#they were just the only game in town

[nym-wibbly]

D'you still have the NAs or EDAs?

Mostly no - I sold them after I got too ill to work. I kept the Timewyrm quartet, Damaged Goods, The Left-handed Hummingbird... maybe the Ben Aaronovitch ones?

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 3 - Le Grand Bristot

[raiiny-bay]

oc questionnaire - dhes edition

tagged by @vicciouxs (ty!! <3)

NAME: Destiny Rose (he hates his name though. anyone who calls him destiny WILL get decked)

NICKNAME: Dhestyn, Dhes, Dusty, & Tiny (that’s what his grandparents call him)

GENDER: male, he/him

STAR SIGN: leo

HEIGHT: 5'7

ORIENTATION: gay

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: american, latino

FAVORITE FRUIT: mangoes

FAVORITE SEASON: summer

FAVORITE FLOWER: sunflower

FAVORITE SCENT: kel's pizza breath uhhh probably his dad's cooking

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: coffee (he drinks it black)

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 2-4

DOGS OR CATS: he actually likes both, but i personally associate him more with dogs

DREAM TRIP: he doesn't have one, but honestly he'd have fun going anywhere

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 0-1

RANDOM FACT: he was expelled from school halfway through his 8th grade year lol

tagging: @sikoi, @flovoid, @elderwisp, @birdietrait, & @mexipoopy (no pressure ofc!)

[potionwine]

Thinking about Margrace as Joshua's name post-Phoenix Gate.

Mar-grace.

In FFXVI the Undying choose their own names (Cyril explains this in-game), and many of them have names drawn from Final Fantasy XII, including their leader 'Margrace' himself, from Al-Cid Margrace. The page for Al-Cid notes that Margrace is likely an alternate form of the title 'margrave', an old title for military commanders on the border.

That aside. This is the name chosen (by the boy himself?) for the boy who should have rightfully been known henceforth as 'Your Grace', 'His Grace'.

Grace (style of address), from the Oxford English Dictionary:

With a possessive adjective: a title of respect, esp. for a person of royal or noble rank. Frequently (in 'your Grace') as a form of address. Now archaic or historical. Formerly (in England until the reign of Henry VIII and in Scotland until 1707) used for a monarch or prince; now replaced by Majesty or Highness. Even so, "Majesty" for the sovereign of England was not used exclusively; it arbitrarily alternated with both "Highness" and "Grace", even in official documents, until "Majesty" finally became the official style to the exclusion of others (source).

Grace (other meanings):

1. Divine favour, benevolence, or providence bringing about worldly benefit or advantage. 2. A person's lot, destiny, or fate; luck, fortune. 3. The quality of being pleasing; attractiveness, charm; esp. (in later use) refined elegance of manner, expression, form, or movement, esp. regarded as natural or effortless; gracefulness.

Whatever the etymology of margrave, the name Margrace in-game is probably meant to call to mind the meaning of 'mar' as in damaged, spoiled, ruined. All the grace that ever belonged to his family, his home, his birthright—marred, of course.

Mar+Grace, the last heir of the oldest unbroken ruling dynasty in the Twins at the time of the opening events of the game**.

The living ghost, carrying the desecrated corpse of his legacy in his new name. Introducing himself by his humiliation: "Hello, I am Margrace", "Hello, I am the ruined dignity of my house." "Call me Margrace", "Call me the wreckage of one fallen from divine favour." "My name is Margrace", "My name is blemished fortunes and diminished nobility".

It's appropriately brutal and dramatic for such a character, especially since the game is frustratingly silent on how Joshua personally feels about the loss of his duchy which is a rant for next time.

**Footnotes:

In the Year 860 (Prologue year/Phoenix Gate), Rosaria is about 260 years old (est. Y600). Older, if you count from the time of the Rose Alliance (est. Y550). The Rosfields have been on the Rosarian throne since the inception of the duchy in Y600, and prior to that House Rosfield was already known to be the chief of/the preeminent house of the Seven High Houses that united to found the duchy. House Rosfield has held ruling power for 260-310 years at a minimum.

For reference, England's longest-reigning dynasty was the Plantagenets, who held on for 300+ years. Rosfields aren't doing half bad!

Veldemarke would have been older had it not been overthrown by Barnabas; therefore Waloed is the youngest nation state at the time of the prologue (only 17 years old). Also we do not know much about the governance of Veldemarke, although as a 'kingdom' it was likely some type of monarchy.

Sanbreque was formed 100 years after Rosaria, and at any rate is not actually a hereditary monarchy. The Holy Emperor is voted into office by his fellow Cardinals, likely the five who form the Council of Elders. We are also explicitly told that Sylvestre 'won his throne' in 865; there is no indication either way that his predecessor emperor was a Lesage. The wording suggests the throne is not Sylvestre's by lineage or birthright. How this is supposed to relate to the concept of Sanbreque having a 'crown prince' (Dion) is unclear and contradictory, since an emperor by election should probably not have the authority to unilaterally decide on the succession of the throne, and his issue—legitimate or no—should not automatically be in the line of succession.

Dhalmekia is a republic with elected officials.

The Iron Kingdom apparently has a royal family, but nothing else is known apart from it being impotent and sidelined by their state religion.

The Northern Tribes likely do have hereditary rule, and Jill is referred to as a princess, but once again little is known.

Ergo—and I am ceaseless in this propaganda—Clive and Joshua are really, properly posh! Absolutely baffling that Anabella would allow anyone to put down the pedigree of her sons when they are so blue-blooded precisely because she is! For someone with such entrenched ideas of blood purity she should not stand for it, no matter how she feels about her eldest.

[fraternum-momentum]

the internet was cut off and i ran out of data so i asked my brother if i can connect to his hotspot and downloaded dol on my phone,,,,,,,,,

[chimerafeathers]

there's an essay jumbled up in my brain about dunmeshi's beginning and how clever and deceptive it is as a sleight-of-hand trick that distracts the audience from the depth and scope of the worldbuilding and foreshadowing that's being set up the entire time by dangling zany characters and wacky dishes and biology fun facts in front of us, and how that serves to catch invested viewers off guard when those elements come to the forefront, but also how it works against it with other viewers wanting "more" and not seeing it because the plot bait isn't laid out up front

how people getting frustrated with the characters "not taking things seriously" is mirrored and refuted in the confrontation between Laios and Shuro. how the characters' attitudes aren't just a result of shallow low-stakes "comedy rules" where nothing matters, but are an extension of their personalities (Laios's nonstandard expression of emotions being offputting even to people he knows) and the world and social environment (adventurers being desensitized to death and injury because resurrection magic is commonplace). the way the party refers to "saving Falin" instead of "retrieving Falin's corpse," indicating that they still see her with full personhood, and how that phrasing leads to some readers/viewers believing that Falin is alive in the dragon's stomach, conscious of being slowly digested while the party carelessly fucks around "wasting time." how the weird tonal dissonance makes sense in-universe and yet is deliberately challenged more and more the deeper the party goes

all the character building and pieces of lore slowly weaving together the shape of the larger world, laying the groundwork for the major themes that will surface later. so much is right there in the "low-stakes" early episodes if you know what you're looking for (or pass the perception checks).

it can be so satisfying to see new viewers/readers pick up on the clues even in the earliest "simple" episodes, or notice new things and make connections yourself....and it can also be frustrating to see people dismiss oddities and dissonance as shallow or bad writing because they don't expect a "cooking anime" to have depth like that. why try to question and understand and peel back the layers when you don't expect there to be any layers?

why can't laios take things seriously for once?

[front-facing-pokemon]

[skunkes]

i need more AC and Magicians Quest life sim "clones" in the way of like

I don't need realistic graphics!!! Just a simple cute player character and lots and lots of clothes (easier to put on simple characters!) and furniture...and I also think life sims with dating Now are kinda polarizing wrt art styles and (lack of) diversity which is why I do actually wish u cld date in AC and such (well not anymore since the franchise has gotten a bit sour to me)...

this isn't even just me "being a furry" since a lot of characters in magician's quest are like. living objects. i was dating a TV when I last played 😭 but ykwim...it's less about being a furry or w/e and more it's much easier to project traits onto "Universal" cute designs and silhouettes than hoping that 1. the art style for the human characters is pleasing to you 2. hoping there's a character that's your type 2a. picking between potentially samefaced characters 3. why's there always just one non white person 4. where are all the fat and old people 5. -

[repotting]

people who don't normally read sci fi have such bad taste in sci fi 😭

[bitalis]

i will say so far i really am enjoying the game . varric narrating and them showing those styled cutscenes reminds me so much of DA2 that it genuinely feels like home and the combat is so much fun!!!

[themanwhomadeamonster]

tumblr seems to be all good with the news of dd2 so far but i think a lot of the more hardcore ppl on reddit, discord, etc expected too much from this game, especially with ppl comparing it to the likes of elden ring (soulsbornes and their impact on the arpg genre is another can of worms for another time tbh) and bg3. from the get go, the devs made it clear that it's a personal passion project that doesn't NEED to try to reinvent the wheel but wants to stick to its personal philosophy as being a primarily fun love letter to old school rpgs including the wacky mechanics of long rests, limited fast travel, etc. than trying to break new industry standards or whatever? idk. obvs i haven't played the game and shit and my opinion is probs gonna change as is normal when playing vs speculating but some ppl set their expectations too high when nobody ever promised mind-bendingly novel mechanics lmao. the game isn't perfect but it never wanted to be anyway

[dwemer-osha]

Okay someone PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one grossed out by the way they sexualize Riju in totk?? Like even if she is 18, which I HIGHLY doubt seeing as she was still a fairly young child in botw, it's still kind of really gross to start treating someone like that as soon as they become an adult. There's obviously a problem with the way the Gerudo as a whole are sexualized, but it's so much worse when this character who was a child in the last game is suddenly getting closeup shots of her body in weird ways. It's just... I feel really uncomfortable with it.

[penisbilt]

the bittersweet but absolute flood of relief that comes from admitting defeat at living independently, to have to move back in with parents. we tried! we gave it our best shot for almost 3 years! but living like this (being on our own) is just not possible for us at this time of our lives. we've finally proved it to ourselves that we can't do it. it'll be okay to let ourselves rest now

[yutamayo]

omg the cute autistic/mutual friend at the party I was talking ab way back just moved into our building!!! I legit ran into him omw in and exchanged instas he is SO adorable and cute and I love him like I just wanna be around him so like tf I am SO HAPPY

[leafy-m]

So I hit my 700th edit for the WHA wiki today, because I am a totally normal person

[the-flaming-nightmare]

Moodboard Tag Game

Thanks for the tag, @anewkindofme! 💚

Rules: post a picture of a place, animal, plant, season, character, hobby, color, gemstone, and food that reminds you of yourself/represents you

Road to the Madera County countryside (bottom left corner), wolf (top middle), Venus fly traps (top right corner), autumn (bottom right corner), Sam Winchester from Supernatural (direct middle), reading (middle left), red (top left corner), ruby (middle right), and pancakes (bottom middle).

Tagging (if you wanna): @angelique-of-the-volturi-guard, @northbeastart, @craycraybluejay and @rhoooooo