps the caveat being that there’s more content weighted toward the OB boys due to their significance in the main story and irl marketing. Some other characters, like Jade and Rook, are purposefully more mysterious as part of their characters.

I guess if I had to point out some weaker characters, I’d say they’d be Jack and Epel? I feel like those two are pretty… one note… 😔 What do we know about Jack? He’s strong, loyal, likes to exercise, is disciplined, is a tsundere… What do we know about Epel? He wants to be cool and not cute, he YEEHAWS, he likes apples, he’s really close with his family… You can see this reflected in the core of Epel’s dream; he wants to be tall and muscular, which is very simple when put next to the other dreams.

Of the two, Epel is worse off because he actually had a character arc in book 5 where he begins to accept that beauty and femininity can be a strength and isn’t something to be ashamed of. However, almost ALL the vignettes and side content outside of the main story have Epel exclusively talking about how tough and cool he wants to be + rejecting cute/girly things, which sort of negates the main story development and feels like he has regressed so much. I get that maybe he wouldn’t change his mind right away or do a 180, but it still creates a strong whiplash. Jack is at least consistent. Sort of stale, but consistent.

Those two aren’t flat or anything, but it feels like they hinge on the same handful of traits in every appearance and whenever we learn anything new about them, it’s just the same thing we already knew before but said slightly differently. I’d like to know more about Jack and Epel outside of these areas.

P.S. SORRY TO THE JACK AND EPEL STANS IN My AUDIENCE OTL

[syninplays]

Modern Ikke - world download

The idea behind Ikke was to create a scandinavian/swiss inspired world, but most importantly a place where sims can go (fake) skiing and be surrounded by pine trees and snow. I took inspiration from the Swiss/French Alps (especially Verbier) so naturally all buildings go along that vibe.

I kinda made it my mission to leave CC to a minimum, so I used only a few cc items and the rest is from expansion/accessory packs or ts3 store. - So make sure to at least have Supernatural, Pets, Into The Future and Late Night in order for the world to show up properly.

Note: the world file is pretty much empty, so I strongly recommend to download the world AND the save file so Ikke can look the same way it does in my game. - I am going to share furnished lots too, but finding cc takes time so bare with me :p

All relevant info is under the cut, so please read it!

>DOWNLOAD< (early access until 20/10/23)

>CC: there's two folders included with the download; the one called CC has all the necessary stuff you need so the world looks exactly as it does in my game. I didn't include some mods objects, so if you don't already have these then grab omsp, omsp resizers by Buckley, medium size rocks here, (more) medium size rocks here, city hall/police station/military base rug shell (you only need that one) & this set of patterns (I didn't use all of them, but I love them and highly recommend getting all of them hehe - I used the ones from the wood category) / the second folder called CC Recommendations is not necessary for the world to show up properly, but everything there goes along with the vibe and would look great in most buildings (;

>Modern Ikke.world: as said above, it's almost empty except for some scarce decor and the chairlift (but without it's start/finish bit) / Goes in Documents>Electronic Arts>The Sims 3>Installed worlds

>Save File: Has all the buildings I did (14 lots), plus a few other details I changed from the original world file. I tested it along with my bf, so you'll start with my Svensson household and there will be some npcs (with randomized Spanish names as he has the game in Spanish hehe) - obviously just get rid of them all and start with your own simmies (; / Both folders inside 'save file' go in Documents>Electronic Arts>The Sims 3>Saves / you NEED to install the world file too or the save won't work!

>Additional note: If you downloaded the shell rug linked above, then you'll find a "city hall" icon in Ikke's Hotel; I put it there mostly so you can change NRass settings if you're using it. Otherwise (or when you're done setting things up) feel free to get rid of it.

[hollowtones]

ayy monhun fan! what are you thinkin of what we've seen of wilds so far?

The initial trailer they dropped months ago was pretty cool. "World" is my least favourite game that I've played (even thought I liked it a lot!!), and 90% of why I felt that way was "this is the first time they're making a game of this scale / scope / direction", so it's exciting to see them make a successor to it now that they're not also learning how to make a game like it from the bottom-up & not also building the tech side of it from scratch.

Big desert environments have me excited!!!! I love the way these games do deserts. I'm always dreaming of Val Habar. I love the colour palette they're using for this area. Big fan of Yoshi being a new mechanic. In general I'm noticing a lot of things in "Wilds" that feel like a really cool mix of ideas from "World" and "Rise" in a way that feels a little more grounded. It's cool that they're bringing back a buddy you can ride around on & control. I wonder if they'll let Yoshi fight with you. I don't remember if they showed that off already. Getting to hotswap between 2 weapons without having to run back to base camp feels like a big deal that I haven't really wrapped my head around yet.

The focus mode thing seems fine. More granular control over aiming sometimes seems neat, & the footage we've seen makes it feel like positioning & animation commitment are still a part of it, which I like. Expanding part-breaking into "opening wounds that take more damage & enable special attacks" seems cool! (There was a similar-ish tenderizing mechanic with the Clutch Claw in "Iceborne", and I fuckin hated using it. Loved the idea of it at first. Having to do this whole separate action that interrupted the flow of the fight in a weird way to enable more damage felt awful after a while!! And they designed all the fights around the fact that you have it & use it! So I'm glad they're seemingly taking what I liked about it & chucking out the rest, haha.) I remember there was some hubbub about focus existing at all when news was first dropping. Some people were mad about it? I feel like this happens every time they announce a new Monster Hunter. They reveal a new feature, and a couple guys crawl out of the woodwork to go "THEY HAVE MADE THE VIDEO GAME PITIFUL AND EASIER - THIS IS THE DEATH OF THE FRANCHISE!" The franchise has died every game since the first one, by my count. (They end up buying the game anyway, of course.) I hope they put out a demo soon, though. I wanna get my hands on it & see how it works in the middle of a fight to see how I actually feel about it.

Weapon & armour design so far has been great. Happy about that. The bits of NPC designs we've seen have been cool. I don't really like the smith's look very much. Which makes me sad because I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be Little Miss Forge. LOL

When they first showed the game off I remember thinking "yeah, that's cool, I'm looking forward to this, but it's coming out Next Year & we're not even halfway done with 2024." Well now we're almost two thirds of the way through the year. And they keep dropping gameplay trailers. And they look hype as fuck!! And now I'm feeling more impatient!!! I wanna try this shit out soon!!! I wonder if they'll drop a public demo after Gamescom or something. I wonder if my computer could even run it...

I liked the way Hunting Horn played in "Rise" but it's cool to see the more traditional recitals back. (But faster!! And with new combo paths!!) I think I've spent a cumulative hour or two watching that horn trailer over and over again for little details. The funny bubble reminds me of bead of resonance but it seems like it might also be some kind of AoE team buff? It could also just be extra damage like bead was. But I loved bead. So I'll take it. Being a Hunting Horn fan is accepting that you'll be playing an entirely different weapon in every subsequent game, so I suppose I fuss less about whether or not it plays like any one specific game. But mannnnnn it looks cool as hell this time around.

[theresattrpgforthat]

@alizarinessence thank you for your patience as I took my time to respond to you! PbtA games can be pretty daunting, and I certainly didn't understand how the play flow was supposed to work at first. I personally learned through trial and error, as well as watching other GMs who had figured it out - I am blessed to have a friend who is very experienced in running PbtA games so I was able to play in some of his games and ask him questions.

That being said, there have been a few things that I've also found helpful that I can refer to you, so I'm going to put them up here.

The Flow Chart

This flow chart was originally posted in a Dungeon World reddit post, and later referred to me when I started asking for PbtA advice. You'll likely see a similar flow chart in Apocalypse Keys, where Rae Nedjadi illustrates how a typical session of play is likely to look like.

In any given PbtA game, you as a GM are going to be presenting pieces of information to the players, just as you would in any other ttrpg. PbtA codifies this information as "moves," and each game will present you with information that is considered useful for the kind of story that it is design to tell.

In Masks, the players are teenage superheroes, so the game encourages the GM to introduce facts such as "civilians are in danger" or "your dad thinks you're being irresponsible."

In The Ward, the players are medical doctors in an Emergency Ward, so the game advises the GM to introduce truths such as "a patient's condition is worsening" or "someone's dad is fighting with a nurse in another room."

This reinforces the common maxim that the game is a conversation, a cycle of presenting new information, letting players decide what they want to do with that information, and making a roll if the fiction calls for it. This is a rather simplified cycle of course - the "see what happens" sections may include moments when players may jump in with their own characters' reactions, generating more events that the GM doesn't need to add to in order to make them interesting. Many PbtA games thrive off of player conflict, which can occupy the table for a couple of hours without the GM needing to add anything (Last Fleet is a good example of this kind of play.)

Listening to Others

Listening to other people play PbtA games can give you a sense of how the game is meant to feel, especially when the GM's and players take their time to talk through their moves and how they work.

I found Monster Hour to be exceptionally helpful; they started out as a Monster of the Week podcast, and even though I've never run MotW specifically, listening to Quinn talk the players through how to ask questions or use different moves made the game very easy for me to understand.

Joining a Community

Joining a community that loves a specific PbtA game, or PbtA games in general can be very helpful when seeking out advice. The PbtA Discord channel has a number of players and designers, who have a lot of game experience and are more than happy to dish out advice.

Start With Games That Have Guide-Rails

Not all PbtA games are created equal, and while the original spirit of the game was to make sure you didn't plot out a story-line, there's still some games that have a certain amount of prep that will give you the tools you need to gain confidence as a GM. Here's some of my favourites:

Visigoths vs. Mall Goths can be played as a one-shot, and doesn't require players to make a lot of decisions when putting their characters together. It has a number of scenarios that you can throw at your players, a mapped-out mall with details on all of the NPCs (and whether or not you can flirt with them), and some pretty hard limitations on what you can and cannot do. You can't leave the mall, for example - go through an exit on one side of the mall and you'll just pop back in on the other. You can visit the stores throughout the day, but each team of players can only go to so many places before the mall is closed for the day, therefore bringing the mission to a close.

Apocalypse Keys has a game structure that looks daunting but can be broken down into steps, and also comes with pre-written scenarios as well as instructions on how to create your own. The concept is pretty straightforward - you're solving a mystery, and you need to do it before one of the Doors of the Apocalypse is opened. This puts the game on a timer, which helps GMs keep their players on task, and also provides the Game Master with a list of clues to drop into the story as the players look for them. I've heard very good things about how Brindlewood Bay, which inspired some of the mechanics in Apocalypse Keys, makes itself easy to run for new GMs, so if you can get your hands on that book, you might find it helpful!

Last Fleet is laser-focused on a very specific premise - you are humans, in space, running away from a terrible and insidious threat. What is more, this threat has the ability to infiltrate your fleet. The laser-focus brings everyone at the table to the same page pretty quickly, and the setting includes a mounting pressure track that will make sure things keep happening, so as the person running the game, you won't have to do much after you set up the initial scenario. The game also comes with some really good advice on where you want to start with your players, to make sure they're on edge, but not fully panicking yet. Then you just need to tip the scales enough to cause them to ask questions, make questionable choices, and start a series of actions that snowball into catastrophe.

Wrapping Up

This is all the advice I have for stepping into PbtA, but more than anything, I recommend just diving in and giving it a go! As with any GM-ing endeavour, you will likely walk away from your first session with a list of things that you'll want to do differently the next time around, but that's just a sign that you're learning.

[leidensygdom]

So what’s Argyros’ personality like?? And what’s her backstory, if you don’t mind sharing? I know I’m pretty late to this but man the design is SO cool and I’m invested

Here's a fresh Argy doodle to go with the answers!

The personality: They're carefree, highly social, sometimes a bit too direct, and quite flirty. She craves human (in a broad sense) connection and she's highly social. Which means Argy is absolutely thriving right now as they're just studying medicine at the moment.

They came with quite a lot of medical knowledge and studying is an attempt to try to know why did they even have that in their database and personality. It's almost a bit of an obsession: She feels the need to study every little bit that makes up flesh-based lifeforms, because she feels they're far too fragile. Argyros is caring to an uncomfortable degree at times, but it comes from their need to ensure everyone is in perfect condition.

They're more than happy to help heal a wound and maybe study you a bit on the way. And their skills as a healer are quite good, even if having a dozen eyes and a giant halo on you can be a bit overwhelming.

Despite his fairly open attitude, he speaks little of his concerns or worries, and does rarely share any detail about his more personal thoughts. There's definitely something wrong with them, but there's just one person they've talked about this. Despite how much Argyros love putting others back together, they keep themselves quite private.

The backstory: I can't really share all that much since it's spoilery for my fellow players (as she's gonna be a NPC in a Pathfinder 2e game), but she basically has not much of an idea about it herself. She was suddenly aware of existing one day, and had some memories and knowledge, but no exact idea of where were they made, and for. Trying to find a place to fit in was hard, and trying to search for answers was even harder: It seems there is something actively trying to not let them do so.

They're not entirely sure where does their divinity come from either. It's not unusual for people to be born with extraplanar influences, but Argyros was either created or infused with that divinity. But she doesn't know who or why, and isn't too willing to admit that they just have no clue. One of the main party members is gonna be a proper celestial, and I'm sure they'll be a bit of at odds about this!

[merilaurecus]

NPCs reactions to Modern!Tav from Earth coming back to Faerûn to visit

Dammon

Let's be honest, Karlach told him

Didn't expect you to show up at the forge tho

You may not have the closest bond but it's surely there so a hug is a must

You discuss your lives when he shows you around the forge

And stuff he made during the time of your absence

Lets you take that one dagger you kept looking at because he's a generous soul

You also discuss engine possibilities (you bring up heart surgery too to hear his professional opinion)

Beforehand you take food to bring him because this hardworking man sometimes forgets to do it

You spend a day there simply enjoying friendship you've made through the time you were in Faerûn and his tail kinda tells he missed you more than his shy ass allows himself to say

Rolan

Asshole wizard didn't know shit

You whoop your ass through Sorcerous Sundries only to be spotted by Cal and Lia

You immediately tell them NOT TO tell Rolan so you can take him by surprise

They immediately jump in to the game, given the kind of relationship they have, there will be a lot of laughter and discussions about the kind of face he'll make once he sees you

You get into the tower with another stealth mission

You spot him on one balcony with a book

Another Astarion would be proud moment

You place a hand on his shoulder

"My favourite wizard asshole!"

Just like with Dammon his tail tells more than he'd like you to know, but his face initially tells the truth too

Absolutely inhales everything you remembered Gale and Elminster did to get you back for a while

Amused, and after a short battle with himself he doesn't give a crap to show it (his sibling will keep embarrassing him with that for years)

He shows you around, you see everything's been put in order, Lorroakan truly was one messy fuck and truly did not know his alphabet

You get a show of spellcasting because come on this dude loves attention (and learning, to be fair)

Just like Gale he can help you with spellcasting (though some snarky comments are on his checklist; don't worry, Cal and Lia got your back)

Shows you around the store too, quite proud of it, just like anything he did because you saved his tail numerous times

Particular bookseller still doesn't like you for stealing the Annals, but can't say shit about it

You see the place has improved after he took over

You all get yourselves to the dinner after, because another tiefy boi can't go starving when there's studying ahead

With one room made up as living space you spend a night there

Zevlor

Ye olde Hellrider had no clue you were back

You knew he was at the temple, so you go there, fingers crossed you'll find him

Fortunately he's there with other Hellriders

Actually speechles you remembered about him

Hug time ™️ just to show him you never forgot him

Another tief, another tell-tail

Fatherly proud of you and your accomplishments, listens to the every detail of your post-Faerûn story

Tells you how he reclaimed his Oath and is back at being a paladin

You're proud in exchange (who wouldn't be, especially if it didn't involve paying gold to the Knight but actually doing something; that's the part of a paladin roleplay I hated in BG3, it should've been DnD way; yes, even if Oathbreaker Knight was 🥵)

You meet other Hellriders from Elturel, you didn't quite had the time to be properly introduced when there was a big brain to unalive

Clerics also remember you and what you did when there was a murder at their temple

You visit Father Lorgan's and Brilgor's graves to pay respects because that's the right thing to do

Actually happy to answer questions about being a paladin and a Hellrider (if you're curious little shit like me you would've asked)

If you were about to ask about the Descent but kept yourself from doing that he'll probably catch it (he's got experience mkay) and even if it's not the easiest story he'll tell you

Also shows you around because this place is kind of home to him

May even train with you, for the sake of old times and also for himself (to keep his physical condition in good state). If you've forgotten something or simply are not in the shape anymore he will go easy with you

And thus, the last night is spent at the temple

[smallnico]

when you made the comic about wyll saying that thing about orin i liked that the him inside his thought bubble didnt have the post-transformation horns and eye. a thoughtful little touch, it made me contemplate the ghost of his character arc (sorry if this is rude to the developers its just how i feel.) i also thought the comic was good overall. thanks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

AUH NO THANK YOU <333

yeah i'm so glad people noticed and enjoyed that detail!! i love wyll so dearly and i also (with love to larian for everything they Did do) think he suffered a bit from the last-ish minute changes they made to his character. they were necessary changes, and they made him who he is today, but he didn't get as much thorough and layered development as some of the other companions did. he and karlach are both in this camp lmao, and i believe for the same reason. they didn't become who they are until pretty late in the development process, unlike someone like astarion, who's been himself since very early on.

all this to say, i love wyll and i am determined to explore what is there as best as i can, and i fucking love taking little details and pulling them out. wyll is a confident person who outwardly states that 'self-doubt' is one of the most dangerous monsters a person could fight, and he tends to double down on his confident persona every time something happens to rattle that confidence. moments like the tiefling party illustrate this for me very clearly -- if you wander around with him in the emerald grove post-devilification, a lot of key npcs will say to the effect of "wyll, what in the fuck happened to you", or react with fear and uncertainty. they're willing to accept it given any amount of time and thought, but there's not nothing to his worry that people see him as a monster, and of course, he's already been through the trauma of that same snap judgement by his father, so. he puts on a brave face and keeps his distance from the people he fears he makes uncomfortable, because what else are you going to do? enforce your own uncertain presence in front of regular, good people who are just... trying to live their lives? having a good time at a party? they don't want to be scared. you've been working your whole life to try and keep people like them safe so they don't have to feel scared or unsafe. you are getting in the way. this isn't for you. you aren't welcome here. it does no good to argue that point when you could just keep your chin up and leave.

of course, that's sad as hell, are you fucking kidding me? wyll deserves better than that, but he won't accept better because he's not the type to ask for grace or patience from others, and he's from a background where he's not confident he will receive it -- his father's grace is one thing, but think for a second about how he talks about ulder ravengard's personal history as well: ravengard sr. is the son of a tradesman serving a role meant for patriars. i don't doubt that all that comes with its own baggage and passed-down high standards. as soon as ravengard sr. let his guard down, you know a flock of upper-class baldurians was just waiting to tear him apart for it, because you see them do the same thing to gortash even though he's literally mind-controlling several of them. i don't doubt that ulder ravengard instilled in wyll a driving need to not only be better than other men, surer than other men, more dependable, reliable, with more sterling integrity than other men at all costs, remember the words of balduran, memorize the values of the city, love baldur's gate more than other men, be ready to face them and prove these things to them at all times because they are always testing you. it's hard to have the most demanded of you at all times, and it can create the kind of man wyll is: a man who sees self-doubt and hesitation as a monster, worse than a mind flayer or a devil. and he knows from experience (again, from ulder ravengard himself) that flagging for a second, not being able to explain yourself sufficiently to the people around you, is enough to get you cast out and shunned forever.

but it's not possible for a human being to live like that. they're impossible standards for a reason. wyll has a flawless facade of confidence, but he's not immune to self-doubt and angst under the surface, and this comes out when you play as him or investigate some of the details he drops in a regular tav/durge playthrough, and his devil transformation really does shake his confidence. look:

all of a sudden he's using 'i guess' and 'maybe' and 'could' and 'i might', more uncertain language, to say nothing of what he's actually saying. he's been put in a position where he thinks people will never see the wyll underneath again unless he asks it of them, something he has been conditioned to never expect people to do -- if you have to ask, you're not projecting a solid enough image of confidence and skill and good leadership. then there's the sheer body horror and dysmorphia of minding your own business and one day your boss physically transforms you into a monster forever. wyll is trying so hard at any given moment to not let it bother him, but it so clearly does, and it would bother anyone -- but wyll ravengard is supposed to be better than anyone, better than a normal man. he lives inside stories of heroes and hyperbolic idioms, Things One Says about Heroes, because he's never been allowed to be a normal man. he had to sneak out of the house to play hopscotch with lower city kids. to me that says everything. he has been taught to lead an idealized existence free of doubt, but that just means he's gotten very good at hiding his doubts and anxieties, his inconsistencies, his human error. he has so much trouble facing the fact that he also experiences internal conflict, just like anyone.

he spares karlach because she's an innocent, because it's the right thing to do, but he struggles with making that decision because he knows it's going to hurt him, and he refuses for a long time to admit that to himself, much less anyone else, because it makes him feel lesser. it makes him feel like the worst person on the planet to admit that he was afraid for his own life, essentially staring down the barrel of a gun to say no to mizora when faced with an innocent in need of protection, even though he wouldn't dream of even making a good person mildly uncomfortable for two minutes while they get used to the way he looks.

part of my vision for wyll's development is just, him getting a little bolder with the things he says, because we all know he says some out of pocket shit for no reason, and part of why that is so funny to me is because he says those things with all the confidence of a train barrelling forward, because of course he does, he's wyll ravengard, he has to be everything to everyone, he can't do something as human as cringe or twitch an eye and go 'ah. nope, that's not what i meant' when he blurts out something thoughtless, or something that sounded better in his head. i like the idea of turning into a monster being the thing that eventually makes him more comfortable with being human. part of letting your guard down around your friends is saying stuff you think they'd get a kick out of even if it doesn't fit the perfect image of the hero you're trying to be, or saying something that comes out wrong and letting yourself cringe when it wasn't received the way you wanted it to be. letting yourself let go of the idealized version of yourself and trusting your friends enough to know that they won't think less of you for it, because they still know you would rather die than let an innocent person get hurt, even if you do feel scared for yourself in the process.

tl;dr yeah i like to depict wyll slightly awkward and nervous. let the man be a human being and vulnerable for god's sakes he's been through enough. i love him

[saberamane]

So I haven't put too many of my thoughts on Valhalla out, aside from my frustration on the anomalies, so heres some things I've liked so far, found, or otherwise want to comment on.

First off, I have to mention some 'false advertising' I've noticed. In the store section there's a 'weekly free gift' thing. This is wrong, it's more of a free gift every 7 days you start up the game. I played yesterday, the first time in well over a week, and it said I still had 2 days until I could collect my weekly gift. So 'weekly gift' is not accurate.

I really like the standing stone things, they're pretty cool. The cairns have been a bit problematic in some aspects, but not too bad.

I finished all the beast hunts. They were all cool and interesting, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed about the 3 wolves one. Only 1 head is mounted in the long house. It would have been better imo if all 3 wolves were included.

The black shuck was awesome. I wish there was more English folk legends included in the hunts and not just oversized local wildlife.

The mystery things are usually cool, I just wish they acted more like mini missions and had general goal markers and not just 'look around the large oak tree' told to me by a note or person.

The raids are pretty fun, just wish there wasn't so many things to upgrade that I need so much exotic supplies for.

Fuck those skull curse things. In general they're fine, but the fact that your movement and sight gets impaired is annoying. You want me to solve how to find and destroy this skull thing while it's hard to see and move? Not fun.

I wish the horses had more variety that's not part of a set locked behind money. You get black, graying (the dark dappled one), a dark brown, brown/white paint, and a white horse with black mane and tail. Where are the gold horses? No buckskin, palomino, cremello, pearlino. At the very least buckskin is naturally occurring in wild horses and should be available, right? And don't get me started on the Roan coats.

So yeah, horse variety for free is not great. There are plenty of raven ones though and I really like them.

Now, something I've noticed in game that makes me believe that female Eivor is the 'canon' choice:

For one, I've noticed at least twice where, while playing as male Eivor, an NPC referred to Eivor as 'she' or 'her', and this is during main story requests.

During a recent story quest where I'm helping the alderman reunite with a childhood sweetheart and getting his wife back to france, you request the help of a 17 y/o Dane named Rollo. During most 9f the quests with him, he is shown as being about Eivor's height, maybe a small bit shorter. The very last cutscene shows Rollo as suddenly being a lot taller than Eivor.

This has happened several times. In game Eivor is on par or slightly taller than those around him, but in cutscenes he is suddenly MUCH shorter. This is both annoying because it's inconsistent, but also seems like the development was rushed or people just didn't care about this detail.

But also, if Eivor is supposed to be Odin reborn, why would he be so short? Even if you played female Eivor, they should be taller than average. Kassandra was noticeably taller than pretty much everyone she met, and when I did the mission where you run into Kassandra, Eivor is was not shorter than her. Thisnlack of attention to detail is just... bad.

Ok, rant over. Overall liking the game. Sigurd has been a dick on screen so far, but I blame Basim for that. Just found out Sigurd had his arm cut off, oof.

(Forgot to add, I loved the hidden ones bureaus, very cool. And if someone knows if Reda is in Mirage, without spoilers, I'd love to know. I'm surprised he's still alive AND a child. Is this ever explained ?)

[beepbananabus]

Now that you've shared your favorite newer h20vanoss moments, what are your favorite older moments?

oh YESSS

as stated before, a lot of those moments are interwoven into videos, buuuut there are other more concise moments that I can link below in no particular order :)

EDIT: this was so long so im putting this under a readmore :)

chick-fil-a date. I think its so cute that evan immediately slides into a seat with del and stares at him for a good second. like there's just this moment shared between them, and then the passing of chicken back and forth ;; (focus on the number of chicken in his inventory!). like idk, there's not even a bit tied to this. they're just being them <3

"Oh... he's gone." I don't know what's crazier to me. either its the way that evan says that line with so much softness in his voice, how much he wants him to be there, or the fact that he proceeded to follow his NPC for like a solid 5 minutes straight. LIKE. WHAT? this man has it BADDD i stg,,,

"Leave these guys- Screw these guys." out of the whole mc series, (besides Doomsday because that shit is peak. unparalleled experience.) this is one of my top favorite moments bc its just?? so soft?? just these two sneaking away from everyone, the quiet childish-like giggling like they're two kids out past curfew, and then you have evan commenting: "they're going to be so pissed when they realize that we're gone", like them solidifying their companionship together,,,, UGH i love them sm ;;

"Why don't you marry him while you're at it?" i swear, one of the most common themes between them is the constant (joking) reference that they're together/married. its one of my favorite themes abt the two bc it's so sweet and so funny at the same time, like they do bicker like married couples and you have evan just going off on it SO casually, SO normally, like this wasn't a role he even had to think about. unmatched, actually.

"feathers" Insane to think that we have an honest-to-god parallel to evan calling del 'blueberry', like omfg?? it's so so sweet and i love how almost flustered evan reacts <3

the nether star fiasco okay okay there's SO MANY THINGS that i love about this. it's the immediate trust from evan to del, handing him that nether star with the idea of keeping this bit between the both of them, ignoring the fact that it was brian who gave him the star. then evans reaction to del throwing it out into the open, how he says his name as they're both holding back laughter at the knowledge that they're screwing with the crew. then brian coming in, peeved that evan shared it with del, but did you really expect him?? to not do that?? THE evan?? the evan whos always been a sucker for del?????

want you club okay this one has me by my NECKKK BECAUSE what do you MEAN evan has this elaborate song about risky love that is forbidden, yet he can't help but fall into it deeper and deeper every time- then he edits this song into a mission and he asks del how it sounds??? HELLO??? and then the compliments, the "they're all here for YOU, man!!" the deep immense focus on del throughout ALL of this,,,

boop! its such a small detail, but i LOVE how they move immediately to each other, almost as if GTA has transformed into a version of themselves where they can touch each other across the entire country. they do it so mindlessly, so full of expression and affection, and casually, just moving forward and boop, they've knocked into each other. and the isolation from the others, how they've practically left everyone behind and it's only the two of them now. not to mention the scene earlier where they had just begun the race and while everyone else is happily racing off, evan WAITS for del to catch up to him, then they're off again. he WAITED for him!! not a single word is passed but if del's not going, then he's not going either! and ADGHSAGHDAH RAHHHHGDHA them ;;

"i'm glad that you're here with me, delirious" there's not enough words for how many times this video has me screaming, has my on my KNEES, because oh my god??? i adore the way that he says this with just this soft yet confident tone, like he's so sure in himself of del's company. oh my god. anyways, im going to wade into a river now.

"That's why I'm not angry" This one's a bit lengthier with it stretching to 8:40, but every second of it is worth it, and onwards. evan is playing with delhere. and im not talking about like. playing as in playing the game. he's doing a bit with del and del only. it reminds me of like, stereotypical girls when they get a guy to chase them while giggling, like they're PLAYING TAG right now. just the two of them. evan didnt even kill del. evan probably WASNT PLANNING TO. he was just messing around with del probably and was going to leave him alone after this, like i kinda wish that didn't happen to see what evan WOULD've done. just??? their fucking BANTER in general, then their soft comfort at the end?? like that is INCREDIBLY out of their gamer persona, like i cannot state this enough. they have their moments together. AND THEN THEY PROCEED TO FOLLOW EACH OTHER AFTERWARDS AS GHOSTS??? OH MY GOD???

there's so many more videos like scenes from their minecraft series, gmod, gta v, but this is long enough as it is, so i'll pause it here <33

[islerouxsims]

DIZZY ISY SAVE FILE VERSION 5

Hello!

Here is the fifth version of my Dizzy Isy Save File. I have fixed all the photos and painted animals. It took me forever which is why the French version is not finished. I just don’t have the energy to do it all again. 

Moonwood Mill and Copperdale are now renovated, complete with new lots and families with their own storylines/relationships. Some of the new lots and sims can be seen below. In addition to the new residents, I tried to make sure that the students in Copperdale were populated with well-known teens from my previous versions.

♥ What do you get? ♥

VERSION 1 OF DIZZY ISY (STILL AVAILABLE HERE)

VERSION 2 OF DIZZY ISY (STILL AVAILABLE HERE)

VERSION 3 OF DIZZY ISY (STILL AVAILABLE HERE)

VERSION 4 OF DIZZY ISY (STILL AVAILABLE HERE)

…PLUS…

195 custom clubs and icons (+11 than v.4) with points/rivalries and custom activities.

Lots of details of custom books to find, interesting tombstones, photos with past histories and mysteries etc.

♥ When you enter the save♥

There are 2 empty lots.

There are 17 empty houses (10 starters, 6 under 100k, 1 under 120k).

There are 16 rentals in holiday destinations.

There are 2 free apartments.

Secret lots in Mt. Komerebi renovated.

Selvadorada and Strangerville adventure/mystery unplayed.

Conservation efforts not completed in Sulani.

Evergreen Harbor has many community project opportunities.

Neighbourhood Stories disactivated

___________________________________________________________

It is a busy save file with many lots filled to stop random spawning of townies but the empty lots will soon quickly fill up with townie families if you don’t use them.

The townies are clearly marked in the unplayed tab with the #townies so you know who is meant to have a lot and who isn’t.

___________________________________________________________

♥ What do you need? ♥

❥  ALL THE PACKS apart from Journey to Batuu

❥  Kits used: Fashion Street kit, Incheon Arrivals kit, Desert Luxe and Carnival Streetwear kit

-You can still download this save file without all these packs or kits but some items might be replaced by substitutes, and we all know how those pan out.

❥ 128 MB of free space for this save file.

❥  Zerbu’s More Club Icons Mod (PLEASE DOWNLOAD FIRST!)

(If unavailable to you please download from here)

❥  Rex’s Custom Club Activities Mod (PLEASE ALSO DOWNLOAD BEFORE THE SAVE!)

♥ Recommendations ♥

❥ MC Command Center by Deaderpool.  

❥ No Random Townies by Zero.    

❥ Assign NPCs Roles by Zero to reassign roles if necessary.

♥ How to install? ♥

Make a backup of your Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Saves folder

Download the file, unzip, and place files in Electronic Arts/The Sims4/Saves.

Open your game, enter the save. It is named “Dizzy Isy Save File By Isleroux and you should see Averie Cromwell who is at high school and it is the beginning of summer. 

Don’t worry, there is no chance of suffering or reliving painful high school memories as Averie is super popular, a cheerleader, loved up with a cute football player and rich. Like old money rich! She even has a bowling alley in her basement. Have fun! If you feel like taking smug little Averie down, feel free to play it that way too :)

___________________________________________________________

DOWNLOAD (SFS)  or  DOWNLOAD (MediaFire)

(REMEMBER TO DOWNLOAD THE CUSTOM CLUB MODS FIRST!!)

**Finally, please, if you enjoy the save and want to support me and future updates,  please consider buying me a coffee ☕

I don’t put my save files behind any kind of paywall even though this is now YEARS of work. I hope to continue like that.

I really appreciate those who have already supported me. I see you. I know who you are. You are the kind of person who bothers to read this far down. So thank you.**

Happy simming!  ~isy~ ツ  

[babumakeanart]

Here are some of my thoughts about Dragon age Veilguard. There is of course spoilers so read on your regard

I’m so excited we got another Dragon Age game! But do I adore Veilguard as much as the others in the series? Hard to say—I have very mixed feelings about it.

First of all, a lot of the lore we learned in earlier games feels erased or brushed aside here.

For instance, the choice of who drinks from the Veil of Sorrow seems diminished. Seeing Morrigan again wasn’t as thrilling as I’d hoped. Mostly, I kept asking, “Why are you here?” and “What do you mean you have Mythal in you?” She was relieved she didn’t drink from the Veil once she found out Mythal would control her if she did. And now, out of nowhere, she has that power anyway? Generally, I feel like previous choices don’t really matter. Everything feels so predetermined, even scripted, in terms of what will happen, what’s canon, and what isn’t. I get that BioWare had a lot of issues with this game’s development, especially shifting from multiplayer to single-player. But it still feels like many important choices from earlier games didn’t matter. For example, if Morrigan has a child with an archdemon’s soul in him, wouldn’t that mean—by the new lore—that the elven god bound with Urthemiel would still be alive? Didn’t the archdemons make the Evanuris immortal?

And while Rook is a fun and well-written character, I feel like the story should have continued with the Inquisitor. After all, we should get the chance to finish what they started. Even though it is said at the end of DA:I that Solas knows everything about us, the Inquisitor could still choose a new group to surprise him, but they should still lead them.

I did, however, love the ending for Solavellan. It brought closure, which was very very.. damn.. I cried. :’)

When it comes to our companions, I loved a lot of them—they’re all really cool. Yet I do have a few complaints that may be just my personal view but still. 

First, I’m not a fan of how Taash’s nonbinary identity was handled. As a nonbinary person myself, it felt somewhat disrespectful, as if it were written by someone who didn’t understand the experience. Initially, I was excited, but after reflecting, it started to irk me. I cant write all my thoughts well to say what all bothers me about it, other people put it much better into sentences than I would do so I am just leaving this.

I also wish there were more scenes to get to know these characters. There are a fair number of scenes, sure, but everyone seems overly friendly from the start and it didnt feel that they naturally get to know the main character, but that we already know each other for years. 

Despite the conflicts among some companions, there’s this vibe that everyone is just too nice. Does that make sense? Like, even during the Blight in Origins, some companions didn’t like each other and wouldn’t be buddy-buddy over a coffee date. In DA2, companions had strong beliefs that many times clashed, which made them unique. Veilguard feels too friendly—and not just the companions, but Rook and other NPCs as well.

Another minor issue: the romances are too short, which is sad. :(

But enough negativity! 

There’s still a ton of things I freaky love about Veilgaurd

The visuals! When first peek of this game came out I know some people didn’t like the look of it at all, but GOD is freaky stunning! The characters look great, with tons of little detail movements that make them feel alive. Mostly in expression.

 Every location you travel to is unique and beatutiful. I love running around just to take pictures. The cutscenes? Chef’s kiss. WOW

The fighting style was surprisingly enjoyable, too. I’d just finished DA:I

when Veilguard came out, so the adjustment took a minute, but I got into it quickly and ended up loving it. :)

And then, there’s SOLASSS. My poor man, my poor little egg—I love him, and I would die for him!

I loved all the companions’ personalities and stories. Just wish there was more of it.

Honestly, I cried multiple times during this game. :’D The ending was epic, the final battle gave me chills, and it was just...so cool! I could eat every pixel of these scnes.

One thing I would love to see: what would happen if you sided with Solas and tore down the veil. Even with different endings, the veil stays intact. I’d love to know what happens if it’s actually torn down. Would it end the world? Kill tons of people? Actaully realease the blight in full speed?

-

So far, that’s all I’ve got. I’m tired, and my brain’s fried, but I wanted to get my thoughts down. I know I wrote more criticisms than praise, but I really did enjoy the game. What did you all think? Because honestly, Veilguard has hyped me up to replay all the Dragon Age games again! And created all the ideas I have for my ocs in these games.

[notnights]

i think.... my top 3 personal favs is 3. looming jax with his ears pressed against the wall: a cute detail! but also i like him cornering gangle/intimidating her and i also like those type of sketches you do!! messy and chaotic (positive), alot to look at and notice in those pieces! 2. jax falling in love with a idiot (gangle): its simple but i love jax expression there!! ahhh... its so good.. i love gangle having calm/simple expressions and jax having extreme emotions/expressions, its a nice contrast! 1. gangle with the npc figurine: a completely different/creative take on "the figurine thing"!! like.. many things to be implied woaw.. i generally think about gangle asking caine for a proper body model she can puppeter and he hands her one of those things, just to feel more? normal/humanoid..? 4 of the cast have humanoid bodies, kinger and gangle kinda being the odd one outs but even so kinger has hands/eyes 'human' things theres also the thought about her cuddling with this thing or experimenting with it haha (i think its canon she has a body pillow??) even if its like.. a joke that weebs have body pillows/ it could also mean shes starve-touched too or looks for physical comfort i would assume, with her sad mask making her passive to do things, she probably shys away from hugging/asking for a comfort, so falls back to her figurine (imagining it as probably ragatha comforting her? or jax if i wanna be bias) ^^^ but anyways! its a nice colored piece! i love gangles lil panicked pose and of course jax being presented there along with his comment...... its peak., sorry if this is alot!!! i thought it'd be a nice addition to include what i like about it! love seeing your ribbun artwork!!

Aw hey thanks this made my day.

1). As a friend once said to me "Jax looks good looming over people."

As a cartoon I like to think a lot of his motions have that closeness that slapstick cartoons have. I LOVE these kind of poses.

And try to push-the-pose most with Jax compared to the others to show off his toony nature but I don't think I'm very good at it yet.

2). Haha glad you like that one, I just took the expressions from the original meme though. So not much creativity on my part. Good excuse to draw a happy Gangle.

3). The inspiration for that piece was actually because the interpretation came up during a conversation with @canterbury-bell. I love the idea of Gangle being a little bit of a weirdo one way or another. Maybe she asked Caine for an artist reference originally.

I want to leave what she was doing with that thing up to interpretation but yeah actually! I like to think she wraps around it, makes it a pseudo-skeleton and puppets it around to feel more human and "solid". Which is weird but you can't really blame her! Might not be the only thing she does with it but that's the big one, and probably what she used as defense a when Jax found it but he implies more and Ragatha might have some concerning judgements about it. Especially if uhhh it is/was an active NPC.

Ah look what you've made me do, talk about a one-off joke as if it has depth!

The particular wording was "had" in that answer about the body pillow iirc. Which made me think she had one in the real world but doesn't in the DC. The other option being she did have one in the Circus too, but for whatever reason doesn't anymore.

Its nice to hear you like my ribbunies. I usually just assume I'm off-putting to others for it. Haven't gotten to draw it a whole lot lately due to trying to let my hand heal from whatevers wrong with it and when I do I can only draw so much. You can have some very early ribbun sketches I did for now. (I think I've posted some of these but not all of them.)

[phoebified]

ooooobliiiiigaaatory sso post because new dark rider design dropped! erissa (not sure why they didnt just keep elise or change it to eris? but that's ok!), the remake of chiyo, just dropped, and... she's white! interesting. there were a lot of ways sso could've saved the dark riders fumbles. there were a LOT of those fumbles, but the one i hammered on the hardest was chiyo, because i myself am japanese, and immediately know a bad design when i see one. likewise, i'm pretty spot on with calling how that character will most likely be written, and can make a few good solid guesses. i will say, i feel lots more in common with sabine, and am against the way they designed someone i could relate to and then painted them staunchly as a villain; likewise with all the dark riders, this may be sso's most diverse group yet, and they are villains. HOWEVER. at that point, they had already put them in-game, and now all i can hope for is some good old fashioned childhood "everything ends up fine" writing that shows these characters some love and perhaps sways them from their homocidal ways.

back to erissa.

why was chiyo's design racist? well, it wasn't just her. most of the dark riders were handled poorly. to be honest, i've talked SO much on this blog about why chiyo was such a bad design that i simply don't want to rehash it. was it the worst i'd ever seen? no. but putting in those stereotypes to a game children -- WHITE children -- play is like teaching children to hit bees nests for fun. it's pointless and hurtful to everyone.

SO: what do i think of erissa? she's cute! i like this design way better than the last.

that's it. whole idea. i think the colors are more comprehensive, i like the crochet details, i think the hobby horse looks a little silly but i kinda like it. overall, i am happy.

now you're probably wondering, "what, so sso can't make non white villains!?" and the answer to that is 1. don't be stupid and 2. of course they can. but they better put just as much effort into the rest of sso. they don't, though. our only buff woman is alex, who barely counts because she's kinda small as fuck in game. that leaves Sabine, who's more buff. her character is nonwhite, visibly has arm hair, and until proven otherwise, is nonhuman. not only that, she's evil. that sends some pretty strong messages, and, side tangent, but to anyone too goofy or too stubborn to see how that's a problem, i'm excited to see how the children in YOUR family turn out, be it yours or other family member's. will YOU teach them what racism is and why it exists and the complexities of it that people scoff at that allow it to continue to exist day in and day out, or will you let them play all the other games that DONT revise their writing, where the good characters are straight and white and every other type of "normal" and the enemies are gay or nonwhite or both? anyway. i hope you see my point.

"children will experience this stuff ANYWAY!" sure. why add to it?

"oh, so you're pulling a save the children thing? so what, you want everyone to be th3 same?" no. i want them to take chiyo's design, make her clothes look better, make her default state not like a mouse, and put her in the game as sso's like. only japanese character. i'd fucking love that! do you know how little representation there is for weird japanese girls? we dont got dick or shit. it'd be so fun to have a slightly redesigned chiyo as an npc, i'd totally fucking adore that! different clothes bc i think her past design was a little. ourgh. it'd be fun and cool if they made her like, a budding emo? omg that'd resonate with so many people i'm sure, and the purple hair is already suited to it. black hair would also be cool, though. do you see what im saying here, though? context is everything. im sad sabine is a bad guy. im sad every white girl who plays this game gets someone to relate to. i guess i too really relate to and like anne, but that's where the similarities end. it's easy to say "why does race matter?" in a sea of white people if you're white, but it can get lonely playing any video game if you're not white. sso is one of the best games ive found in terms of trying to really add diversity (although im still waiting for updated fat npcs), and that's why i weighed in so heavily. it matters to me. i love this game. i think they've done so much good with it recently, i'm really just beyond impressed and in love.

i think erissa is a good design.

[oddrobyn]

hi friend!! I've been losing it over your li and pen bestie art for the past few minutes I love them 🥺🥺🥺 do you mind telling us more about their dynamics? also I love dice and the commissioners!! would also love to know more about dice and wei <3333

OH MY GAAAHHHH IVE WAITED YEARS FOR THIS QUESTIONNNN

(Rubbing my little hands together) MEGA SPOILERS BELOW BTW IN CASE ANYONE HASNT FINISHED THE GAME

For quick context to anyone who might not know , Li is my builder Oc (first image) and Dice is my non builder NPC type oc who I like to imagine as a potential romancable character when someone else is playing as builder. But in my au where Li and Dice are in the same universe Dice is Li's older sister.

Starting with Li!!

Li and Pen has this sort of crazy friendship when you consider they are selectively mute and the way their personalities are pretty different. Pen is a loud and proud extrovert who can fill a room with his very presence when Li is really mousy and tends to keep to themselves all the while a really affectionate friend. This has given them a sort of platonic lovey-friendship where they're best friends who can say I love you and understand how deeply connected they are as bestie which makes Pen's betrayal /leaving for incarceration a hell of a lot more painful.

Li does have BPD and because Pen was their favorite person this was REALLY rough and there was a LOT of coping they had to deal with because losing the person their whole world revolved around totally destroyed what they had and they basically had to start from scratch socially. Sure they had other friends like Unsuur and Nia and Qi-- but what they had with Pen was so unique and so special that it was really difficult for them to let go despite knowing he's really frowned upon on Sandrock. It's really difficult for them to just "get with the program" and let go of him as easily as the game implies you do when he leaves and often times they get stuck in awkward spots where they have to talk to some of the people he hurt knowing how awkward it is for everyone when the attachment to their friend who turned out to be pretty evil still has a tight hold on them.

I like to think that they try to send letters to Pen secretly once in a while and hasn't gotten a response back for better or worse, but a given explanation is actually that Pen had been throwing them away as soon as he got them because he was scared he would open it and find that Li wanted to officially break off the friendship.

I think before I've compared them to the story of the Scorpion and the Frog, but their friendship is maybe a little more parasitic than that. Pen definitely had ulterior motives in picking to befriend the person who obviously struggled socially and would do anything to keep a friend around, but when they both started having something real the line between something fake and something so painfully real gets blurred and ultimately both of them are unable to let go of each other because of how close they were. They are truly doomed by the narrative I think oughh

AS FOR DICE !!!

I don't believe I've ever done a real deep dive explanation since I was still working out some of the details but I pretty much have something now.

She actually used to do average odd jobs around Highwind to save up money to put towards to her music career that was inspired by old world music she discovered and fell in love with (hahahahaha. Really funny to think stuff like Hannah Monatana and MarinaAndTheDiamonds would be considered old world in their universe) which led to her deciding she wanted to be a music star.

Things didn't go to plan however and although some of the story is pretty lost in the mud due to her shame and refusal to open up about it, her career failed as no one listened to the genre or didn't find it interesting enough. The embarrassment of being unable to achieve the dream she worked all her teen years towards made her incredibly depressed and she actually disappeared for a couple of years with no warning until she one day resurfaced as the bounty hunter/bodyguard/whatever she is today.

She claims to owe a lot of her being able to get back up onto her feet to Yan and Pen, who found her alone in the eufala after getting lost and set her up with a job as "Yan's Personal Bodyguard" as silly as it sounds. But it made him look cool and important, and gave her the money she needed to get back up on her feet so she took it.

She started traveling around the free cities to pick up more bounty jobs now that she had found another purpose in life (though some are pretty sure she's just take out a lot of pent up feelings on it). Even though she had become kind of a drifter all throughout the free cities, at some point, she and Yan started dating and it was about as insufferable of an experience as you'd imagine. The public sweet talk, the constant hand holding, the way that it's so obvious Yan is more interested in her than she Is in him... awful. Owen says his best paid night but worst social experiences come from their dates at the Blue Moon.

Of course, once Yan gets shipped off Dice reveals that she's relieved about his arrest because it was starting to get on her nerves and that she had been struggling to figure out a way to break up with him without a whole spectacle happening.

But just as soon as he's gone, Wei comes to town and she INSTANTLY falls for how much kinder he is. When you spend your whole life around questionable characters you sort of start to just accept that maybe everyone is only thinking of themselves; but Wei was different.

For once, Dice was the one chasing a love interest rather than being the one who was pursued, and as confusing as it might have been at first, eventually they both start connecting and their kind of opposite personalities start to find ways to compliment each other. Wei stops being suspicious that Dice might be acting on his brother's behalf and Dice starts to disappear from sandrock less often in order to spend more time with him.

Owen dreads Friday night dates a whole lot less now lol...