#they’re playing dragon city irl

[suushy1]

girls shopping with their dragon pets

[macgyvertape]

FF14 Heavensward notes

Took me a month to realize its Heavensward not Heaven-sword.

I’ve given up on crafting/gathering classes. I don’t intend to keep playing after finishing the story in all the expansions and I don’t want to invest the time to level. Its getting tempting already to just watch the cutscenes for other classes instead of leveling them 

Its also nice to decide to not care about transmog hunting or saving items for glamours unless I know I’ll use them. When I played WoW during Legion I invested a lot of effort in glamorous and now I don’t even play that game.

 It took 5 months to get through HW, so in post expansion patches I gave up and looked up major Shadowbrings spoilers because I wanted to know why Greek gods are in this game? Ppl were talking about hades and I was wondering if it was a crossover with Hadesgame, but no it’s the same dude who shoots the cat boy who shows up whenever I look up anything about Garleans or Ascians. I can see why he’s so popular he’s peak “poor little meow meow” 

So know I know the overall shadowbringers plot directly related to skunk hair asshole and warriors of darkness so its nice that I’m not totally lost on cosmic lore 

Main Quest

Oh wow voice actor budget went up, and Alphinaud got a new voice actor who sounds bland

Ishgard is a very weirdy scaled city, everything is so tall and vaguely gothic and all the clothing fashion dates to late middle ages with Hennins and Henry the 8th style fur coats

Oh nice that we get choice in dialogue and can be sympathetic towards Iceheart. That she has the echo, is she like our narrative foil?

Haurchefant really is a bro, saving me from an escort quest then supporting me during trial by combat

Back to main storyline, time to go fight all those Crystal Braves we trained. A based plotline would have the message “this is why PMCs are bad”

Its really hard to judge Ilberd’s  “you’re being used as a pawn just like me” when like i have no idea of the stakes of the conflict I’m involved in, but I do feel like a pawn in the Dragon vs Catholic snow elf war. Also his accent in voiced dialogue took me by surprise

Told Auphinad “why don't we just leave?”, and i know it doesn’t change anything but i like to pretend thats why we are going to see Iceheart

We get to call Iceheart Ysayle now, which is great that we can travel with her

Breaking into the Hive quest is the worst quest yet, like holy shit it fucking sucks with how easy it is to pull too much aggro and how trash White Mage is at doing damage

Ysayle is the best part of this expansion, road-tripping with her

Heavansword makes the whole Primal summoning super interesting, if the dragon is to be believed summoning not the actual god but your biased perception of one. (After looking up spoilers guess all gods are fake lmao)

 Wow Ysayle having a crisis of faith and we just leave her there…..

So glad Lolorito gets voice lines as he explains his plans. What a smug conniving asshole, he's the most engaging antagonist yet and its been 1 conversation. Ilberd still asshole but barely not as bad as i thought that he supported a bloodless coup to get resources for his home country rebellion against the Empire. Sucks that I guess he’s being cast away as a political pawn

Whats the irl equivalent here for the Crystal Braves and them being used as a tool in a coup? They’re obviously a PMC but I guess the Syndicate plants was just a hostile takeover

Wow so the big twist were the Dragon brothers were swapping along eyes like its Naruto

Nice to see Estinien and Ysale team up since it seems the war was founded on bullshit, and just kept going by the Elf catholics trying to gain more power

The moment where my friend and I pause to talk about how attractive Hilda is. All that leather and those boots, its that feeling where I’m both attracted to her and envious because I want to look like her but that leather look is a lot harder to pull off irl

RIP TO Haurchefant, my favorite snow elf dude. “A smile better suits a hero” I’m gonna burn this whole ass church down, actually a very tragic death 

Like I am trying to follow the story and the characters but somehow the way it was presented and that I only play a few hours a week I didnt realize Fortemps and Haurchefant were related until the father was literally sobbing and saying son

WHYS THE EMPIRE HERE? WHATS ALLAG? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DRAGONS AND YSALE? Like she seemed to be dropped from the story. Varis zos Galvus, I want to look him up but the wiki is full of spoilers :(

Fool me once with Nero in the Crystal tower shame on me. Fool me twice, Lucia is a Garlean that’s it time to be suspicious of anyone with any sort of bangs or headband

Y'shtola is back, the expansion has gotten better, and she has a nice outfit upgrade

Hilda is back again as we say goodbye to all the characters, wish she had been in more quests 

Ysayle heroically sacrificing herself for us, sad to see it happen and fuck the empire 

Doing Heavensword dungeon: I thought we had killed Lahabrea. My friend: somehow Lahabrea has returned

The part where the pope-king transforms, its comical how ginormous he becomes

Estinien becoming Nidhogg has been the most interesting thing for his character. I know he and Alymeric are fan favorites are fan favorites but I’m meh about them 

Are the ascians on the fucking moon?! Was this a much bigger reveal pre-Endwalker and all the moon's haunted memes?

“Warrior of Darkness” looks like bog standard scruffy dude video game protagonist. Is he meant to look like the generic scruffy guy from the marketing?

Great to see Thancred back again in a cool new outfit plus eyepatch! Lmao he emerged from the livestream bucknaked!

Aymeric is just fucking stabbed in the street! Drama

The rescue the hostages mission was the worst mission in a while, super long and really slow as WHM as it doesn’t let you heal the NPC way through

I don’t fucking trust Unukalhai because they’re wearing a mask, and I don’t trust Urianger because he wasn’t running around Ishgard with us (aside from the Ascian cutscenes the player sees)

Don’t think we’ll be getting Minfilia back from being bonded with the Mother Earth Crystal Spirit. Especially if she wants us to kill all ascians, have we never not been in a “holy war” aside from fighting the Empire? (Having looked up spoilers lmao)

Alphinaud’s really going through it 

Aymeric is asking us out for a drink, shame I’m meh about him

I didn’t like Emmanellain and that was before he ordered a protestor shot and killed. Punching Thancred while whining is like point of no return for like-ability

FUCK this grand melee, have to do this long ass fight over again because my healer can’t burst down the boss before he casts the party wipe spell.  He still cast it again on Very Easy but atleast it didn’t kill me

Can’t believe we just toss the eyes into the abyss and don’t do anything to destroy them. Lord of the Rings style i expect these to reappear since there was no volcano. LMAO less than an hour later and there’s some going to get those eyes

Aymeric wants a dinner date with the player, sorry buddy but your not my type

Rip to the scions but the Warriors of Darkness party has better fashion

Tragic backstory, LMAO alphinaud was just like “would your plan even work?“ and they’re like “uuuhh enough talking”. Somehow Uriangar with a bandanna over his face is perfectly disguised, from everyone but the player. Like its been years of IRL experience wearing masks that covering just the bottom of your face doesn’t stop people from recognizing you

Excited to finally see Yda and Papalymo

Urianger is such an over dramatic asshole (complementary)

The warriors of darkness are pretty sympathetic

So Lahabrea and Igeyorhm got sucked into the eyes and are still there? I guess Elbidius didn’t care to get them out, or couldn’t? Even spoilered on a bunch of Ascian lore I’m still confused 

Baelsar’s Wall dungeon: i liked Ilberd as an asshole character right until the mechanically complex fight where he went “sloooppppy” every 15 seconds. ╰（‵□′）╯

Nero shows up talking about Omega, congrats to you Mr 2nd Place Pathetic Loserman

Very relieved Yda takes off her mask and she isn’t a Garlean

Side Quests

The Dark Knight quest feels very edgy in a fun way, especially when Fray’s eyes glow red. At first I was like "oh dark knight like batman" then I realized edgier and more like Konrad Curze. Shame the class starts at lvl 30 it seems cool thematically and I do love wielding a giant 2h sword but I don’t want to level this class right now

I unlocked Red Mage, I like the style of it but there are a lot of buttons. The tumblr infographic was actually really helpful and I now enjoy playing it

I thought WHM was questline was boring, but now after doing the final lvl 60 quest I just hate it. It took me 10 min running around the caves to find the right spot and then it was just healing a dragon (flashbacks to healing a tree)

I love the Dancer outfit but the class abilities and playstile are super confusing

Doing the gunbreaker quest, and there are tiger-men? (Radovan) like my character is a human who has cat traits but this is more on the furry side where the tiger has human qualities

[baekhvuns]

Man City who??? Idk them 🙈🙉🙊 ugh the "next X" is so annoying, reminds me of "the next BTS" stfu already and let them be themselves! Barca girls? Them I can support!

Baek we're all Chelsea players at this point I'm afraid... can't even blame it on Abeamovich anymore 🔫

Lowkey thought Villa retired, I was so shocked to find him in India.

I've been to Plant Cafe before and it's good! I'm not sure if I'm going to Jeju this time round, I'm planning on coming back in the summer. I'll be quite busy with work so it'll keep me distracted or kill me. I like to be updated tho, so can't totally stay away from Twitter, also literally so many of my friends are seeing Ateez I WON'T BE ABLE TO ESCAPE IT 😭😭😭😭

I see you're determined to post the Yunho fic, I hope it happens soon for the sake of your mental health! And so you can focus on you know who perhaps 😉

Hannah no legs???? What happened!? Yes, I still have some of my Bratz dolls, but never had Shortcakes they weren't popular over here. Also Bratz games, I ate that shit up.

Bestie you haven't seen SKINS?! Maybe you're too young, but this show shaped me (not sure if it's a good thing lmao). It was one of the first "real" teen shows, not everything aged well, but it was a cultural reset. Huh omg I love Freaky Friday, so I might tune in for this, unless it's cringy af

Tasir whomst?! (I'm joking ily Tasir!) I'll give that Toothless ring to Hwa, just watch me!

Tbh I'd expect that reaction from Ronaldo and same, I used to do this shit in FIFA when my teams lost 😭

I know like four(?) Imagine Dragons songs, so I'm not sure 😅 Edgy Aussie band aksjajshahjaha TXT in their 70s era. Right, Tinnitus?! I love the Blue Hour's Korean title You and I found in the sky at 5:35 but Crown and One day a horn grew out of my head???

My first Ateez meeting was a blur I barely remember anything, but the hwands were smooth indeed... I thought Hwa looked like CEO doing aegyo, but junior tutor?! Why would you bring him up I'M PUNCHING MYSELF NOW. DILF Mingi made a comeback too

So true...Baby girl...

I can't move on from this I'M REACHING THE MAXIMUM LEVEL OF INSANITY 😱

This is so fucking funny ajshhahsusuahwhshw

What a throwback lol

This fucking company?!??! I thought no one was as bad or worse as the Omega X agency. Poor girls, seriously, they're all suffering so much, I read their private messages and they were so sad. Also the GWSN's company? They were detained from their dorm?! Wtf. Honestly as bad as some big companies are, at least they have enough money and don't pull THIS shit

Uhm and Lucas.....? That's insane. SM is so fucking weird. Literally whay the fuuuuck, Chris Lee you stupid mf... Some people say Lookass might go solo?! Mate has very little talent compared to people like Ten, Taeyong, Mark, let's be serious 😭😭😭😭 WayV, NCT and SuperM gonna catch strays because of him 🔫 poor Baekhyun too - DV 💖

hello!!

Man City who??? Idk them 🙈🙉🙊 ugh the "next X" is so annoying, reminds me of "the next BTS" stfu already and let them be themselves! Barca girls? Them I can support! //// Baek we're all Chelsea players at this point I'm afraid... can't even blame it on Abeamovich anymore 🔫 //// Lowkey thought Villa retired, I was so shocked to find him in India.

it really is bc those “next x” where are they??? they fall under the pressure and never end up making it,,, i think u know about how at one time rm got every big player as their mid fielders and they never gave them time to play which made their playing career 📉📉 ancelottt’s doing it again 😭😭 YEAH BARCA GIRLIES they’re actually kind of insane,,, NO SERIOUSLY WHAT POSITION DO U PLAY IN THE CHELSEA FC??? 🤨 yeah it’s so surprising but i guess good for him id be passing out tbh if i saw him irl <3

AND AND?? VARANE RETIREMENT??? AYO?

since we were talking about d*ni a*v*s that m*son gr**nw**d is back 🔫 major loss for prison fc

I've been to Plant Cafe before and it's good! I'm not sure if I'm going to Jeju this time round, I'm planning on coming back in the summer. I'll be quite busy with work so it'll keep me distracted or kill me. I like to be updated tho, so can't totally stay away from Twitter, also literally so many of my friends are seeing Ateez I WON'T BE ABLE TO ESCAPE IT 😭😭😭😭

pls do send a few restaurants u go to! AHHH if u go back in the summer you’ll be able to see those waterbomb festivals! hopefully ateez summer cb 🤲🏻😭😭 SEE I WILL KEEP U SELECTIVELY UPDATED, BLOCK UR FRIENDS THEYRE having a london fansign 😭😭

I see you're determined to post the Yunho fic, I hope it happens soon for the sake of your mental health! And so you can focus on you know who perhaps 😉 /// Hannah no legs???? What happened!? Yes, I still have some of my Bratz dolls, but never had Shortcakes they weren't popular over here. Also Bratz games, I ate that shit up.

giving myself this one last time if i can’t write it i will not anymore my fingers just won’t write for him fhwjdh 😭😭😭 U ALREADY KNOWWWWW U ALREADY KNOW ☺️☺️ hannah no legs! took it to aussie as a kid to visit family, went to my cousins place and (left the doll at another’s) came home to her foot being cut off by a 3 1/2 kid <333 i was fed excuses and i beloved them 🫡🫡 one thing about bratz doll’s is that their hair’s are so long,,, i used to shampoo them all the time fbwkfbdk strawberry shortcake dolls are creepy actually good thing u don’t have any 😭😭 STOP IT DO U RMR BRATZ GAME ON GAMEBOY

Bestie you haven't seen SKINS?! Maybe you're too young, but this show shaped me (not sure if it's a good thing lmao). It was one of the first "real" teen shows, not everything aged well, but it was a cultural reset. Huh omg I love Freaky Friday, so I might tune in for this, unless it's cringy af

IM YOUNG JCHCKCKS not “everything aged well” LIKE EVERY SHOW FROM THE EARLY 2000’s 😭😭😭 freaky friday is so good,, apparently ryan reynolds has a body swap movie too?? the change up?? gonna watch it but do u rmr that one movie where the nerd or the popular girl and the ‘footballer’ quarter back swapped bodies the “it’s a boy girl thing”💀💀 it was cute at times but not many ppl liked it,, hoping it’s not cringey bc we’ve HAD ENOUGH

Tasir whomst?! (I'm joking ily Tasir!) I'll give that Toothless ring to Hwa, just watch me! //// Tbh I'd expect that reaction from Ronaldo and same, I used to do this shit in FIFA when my teams lost 😭

LMFAOOO TASIR WHOMST??? OH IM SORRY HE DOES NOT EXIST I THINK?? PLS DO TAKE IT TO A FANSIGN 😭😭 JCBANCHCKC DID U DO IT WHEN RM LOST TO BARCA 😭😭😭 will be me when psg v bayern and if they lose

I know like four(?) Imagine Dragons songs, so I'm not sure 😅 Edgy Aussie band aksjajshahjaha TXT in their 70s era. Right, Tinnitus?! I love the Blue Hour's Korean title You and I found in the sky at 5:35 but Crown and One day a horn grew out of my head???

omg pls listen to bad liar by them, it started the villain yn and king hwa au for me <3 my religious anthem actually,,, TINNITUS HAD ME WEAK 😭😭😭 like the ringing in ears pls hybe 😭😭 ONE DAY A HORN GREW OUT OF MY HEAD GET THE FUCK OUT TBWMFBKWD THIS DEVIL IMAGERY HAS ME CRYING WHO’S WRITING THESE THINGS 😭😭😭😭

My first Ateez meeting was a blur I barely remember anything, but the hwands were smooth indeed... I thought Hwa looked like CEO doing aegyo, but junior tutor?! Why would you bring him up I'M PUNCHING MYSELF NOW. DILF Mingi made a comeback too

do u think he has hand creams for this hand, flavoured ones too,,, JUNIOR TUTOR TELL ME IT DOESNT LOOK LIKE IT GBWMFNWMJC the teasing mc and the poor junior that has to help mc <333 nuna romance <3 DILF MINGI. HAHA. and he?

ur right this tweet, he’s coming for messi’s ballon d’or actually

So true...Baby girl... //// I can't move on from this I'M REACHING THE MAXIMUM LEVEL OF INSANITY 😱 /// This is so fucking funny ajshhahsusuahwhshw /// What a throwback lol

he’s in his baby girl era omg,,, if he doesn’t put pretty sparkly clips in his hair,, HEY HEY HEY I AM BLIND DONT DO THIS 😩😩 LMFAOOO STOP BRO IS TIRED HIS FACE FBWJDHKWJCJC

baek taemin and kai in one group is a blessing,, their friendship >>> do u rmr this 😭😭

WAR IS OVER

This fucking company?!??! I thought no one was as bad or worse as the Omega X agency. Poor girls, seriously, they're all suffering so much, I read their private messages and they were so sad. Also the GWSN's company? They were detained from their dorm?! Wtf. Honestly as bad as some big companies are, at least they have enough money and don't pull THIS shit

this is like jessica’s case w sm??? and the company of theirs is trying to get them to promo as 12 members in japan??? wHAAT ARE THEY ON??? chu is so exhausted the media is just going haywire on her,, im glad ppl are supporting her bc that company is run by petty fucks,,, NOOO THAT GWSN THING WQS SO INSANE??? HOW ARE THE COMPANIES NOT ARRESTED ATP?? how hard it is to treat ur group CORRECTLY

Uhm and Lucas.....? That's insane. SM is so fucking weird. Literally whay the fuuuuck, Chris Lee you stupid mf... Some people say Lookass might go solo?! Mate has very little talent compared to people like Ten, Taeyong, Mark, let's be serious 😭😭😭😭 WayV, NCT and SuperM gonna catch strays because of him 🔫 poor Baekhyun too - DV 💖

i tbh didn’t even know what to say,,, wayv was so excited for their fanmeet, baek was coming back and now chris lee just decided to bring him back, just when u thought everything was good 😭😭😭 as in what did he bring to the group,,,, poor baekhyun bc lookas would start with calling baek pig and fat and hitting his injured leg again 😭😭😭 i will THROW HANDS AT HIM ON GOD FBWMDJWK baek back in one day! like bro’s out here dancing like rent due and getting hurt and lookas?

😭😭

and uh?

ARE WE HEARING PROMOTIONS???? FOR EVERYONE???? 41 albums,,,, oh we’re gonna be FED

[felassan]

Dragon Age development insights and highlights from Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development

Some really tasty factoids here.

Cut for length.

Dragon Age: Origins

The continent of Thedas was at one point going to be named Pelledia, a name initially floated by James Ohlen

“Qunari” was a temporary name that ended up unintentionally sticking, much like “Thedas”

Mary Kirby wrote the Landsmeet. To this day, nobody understands how it works, except possibly her. If she’s “really really drunk” she can explain how it works. There’s as many words in it as Sten’s entire conversations put together

Concept art for Thedosian art - as in in-world art - draws heavily on Renaissance-era portraiture, the Art Nouveau movement, religious styles and media like stained glass, and favorite pieces from the golden age of illustrations in the early 20th century

Andrastianism in-world (art-wise) is depicted in wildly different methods depending on who in-world made the art in question. “One religion, 3 different lenses”. There’s the Chantry take, the Orlesian take and the Fereldan take; each with its own different interpretations, different mediums and different stories

The stained glass images were drawn by Nick Thornborrow for DAI, to decorate religious spaces in that game “and beyond”

irl Viking art influenced Ferelden

Greek and Italian art influenced Orlais

The book also had other insights into and anecdotes from the development of DAO, but I’ve transcribed them recently as they’re essentially the stories DG has recently been relating on the awesome Summerfall Studios DAO playthrough Twitch streams. (On those streams he provides dev commentary while Liam Esler plays through DA. The ones with DG are currently once every two weeks. Check them out! Here’s a calendar where you can check when the next one is) Instead of repeating myself I’ll just provide the link to the first transcript. From there you can navigate to the subsequent parts. Note these streams are ongoing. At this point I will also point you to a related post which is cliff notes of the Dragon Age chapter in Jason Schreier’s book Blood Sweat and Pixels.

Dragon Age II

DAO had the longest development period in BioWare history. In contrast DA2 had the shortest

Initially DA2 was going to be an expansion to DAO. A few months in EA said “Yeah, expansions like these don’t sell very well, so let’s make it a sequel.” So it suddenly became DA2 and they had to make it even bigger, although they still only had 1.5 years of time in which to do this

Production of DA2 officially lasted only 9 months, and at the time the team was still supporting live content for DAO! They finished development that January after the design team crunched all the way through the holiday period that year. Then it went to cert 9 times

The limited time they had is why the story takes place mostly in and around 1 city, and over 7 years (so it was temporal, rather than over physical distance, because a more expansive world would have taken more irl time to make)

They had no time to review even the main plot. Mike Laidlaw pitched the idea of 3 stories taking place at different points in the PC’s life, tied together by Varric’s recollections of events. DG rolled with this and made 1 presentation on the idea. This presentation was then approved and off they went

As they were writing DG realized that there was going to be no oversight and that everything was going to be a ‘first draft’. “Because nobody had time.” He sat down with the writers and said “Look, here’s the conditions we’re working under. A lot of what we’re putting out is gonna be raw. We’re not going to get the editing we need. We’re not going to get the kind of iteration we need. So I’m going to trust you all to do your best work.”

Looking back, DG has mixed feelings on DA2. “A lot of corners were cut. The public perception was that it was smaller than DAO. That’s a sin on its own.”

Despite this he thinks DA2 has some of the best writing in the series, especially character-wise. The DA2 chars are his favorite

The pace with which production progressed may in some ways have helped. “When we do a lot of revision, we often file away [as in buff off] some of the good writing as well. Somehow DA2′s whirlwind process resulted in some really good writing”

The pace meant chars landed on the writers in various stages of completion. For example Isabela was fairly defined due to appearing in DAO. In contrast Varric at the start was just that single piece of widely-shown concept art

Varric was conceived as a storyteller not a fighter. His skills are talking and bullshitting. Hence the question became, so what does this guy do in combat? The direction was to make him as different as possible to Oghren, so not a warrior. He couldn’t be a dual-wielding rogue in order to differentiate him from Bela. But you can’t really picture this guy with a bow. “For a dwarf, it would probably be a crossbow. We didn’t have crossbows, or we only had crossbows for the darkspawn. And they were part of the models. We didn’t have a separate crossbow that was equip-able by the chars. They had to like, crop one off a darkspawn and remodel it. And that became Bianca” (quote: Mary Kirby)

“Dwarven mages are exceedingly rare.” [???]

If DAO was a classic fantasy painting, DA2 was a screenshot from a Kurosawa film or a northern Renaissance painting. (Here Matt Rhodes was commenting on art style)

John Epler: “In any one of our games, there’s a 95% chance that if you turn the camera away from what it’s looking at, you’ll see all kinds of janky stuff. The moment we know the camera is no longer facing someone, we no longer care what happens to them. We will teleport people around. We will jump people around. We will literally have someone walk off screen and then we will shift them 1000 meters down, because we’re fixing some bug.” John also talked about this camera stuff in a recent charity Twitch stream for Gamers For Groceries. There’s a writeup of that stream here

Designing Kirkwall pushed concept artists to the limits of visual storytelling, because it has a long history that they wanted to be present. It was once the hub of Tevinter’s slave empire, so it needed to look brutal and harsh, but it also then needed to feel reclaimed, evolved, and with elements of contemporary Free Marches culture

The initial plan was for DA titles to be distinguished by subtitles not numbers, so that each experience could stand on its own rather than feel like a sequel or continuation. (My note: New PCs in each entry make sense then when you consider this and other factoids we know like how DA is the story of the world not of any one PC). Later, DA2′s name was made DA2 in a bid to more clearly connect the game to its predecessor. For DAI they returned to the original naming convention. (My note: so I’d reckon they’d be continuing the subtitle naming convention for DA4)

DA2 was initially code-named “Nug Storm”, strictly internally

The Cancelled DA2 Expansion - Exalted March

This was a precursor to DAI

It was meant to bridge the gap between DA2 and DAI

It focused on the fallout from Kirkwall’s explosion, with Cory serving as the villain

Meredith’s red lyrium statue was basically going to infest Kirkwall and it would end up [with what would end up] the red templars taking over Kirkwall and essentially being Cory’s army

To stop him Hawke would have recruited various factions, including Bela’s Felicisima Armada and the Qunari at Estwatch, forcing Hawke to split loyalties and risk relationships in the process

It was meant to bring DA2′s story to an end and end in Varric’s death. DG was very happy with this because all of DA2 is Varric’s tale. The expansion was supposed to start at the moment Cassandra’s interrogation of him ended in the present. “And we finished off the story with Varric having this heroic death.” It tied things up and would have broken many fan hearts, something BioWare writers notoriously enjoy. But between a transition to the new Frostbite engine and the scope of DAI, the decision was made to cancel EM, work any hard-to-lose concepts into DAI, and in the process save Varric’s life. DG has talked about the Varric dying thing before

Concept art for EM explored new areas previously not depicted in the DA universe, with costumes that reflected next steps for familiar chars. Varric was going to war, what would he have worn? With Anders, if he survived DA2, the plan was to present a redeemed Warden

A char that vaguely resembled Sera in DAI was first concepted for EM. This fact was mentioned near this concept art (see the female elf) and this concept art of Bethany with the blond bob

The writers sketched out plans to end it with Hawke having the option to marry their LI. This included alternate ceremonies for party members like Bethany and Sebastian if the player opted not to wed. There was even a wedding dress made for Hawke. This asset made it into DAI (Sera and Cullen’s weddings in Trespasser). The dress can also be seen in DAI during an ambient NPC wedding after completing a chain of war table missions

The destruction of a Chantry was explored in concept art as it might have happened in EM. This idea ended up carrying over to the beginning of DAI. (My note: Lol, the idea that DA2 could have had 2 Chantries being destroyed in it 😆)

World of Thedas

Sheryl Chee and Mary Kirby started with “a disgusting little dish called fluffy mackerel pudding”. In the middle of DAO’s busy dev period one of them (they can’t remember who) found a recipe online for this, scanned in from a 70s cookbook. “I don’t understand why it was fluffy. Why would you want fluffy mackerel pudding?” MK says. “We loved it so much we included it in a DAO codex.”

This led them to create more food for Thedas, full recipes included, like a Fereldan turnip and barley stew from MK and SC’s Starkhaven fish and egg pie. The fish pie became Sebastian’s favorite. “To me it made sense for it to be fish pie because a lot of the Free Marches are on the coast”, SC says, “It was something that was popular in medieval times, so I thought, let’s make a fish pie! I looked at medieval recipes and I concocted a fish pie which I fed to my partner, and he was like ‘This is not terrible’”

For WoT the whole studio was asked to contribute family recipes which might have a place in Thedas. SC adapted these to fit in one Thedosian culture or another, including a beloved banana bread that localization producer Melanie Fleming would regularly bake to keep the DA team motivated. “Melanie’s banana bread got us through Inquisition”

DAI

It says part of DAI takes place in or near the border with Nevarra [???]

This game was aimed to be bigger than DA2 and even DAO in every conceivable way

The first hour had to do a lot of heavy lifting, tying together the events of DAO and DA2 while introducing a new PC, new followers etc in the aftermath of the big attack. DG rewrote it 7 times then Lukas Kristjanson did 2 more passes

DG: “Our problem is always that our endings are so important, but we leave them to last, when we have no time. I kept pushing on DAI: ‘Can we work on the ending now? Can we work on the ending now? Can we do it early on?’ Because I knew exactly what it was going to be. But despite the fact that it kept getting scheduled, whenever the schedule started falling behind, it kept getting pushed back... so, of course, it got left til last again.”

“The reveal of the story’s real antagonist, Solas, a follower until the end, when he betrayed the player”. “Solas’ story remains a main thread in Inquisition’s long-awaited follow-up” [these aren’t DG quotes, just bits of general text]

Over the course of development they had 8 full-time writers and 4 editors working on it. Other writers joined later to help wrangle what ended up being close to 1 million words of dialogue and unspoken text. While many teams moved to a more open concept style of work for DAI, the writers remained tucked away in their own room, a choice DG says was necessary, given how much they talked. All the talking had a purpose ofc as if someone hit a bump or wall in their writing they would open the problem up to the room

As writing on a project like DAI progresses, the writers grow punchier and weirder things make it into the game. This is especially the case towards the end of a project (they get tired, burned out)

Banter and codexes require less ‘buy-in’ (DG has talked about this concept a few times on the Twitch streams) from other designers. DG liked to leave banter for last as a reward because it was fun. Banter begins as lists of topics for 2 followers to discuss. These may progress over time or be one off exchanges. One banter script can balloon to well over 10k words. “The banter was always huge because we were always like, laughing, and really at that point, our fields of fucks were rather barren, so we would just do whatever”

The bog unicorn happened pretty much by accident. It was designed by Matt Rhodes and was one of his fav things to design. They needed horse variations and he had already designed an undead variant which was a bog mummy [bog body]. irl these are preserved in a much different way to traditional mummies. When someone dies in a bog their skin turns black and raisin-like. The examples we know of tend to have bright red hair for whatever reason. It’s a very striking look and MR wanted to do a horse version of this as he thought it’d be neat. 5 mins before the review meeting for it he had a big ‘Aha!’ moment, quickly looked up a rusty old Viking sword, and photoshopped it through its skull like that was how it died. “And I was like, ‘I just made a unicorn. Alright, in it goes!’” It got approved. “So we built the thing. It fit. It told a little story”

With the irl Inquisition longsword, one of the objects they tested its cleaving ability on was a plush version of Leliana’s nug Schmooples

The concept art team explored a wide variety of visuals for the Inquisitor’s signature mark. It needed to look powerful and raw but couldn’t look like a horrific wound. In some cases, as cool as the idea looked on paper, they just weren’t technically feasible, especially as they had to be able to fit on any number of different bodies

Bug report: “Endlessly spawning mounts! At one point during development, Inquisitors could summon a new horse every time they whistled, allowing them to amass a near infinite number of eager steeds that faithfully followed them across Thedas. “You could go charging across levels and they’d all gallop behind you,” Jen Cheverie says, “It was beautiful.” Trotting into town became an epic horse siege as a tidal wave of mounts enveloped the streets. Jen called it her Army of Ponies”

The giants came from DA Week, an internal period when devs can pursue different individual creative projects that in some way benefit DA. They also had a board game from one of these that they were going to put in but they didn’t have time. It’s referenced though. It was dwarven chess

Josie’s outfit is made of gold silk and patterned velvet, with leather at her waist. She carries “an ornate ledger” and she has “an ornamented collar sitting around her neck, finished by a brilliant red ruby, like a drop of Antivan wine in a sunbeam”

Iron Bull’s armor is leather. His loose pantaloons and leather boots give him agility to charge

On DAI in particular, concept artists took special care to make sure costumes would be realistic, at least in a practical ‘this obeys the laws of physics and textiles’ sense. “While on Inquisition, we thought about cosplay from a concept art perspective. Given how incredible a lot of [cosplays] are, I now am not worried about them. In fact in some cases in the future I want to throw them curveballs like, ‘All right, you clever bastards. Let’s see if you can do this!’”

2 geese that nested on the office building and had chicks were named Ganders and Arishonk (it wasn’t known who was the mom or the dad). Other possible names were Carver Honke, Bethany Honke, Urdnot Pecks, Quackwall, Cassandra Pentagoose, the Iron Bill, Shepbird, Garroose, Admiral Quackett, Scout Honking, HChick-47 and Darth Malgoose

Bug report: “The surprising adventures of Ser Noodles!” DAI was the first time the series had a mount feature, meaning this had a lot of bugs. A lot of the teams’ favorite bugs were to do with the mounts. There was a period of time where the Inquisitor’s horse seemed to lose all bone and muscle in its legs. They had a week or so where all quadruped legs were broken. It was a bit noticeable in things like nugs and other small beasties but the horse was insanely obvious. “The first time we summoned the horse [for this] and started running around, the entire QA exploration room just exploded with laughter.” Its legs flapped around like cooked fettucine, leading testers to lovingly nickname it Ser Noodles. At galloping speeds the legs almost looked like helicopter blades, especially when footage was set to classic pieces such as Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries

For DAI the artists were asked questions like “What would Morrigan wear to a formal ball? Can Cassandra pull off a jaunty hat?”

On DAI storyboarding became the norm. John Epler: “Cinematic design for the longest time was the Wild West. It was ‘here’s a bunch of content, now do it however you want’, which resulted in some successes and some failures.” Storyboarding gave designers a consistent visual blueprint based on ideas from designers, writers and concept artists

Quote from a storyboard by Nick Thornborrow (the Inquisitor going into the party at the end of basegame sequence): “Until Corypheus revealed himself they could not see the single hand behind the chaos. A magister and a darkspawn combined. The ultimate evil. So evil. Eviler than puppy-killers and egg farts combined.”

A general note on concept art:

In the early stages of any project, before the concept artists are aware of any writing, they like to just draw what they think cool story moments could be. It’s not unusual for the team to then be inspired by these and fold them into the game as the project progresses

– From Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development

[pangolin-404]

Recent Thoughts about Minecraft

right as the title says! Thoughts I have about the recent Minecraft updates, and what direction I see the game as going in. Gentle criticisms and such! Don’t misunderstand this, I love this game dearly.

Starting off:

The Warden and the Ancient City

I think the Warden has been buffed far too much. The idea of it being stronger than the Enger Dragon itself is interesting. But the ranged attack 1) has a much to short cooldown time, 2) bypasses shields, and 3) goes through walls. This is too much. I disagree with the idea of a mob players have no choice but to avoid, period. Minecraft is about choices and playing how you want to play. By intentionally making a mob a pain to deal with, Mojang is making the game less fun for players by removing the option of having a challenging fight, or a fair flee (I will say it again! The ranged attack goes through walls!). The Warden doesn’t even drop anything, which I also see as a flaw, but given how it’s not intended to be engaged with at all, I’m not surprised. Right now, I really love the Warden as a concept, but it needs a better execution.

The Ancient City doesn’t have loot worth avoiding the Warden for. Some of its most precious loot outside of music discs are, as of writing (March 11, 2022), enchanted diamond armor and emeralds. I can’t see players going in without netherite or at least enchanted diamond armor of their own, and a player that armored wouldn’t have much of a use for armor. Either lesson the threat (re: weaken the warden) so it’s worth the trip or increase the reward. If this was an advanced civilization, as players believe, why not add a scrap of netherite or two, or more diamonds? I’ve seen theories the structure in the center is a portal, which would make the journey more appealing.

Fireflies (and Frogs)

So, Mojang removed fireflies. 2-pixel entities that frogs were meant to eat. They removed fireflies because, in real life, fireflies are poisonous to frogs. This is a silly reason to remove a mob for. Cookies are poisonous to parrots, and yet players can still shove one down their bird’s throat! Frogs don’t have to eat the fireflies. They can exist in the same habitat, no problem. Fireflies make for a living ambience, a light source. People want to put them in bottles and have cute little jars of flreflies! I’ve seen people tease the firefly for being 2 pixels big, but never genuine disagreement toward it.

Animals

Pandas, axolotls, dolphins... All mobs added to Minecraft, all real endangered animals. I think it’s cute to have more irl animals but, personally, I want more wacky critters, like the Mooshroom and Glow Squid. Why not make a mob that serves the same function as a dolphin: Intelligent, playful, and provides a speed boost? I think the frogs are cute, and I think the fireflies are cute, but... I want more passive mobs that aren’t based off real animals.

I think it’s great Mojang has a clear stance on protecting endangered animals. Just, maybe, in the future... more passive weird mobs, please? The ones we’ve gotten lately, like the Guardians and Phantoms and Hoglins, are hostile. Striders are an exception, but they’re found only in the nether. When was the last time we got a passive overworld mob like that? Glow Squids, and...? Nothing else.

Minecraft is a fantasy game with different dimensions and magic and I just want more critters and beasts (friendly), y’know?

Things are Moving Too Fast

Simple as that. That, I believe, is the crux of the problem. Mojang has been showing possible new features, like the Warden, Archeology, and even the Caves & Cliffs, without being totally set or ready for them. These features have been pushed back and reworked (not that these things are inherently bad! It’s just been happening more often more recently). I worry Mojang’s devs are working too hard to produce more content. They aren’t ready to release these things. First Caves & Cliffs was cut in half, where we didn’t even get the Caves & Cliffs in question until the second part. Then the Ancient City was pushed back as the idea grew and developed. Some features, like Archeology, were mentioned and never brought up again.

I want them to slow down. They need to stop setting deadlines for themselves. They need to work at their own pace and take their time deciding what features Minecraft deserves, and how to implement them.

They don’t owe us once-a-year grand updates. 

We love Minecraft. They know this. They need to slow down and take their time on these things, listen more to the fans, and not hold themselves to such strict rules.

[juiceboxman]

Advice for New DMs

I’ve been lucky enough to have DM’d a weekly game for over a year now and I’ve had conversation with people irl and online about how they think about DMing but aren’t necessarily too confident in their own ability or don’t even know where to start. So here’s some things I would suggest to get started, things to keep in mind and advice about general stuff. Here we go;

1) Familiarise Yourself with the Rules. You can read the DMs Manual or the Player’s Manual for rules. You can find rules explained everywhere online from Roll 20 to DND Beyond. But if you don’t like reading, and I get that cause the thought of reading a 200+ page instruction manual on how to play a game does sound daunting, I would suggest watching or listening to Actual Play Shows. If you watch like a few episodes of Critical Role or Dimension 20, you kind of get the basics of DnD. That’s really all you need to start DMing, just the basics like “what which Dice do”.

2) Know your Players. DnD is a collaborative game and all good collaboration necessitates some base understanding of who you’re collaborating with. You don’t necessarily need to know the people you’re playing with very well, but just enough to get where you can decide whether these people are chill to play with. So say if you’re gonna be playing a horror/scary campaign and you know one of the people in mind for playing isn’t too into horror- maybe don’t have them play cause it will make them uncomfortable. That example is perfectly fine but it delves into extremes when you’re dealing with people who are just difficult. You can look up online and find tons of stories relating to bad dnd experiences with just rude, shitty people. I would like to clarify that by saying that these experiences aren’t a DnD problem- it’s a social group problem. If you hang out wih a shitty person they will inevitably do shitty things, and honestly its better that a shitty outburst occurs at a controlled environment such as a DnD Game than say a house party where all sorts of shit could happen. So know your players. If they’re cool people, they’ll make cool players. If they’re kind of shit heads, they’re going to cause a lot of issues and not the fun kind. Know the difference between “shenanigans” and “open disrespect” because you as the DM put a lot of work into the game, if the players don’t respect that- maybe don’t play with them. No dnd is better than bad dnd 

3) Know Your Game. This rule helps a lot if you are familiar with lots of DnD shows, which gives you a frame of reference for the type of campaign you wanna run. If you wanna go big dramatic epics with a lot of strict survivalist rules, Critical Role is a good place to reference. If you wanna go for balls to the wall humour with a lot of heart and emotional moments, NADDPOD is a good place to reference. You want a proper scary campaign, watch Sophomore Year from Dimension 20- it is primarily a comedy show but when they do drama they do DRAMA. Knowing your players allows you to know the game better. It took me quite a while in my own campaign t realise “Oh I’m not running a CR game, I’m running a NADDPOD game” and ater I realised that I was able to play it better. Know the game, know the genre, know what you and your players like and enjoy and try to maximise that fun.

4) Preparation. DMs do a lot of preparation whenever they intend to run a game. I would argue that the amount of preparation you want to do should be equal to the amount of time you’re willing to spend. Sad fact of life is that DnD, and other activities with friends, are all dependant on IRL scheduling. A campaign can fizzle and die out at a moments notice, not all stories get finished and if you wanna start any creative process that’s a reality you have to accept. I’m a creative person, I do quite a lot of writing and stuff on the side so when I do prep for DnD I don’t want to spend too much of my creative juice on a project that only six people at a table will know about compared to one that would feature a larger audience. Also if you have a busy schedule you might not have time to worldbuild, so short cuts help. So in those respects I don’t see anything wrong with being lazy. There are plenty of websites online where you can randomly generate maps, towns, characters- you name it. You don’t need to spend hours on end developing streets of a city that no one will walk down or lore behind businesses no one will ask about. You just need to be familiar enough with the history or your world, its vibe and tone in which you can effectively improv the rest. I’ve been DMing a game now for well over a year, I spend less than an hour a week doing prep. I write a few bullet points for stuff to bring up in the session, I make a brief map for encounters, I’ll look up monster stats, maybe draw up some homebrew and heroforge pictures of the NPCs- that’s it

5) Improv. I think 90% of DMing is pure improv. Depending how well you know your players and their characters, you can predict certain behaviours. So if you have an NPC say or do something that you know will gaina certain reaction from a player, that’s something you are certain about. Everything else however can be improv based. Players will surprise you. They’ll do weird dumb shit and they will do really cool game breaking shit. You have an NPC who was supposed to be a big villain? Well the PCs all teamed up and with an effective strategy, that NPC is now dead. It’s the lay of the land. The goal with prep is to have enough prepared that you can effectively pull stuff out of your ass with no issue. Improv isn’t necessarly difficult, all you really need is to listen. When a player responds to something and you feel its worth rolling for, have them roll for it. If tey roll well, tell them they did the thing. If not, tell them they didn’t. If the thing they asked for is impossible, tell them it’s impossible. You can come up with all sorts on the fly

6) DND isn’t like TV/BOOKS/MOVIES. DND is a weird medium of entertainment. Its a collaberative game where you all make a narrative, but a lot of strange stuff happens in between. Like if youre watching a movie or a show or reading a book you might think to yourself “why is this character spending twenty minutes talking to this waiter that genuinely isn’t that interesting?” or something like “why did the main villain die five pages in?” DND doesn’t follow a beat structure or format. Plot armor doesn’t fit here, it’s all decisions and luck- that’s it. Don’t be dissapointed in your work in regards to storytelling. Don’t worry about plot holes or inconsistencies, just focus on player engagement. If the players are having fun, then you’re playing the game right. You as the DM have to make sure that everyone is playing fairly and having fun. Treat your players equally, don’t be a dick, don’t be a pushover. You have to know what your players want, but also know what they don’t want. If your players like a weird NPC, have that NPC show up more cause they enjoy it. If your players discover an ability ot a magic object that left untouched will alter game play (e.g. one of my PCs recently gained an ability in which they gained the breath weapon of an ancient red dragon) that if used effectively could elminate all threat from any boss fight ever- don’t be afraid to NERF that. You need to be considerate about your enjoyment and the players enjoyment, its all in the balance.

That’s the main six points I have so far. If I have anymre I’ll be sure to add them. If anyone has any advice, feel free to add below. Hope this helps! Also; Brennan Lee Mulligan has a good podcast giving DM advice called Adverturing Academy. Has a lot of cool guests. The episode featuring Carlos Luna from Roll 20 is actually good career advice and gets me motivated just thinking about it. Definitely worth checking out!

[metaldragoon]

@justsuha​ filled this out, and I felt like doing the same.  Kinda felt they didn’t have the best categories so maybe I shouldn’t have bothered, also tried not being too repetitive with my picks. Favourite Game - Final Fantasy VI, this was an easy one for me.  One of the first games I ever played, then I came back to it around like 12-14 years old and it was the first game I ever played on an emulator, then it was one of the first games I ever watched an LP on, one of the first game I ever started playing with mods, and yeah, I’ve just played this game a lot in my life. Best Story - Mass Effect (1), could’ve gone with FFVI again but eh, and maybe Hollow Knight but I feel like the world building in ME1 is crazy-deep and unparalleled.  Maybe that’s not story in like a “plot” sense, but it’s what I settled on. Favourite Art Style - Killer7, was a comfortable pick but Persona 5 is also a really crisp game.  Also thought about other things that are more atmospheric like Metroid Prime, Hollow Knight, or Bloodborne. Favourite Soundtrack - Final Fantasy VI, like I said, didn’t want to be repetitive, so there was games that had like a banger of a track like Papers, Please, or something like Super Meat Boy, but I couldn’t really justify anything being equal to FFVI.   Hardest Game - Dragon Age: Origins, Felt like a Soulsborne game was the “gimme” answer so I wanted to swerve a bit.  DA:O is hard as fuck, if you’re not optimizing your build you’re not beating that game.  Even on “easy” I’m like chill man Funniest Game - Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door, was tempted to go Undertale but since that’s kind of just a parody game I feel like it had a lot more liberties it could take to still be funny.  TTYD is super funny while still being like it’s own game. Game I like that everyone hates - Gears of War 2, some kid in Gr. 11 said I should get a 360 and play that, and so I did.  I played the online mode so much, but it never really felt like a popular competitive game.  I liked being so beefy, it’s basically just one-shotting people with shotguns is the meta and so the whole stalking someone to close the gap to be in range was super fun to me.  Campaign kinda trash and my friend wanted to get an achievement for co-op beating it on the hardest difficult that was miserable for me, but I think it’s a really fun game to play with some great audio too, the SFX are top notch. Game I hate that everyone likes - Borderlands, hate is a strong word but man I don’t really care about this game at all and people have been hyping it up for a decade. Underrated Game - Catherine, all my irl friends I tell about this game don’t know what it is, until I remind them and they go “oh yeah, that game looked weird/was too hard.” don’t know anyone who’s actually played more than an hour of it.  It’s one of my all-time faves, though. Overrated Game - Breath of the Wild, my wife says I didn’t give it a “fair shake” but I played like 20 hours and zzz... was tempted to go with a Pokemon game too, but it’s more a franchise in general than a specific game. Best Voice Acting - Yakuza Kiwami, I didn’t really have any real opinions on a game having good voice acting; generally they don’t.  Yakuza is all VA’d in Japanese so that’s probably why, but it felt pretty cool and was the only thing that I could think of actively enhanding a VG experience.  Maybe shoulda gone GTA (3 or San Andreas), both are really dated and definitely don’t sound that good anymore but one of my favourite games to listen to dialogue from. Worst Voice Acting - Metroid: Other M, not bad in terms of the actual talent of the VA’s but damn if it doesn’t ruin everything about Samus as a character.  “REMEMBA ME?!” Favourite Male - Kazuma Kiryu, was tempted to go General Leo from FFVI, but couldn’t find an image big enough before I resized this, which I could have easily worked around, but I also really like the Dragon of Dojima! It’s weird because he seems like such a simple design but he’s just badass in the right way, and I don’t know why more games can’t get it right.   Favourite Female - Franziska von Karma, from the 2nd Ace Attorney game.  For some reason had a huge crush on her, when I was younger I even drew some fanart of her which I ain’t done for nobody but her and Broly. Favourite Protagonist - Samus Aran, wanted to go with a “franchise” character and Samus is always super cool (except in Other M), I’ll always be excited to play her in some new game.   Favourite Village - Kakariko Village, felt like kind of a weird question, ‘cuz like if it was favourite area or something, I could have put some other stuff (Greenpath in Hollow Knight for example), and being a village I feel like basically limits you to medieval games but not the main hub either as that’s “a city.”  But Ocarina of Time’s Kakariko Village is always really fun to roll in to, also thought of the Goron Village, or just any village in Secret of Mana because that village theme is soo good. Most Hated Character - Nathan Drake, have barely even played Uncharted, but I just always hate any character with his personality, and he’s the biggest and most well-known.  Maybe he’s fine but meh. First Game You Played - Super Mario World, can’t say for 100%, but this and Super Mario Kart were games I was playing a lot since at like 4 or 5 my older brother owned them and they’re the most baby friendly.  Also remember playing a lot of PC games that my dad had, Timon and Pumba pinball, Chip’s Challenge, Ski Free, and stuff like that.  Skunny Kart Racing for DOS but I never understood how to get to DOS. Favourite Company - Bioware, I don’t really care about gaming companies in general, but Mass Effect and DA:O are some of my favourite games.  I might say Square as well but they do a lot of stuff.   Hated Company - Ubisoft, don’t hate them all but I just feel like they only make games I have zero interest in. Depressing Game - Doki Doki Literature Club, this and creepy are kinda really similar I feel, but I went DDLC but I kinda forget how it even ends.  I just remember feeling bummed about the purple and pink haired girl, and then the Monika scene just being uncomfortable (in a good way). Creepy Game - Doom3, don’t really play creepy games, Doom3 was suspenseful so I don’t know if that counts.  I had it for like 2 years, played it once for like 10 hours straight, and never played it again.  Still lives in my head. Happy Game - Super Meat Boy, is this a happy game? I don’t know, I feel like it’s got a pumped up energy which I equate to happiness.  It’s fun and the music makes it really addictive. Favourite Ending - Metal Gear Solid, don’t really have a great answer to this.  I really like Meryl and Snake riding off on their snowmobile though.  

[lil-ichigo-bunny]

『Jai’s Wii Game Playlist』

These games are my favorite ones to play while small / I think would be good to play while small! (Some may be difficult for small kiddos)

Jai’s Top 10:

Mario Kart Wii! This is the game that started my true video game addiction. I one day want to become great at all the versions. Fun fact about myself- I won a Mario Kart Championship irl at a Comic Con one year!

Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 , these games are very fun and I highly suggest them!

PokéPark 1 and 2 , these! are! so! fUN!!!! Just trust me if you like Pokémon but like really cute- then you have to play these!!! You get to *be* a Pokémon!

Barnyard , based off the cartoon, this one has to be one of my most favorite Wii games while small, it- to me -is soooo good!

Disney’s Epic Mickey 1 and 2 , these games are amazing but might be a little difficult for tiny kiddos! This is where my obsession with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit came from! He’s so cute!!

Wii Sports , I love the tennis and bowling games so much (*´꒳`*)

Disney Infinity , very fun but you will need the accompanying figures to play it unfortunately (you don’t need all of them tho). I personally might own all the figures but not all the little “power up chips” (idk what they are actually called)

Petz Dogz 2 (and Catz 2), I have finished the dog version more times than homework- I adore this game with all my heart! You get to play as a dog who has to save the dog village (Pawville) from an evil wolf named Ivlet.

Littlest Pet Shop , mini games and collecting cute animals what else could a kiddo ask for?! I had an intense LPS phase and this game was one of my favorites for a long time! (I still have some old figures from when they first came out but they’re not in good condition- oh and the houses/playsets!!)

Madagascar Escape 2 Africa , oh how I love this game series! This one is my favorite! You get top,ah as all the main characters and go through the world whilst getting to play mini games! (Melmen’s and Gloria’s play throughs are my favorite parts!)

Honorable mentions:

Skylanders, very fun but you need figures to play

Disney Princess Enchanted Journey , kinda fun, you get to help out the Princesses and save their lands from the evil bogs! This one is aimed at women/girls only but anyone can play but your character has to be a girl unfortunately. Sorry lil Princes, Princettes and Royality!

Full List:

Animal Crossing City Folk

Babysitting Mama

Barbie (any)

Barnyard

Bolt

Carnival Games

Cars (any)

Cooking Mama (any)

Disney Channel All Star Party

Disney Infinity (needs figures to play)

Disney Princess Enchanted Journey

Disney Tangled: The Video Game

Disney’s Chicken Little: Ace in Action

Meet the Robinsons

The Dog Island

Petz Dogz 2

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Dora the Explorer (any)

Go! Diego, Go! (any)

Happy Feet

Harvest Moon (any)

Hasbro Family Game Night 1, 2 and 3

Hello Kitty Seasons

Hotel for Dogs

How to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2

Ice Age (any)

Just Dance: Disney Party 1 and 2

Kirby’s Dream Collection

Kirby’s Epic Yarn

Kirby’s Return to Dreamland

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Littlest Pet Shop

Madagascar (any)

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (any)

Mario Kart

Mario Party 8 and 9

Monster High (any)

Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots

Open Season

Penguins of Madagascar

Petz Catz 2

Petz Dogz 2

Phineas and Ferb (any)

Pikmin (any)

Pokémon Battle Revolution

PokéPark: Pikachu’s Adventure

PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond

Puss in Boots

Puyo Puyo (any)

Ratatouille

Rilakkuma: Minna de Goyururi Seikatsu (if you can get your hands on this and know Japanese this one is super cute!! And you might need the Wii Fit board thing I’m not sure??)

Rio

Scooby-Doo! (any)

Seseme Street (any)

Shrek (any)

Skylanders (any) (needs figures to play)

Sonic (any, but be careful with these games, I suggest these for older regressors, since they tend to be difficult (to me) and some themes are *touchy*) I personally like Sonic Colors

Spongebob Squarepants (any)

Super Mario All-Stars

Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2

Super Monkey Ball (any)

Super Paper Mario

Super Smash Bros Brawl (for older regressors!!)

Tamagotchi (any)

Toy Story Mania (kinda like the ride/game at Disney World!!)

Wall-E

Wii Sports

Wreck-It Ralph

ZhuZhu Pets 2 (anyone remember these little guys??)

I’ll add more when I find them!

[senotsuri]

Way back when, I posted an image of an OC, who fairly recently got a full name (she only had a surname back then.) So, with Eliza’s name finally figured out, I realised I hadn’t actually given my overview of the game that spawned her; Champions of Vestroia.

Time to lose my mind, I guess.

Some fore-knowledge before we get into this.

I am, by all means, a legacy bakugan fan, not a reboot fan. I’ve only seen one double episode (the become-smaller-child episode, which was cute, and Outer Demons, which has a super good premise, but the execution is. something.) By all accounts, CoV is essentially my introduction to the world of the reboot, and I’ll come to this later.

I played both the first game (Bakugan Battle Brawlers, specifically the Wii edition), and the... third game (Defenders of the Core, shortened to DOTC, also for the Wii. The second game, for anyone curious, is Battle Trainer, a DS exclusive.) This will come up later, of course, but I want to point out these two as they’re basically my control group for the quality here (not for the battles though; different battle system and all.)

I am incredibly stay-at-home. A lot of people I know irl I don’t have contact with, and most of them don’t live in my city. This is only important when it comes to the protagonist and literally no one else in the game, but I thought I’d mention it anyway.

So the game begins with the character creator. This is pretty standard stuff, honestly. My one issue with it is just-- this is probably my fashion sense speaking, but the fashion in the game is very... for lack of a better term, naff. There aren’t many options that look good, personally speaking. This is ignoring the issues where the protagonist loses their name, mid conversation, or is referred to as if I chose the male option instead of the female option. These issues are likely just oversights, by all accounts, but talk about jarring.

The first time you see your character is where 3. comes in. The protagonist, no matter what you chose (I have two save files, in case there was a difference. There isn’t), will always be a football/soccer player. Are you one of many, many people who isn’t sporty, who is trying to play as themselves? Sorry, your character is sporty, and you can’t do anything about it.

In the legacy games, this was never really a problem; your character was never seen doing anything other than brawling and interacting with other characters. Whether they played sports, or stayed indoors and wrote fanfic, the game let you decide on that for your character, by not having them do either of those things: your character only battled, or snuck around in DOTC’s case.

Once you stop playing football, you get to run to your best friends, and I guarantee you, you won’t immediately guess who they are unless you somehow already knew.

I mentioned BBB and DOTC being my control group on quality. Bringing the character creator back into this, the NPCs are laughable in quality. Any character who has the same model as you (older child. There are only two other model types: adult, and younger child) will look like a remixed version of your character. Had it not been for some characters having special eye shapes, you could practically cosplay any character in the game, because they were made the same way you made your character.

This includes your two best friends.

You could easily make the same character (minus clothes) as one of your best friend characters, without knowing it until you saw them.

While, yes, BBB and DOTC had the characters from the legacy anime in them, the fact that your best friends are nigh indistinguishable from any other character in the area, because you could easily make any of them in the character creator, isn’t... great.

Speaking of that. Characterisation is questionable, to say the least. Whatever bakugan you have in your first slot will answer to you the same as any other bakugan you have in your first slot. If you started off with Howlkor in the front of your party, and you replaced him with, say, Barbetra, Barbetra will act the exact same as Howlkor did, and it’s really something.

There’s only (?) Armoured Alliance bakugan in the game, other than Dragonoid, Pegatrix, Trox, Hydorous, Nillious, and the afforementioned Howlkor. That’s a small roster, by all accounts, so having varied dialogue depending on the bakugan would make sense.

The characterisation of the other characters is also a little funky in places. Your best friends don’t brawl, and I honestly forgot about them for a portion of the game. The tournament brawlers are practically as faceless as the villain minions, and the villains- oh the villains...

Preston. I don’t like Preston, at all. He’s a villain from the moment you see him, and the whole “try to find Preston” section in Helena Heights makes me want to punch someone. When you fight him in the Parasol HQ, his dad being the CEO, it’s fairly clear that Preston is little more than a tool for him. Sometime later, you fight Preston again, this time as the final tournament’s final battle, and he’s laughably weak compared to the other challengers. Remember, this kid fights you with Leonidas.

You’d think Leo would be good, but I’ll get into the butchering that happened to my death dragon later.

Anyhow, he fights you, assuming his dad will enjoy him defeating you. With the power of you’re the player character, you beat him, he hands all of his bakugan to you, and gives up on brawling for good. Kinda.

The next time you see him... hoo boy. In Old Town, on the way to defeat dear detestable dad, you come across Preston. He offers you help, and when player character is understandably suspicious, Preston complains that... one of his toys was taken away because you beat him, and now he wants Revenge On Dad.

I wish I was joking. His revenge, by helping you defeat his dad, isn’t because he’s obviously neglected by his dad (company taking priority over him, the CEO’s son), and then is used as a minion to try and get rid of you. It’s not out of bitter feelings because his dad doesn’t care about him, no, it’s because his dad took his ball away.

What’s worse is how player character reacts: “Oh! :) You’ve learned that bakugan aren’t just tools! :) Yes you can help me, despite the fact that you learning this sounds less than genuine and definitely not last minute! :)”

This is a level of stupidity I’ve only seen in DOTC Mira when Spectra tricks her into giving him Drago. He’s literally sulking and moping about over his ball, and then he sees the player character, immediately being manipulative so that player character can take down his dad for him. 

Leonidas also forgives him, and has the same reaction as the player character.

Speaking of Leonidas! I think everyone’s been excited for Leonidas in general - we all love a shark headed death dragon, and we wanted one in the reboot for ages.

I refuse to call reboot Leonidas Leonidas. This is like the Shun Kazami debacle, but one I’m substantially more angry about.

Leonidas, in BBB, was untrusting of everything, wanted to throw down with everything in sight, had no fear of anything because “I don’t fear weak [humans]”, and literally came from hell. He eventually grew to trust you and others, to calm down and enjoy himself at his own pace, and was willing to have help from others, showing anyone around him that his origins aren’t the be all and end all about him.

Leonidas, in CoV, is immediately trusting of the first human who showed a hint of kindness, has a weakness to all attacks in the game, comes from Vestroia (not the Doom Dimension), and forgives the human who threw him away when he didn’t win the battle against you for him.

Ignoring the fact that Leonidas just doesn’t look good in CoV, I’d say he got bastardised. That’s not Leonidas, it’s just a dragon with the same name.

The main villain is the CEO of Parasol, an energy company that, assumedly, used to use solar power. Upon finding out that bakugan battles give off incredible levels of power, they turned to using bakugan, forced to battle, to generate power. These guys literally dug into someone’s house to try and get Leonidas. They’re evil.

On the topic of the battling for power generation; this has a decay effect on Vestroia, as it happens, as battling energy would usually go back into Vestroia, which would be recycled and reused.

The CEO doesn’t bend the knee to you until you break him, which is undoubtedly nice for a villain; I was honestly expecting him to give up, but he doesn’t. You beat him into a corner.

But as my introduction to the world of BP, through CoV, is lackluster at best. Obviously the game is meant for those who have seen the reboot, and don’t mind being completely disconnected from the story, because CoV is self contained, and Dan only shows up to be the tutorial giver (as a jpg, no less).

From what the game tells me about the setting; bakugan are often exploited by adults, bakugan do not like adults because of this, but can’t tell when a human child is manipulating them, unless another child removes them from that situation (the lack of agency here is somehow worse than in the legacy series, who knew).

Despite bakugan being around for 18 years in the setting, no one seems to be aware that they’re living beings, other than the main charcter, as if BP humans are equivalent to Legacy’s Vestals. I was already aware of Vestroia and Earth sharing a location in space, but the fact that drilling deep enough causes bakugan to appear on Earth seems... really weird? Schrödinger’s Bakugan Summoning Pit, but they exist on every digging site possible. Bonus points to all bakugan being able to speak, and they do speak a lot, but only to the player and whoever is around the player in a cutscene.

I’m missing a lot of things, such as battle items being the worst sometimes, I’m aware, but at this point I’m tired of rambling, so let me end off in a comparison.

CoV has, in my opinion, the same replayability levels as Pokemon Shield; I couldn’t replay either game to the end, and I wouldn’t recommend either to anyone unless they were desperate for a new game to play, and had nothing else to chose.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #426

“insatiable furnace, burning up our surplus  /  watching all essential life become another servant”

Are you a brunette? Yep. It is way past due time that I get it dyed... What is your favorite channel on TV? I don't really watch TV, but if I did, I'm pretty sure it'd probably be Discovery. Have you ever been to Chicago, IL? Yes!! It's my only experience with a truly BIG city, and though I'm not a city person, the experience was pretty magical. It was something I wasn't even remotely used to. Just so much life and business and energy to feel there. Who was your first friend? Brianna. She was the sister of my older sister's best friend. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas. :') Do you regret your last kiss? Nope. Have you ever taken a karate class? No. Who was the last person to tell you ‘I love you’? My mom. Have you ever been to the Statue of Liberty? No. Do you live on your own? Noooo. I don't think I ever could. I would have to stay VERY busy, or else the loneliness would kill me. Hell, even if I was very active in stuff, I still don't know if I could. With how bad my depression is capable of being, it doesn't sound smart at all for me to move out unless it was with somebody. Are your the oldest child? No, I'm the middle kid. How many X-rays have you had in the last 2 years? Two, maybe? One for my legs and the other for my teeth. Are you on good terms with your last ex? Yeah, we're best friends. Do you have scars you don’t like to talk about? Nah. Do you freak out if a bee/wasp flies near you? ... yes lol. What subjects in history interest you most? The Holocaust. It's just so... shocking and extreme that it's oddly fascinating, but of course horribly sad. Are you superstitious in any way? Nah. How do you get rid of anxiety? Do what? Are there any items of jewelry you never/rarely take off? Yeah, my two rings, my lip piercing, and tragus piercing. Has a song ever made you cry before? There are many. ^If so, what about it brought you to tears? Again, I said "many," so this would be a horribly long list. There are four though - "Eternally Yours" and "Another Life" by Motionless in White, "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, and "The Mortician's Daughter" by Black Veil Brides - that I really, really try to avoid, because I WILL cry. They're all associated with Jason for one reason or another. "Stairway to Heaven," especially, is absolutely forbidden for me to listen to. Would you consider yourself open-minded? Very, honestly. Have you ever met someone online that you wanted to meet in real life? I've met Sara! :') There are a handful of others I'd love to meet, too. Tell me about the last thing that made you laugh until it hurt. Wow, I have no idea. I don't remember the last time I laughed THAT hard. When you graduate, what color will your gown be? Ugh, it was this insufferable red. We got to vote on it, and I really wanted navy instead, as it looks more formal and not as obnoxious to me, but red won. Do you own a gun? No. My household legally can't because of my suicidal history. What color of shirt are you wearing? It's a black tank top. Do you use any acne medication? Nah, I don't really get acne anymore. Are you emotional or very stoic? I'm emotional as shit. Have you ever watched an anime series, start to finish? A few. There's Fullmetal Alchemist (as well as the Brotherhood expansion), Deadman Wonderland, and Ginga Densetsu Weed. I've seen bits of others. Which baby animal is your favorite? MEERKATS!!!!!! :') Once they reach three/four weeks, they're fucking precious. I also really like kittens. Do you like jam on your toast and biscuits? Sometimes. Have you ever reread a book? It is very, VERY rare I do this. The only cases I remember are for Because of Winn-Dixie and Meerkat Manor: Flower of the Kalahari. Do you have any religious symbols in your home? I think Mom has some religious quotes on the walls? What religion do you identify with, if any? None. What is you favorite flavor of pudding and/or yogurt? I love chocolate pudding, but I'm not very big on yogurt because of the sourness. I can sometimes eat a cookies 'n cream one, but occasionally I'm like "ew." We’re going to the best amusement park ever, first ride you choose is? One of those water rides where you go down a big slope. Did you have intense night terrors as a child? No. Know anybody who works in a tattoo parlor? No. That'd be dope. Have you ever had a piercing get infected? Ugh, yes. Worst was the first time I got my tongue pierced. It was early into infection though, thank God; I ended up having to take it out and get it re-pierced later. Have you ever shoplifted? No. Do you hate when people say, "Everything’s going to be fine,“ when it’s not? Sometimes. It can feel kinda dismissive of your extreme situation, and sometimes, things simply won't be okay. Like, you can't tell that to someone on their death bed. Do you check your fire alarms when you’re supposed to? No, oops. Are you a shorts-wearing kind of person? Absolutely not. Nobody wants to see my legs, not even me. Is your grandparents’ house obsessively tidy? My grandma's sure as hell was. She was very old-fashioned and "proper" and took cleanliness and manners very seriously. Do you know how to jumpstart a car? Nope. Would you date someone 8 years older than you? Probably. What did you do today? I WENT TO THE GYM AND DID A FULL HOUR OF EXERCISE!!!!! :') For once I am SO fucking proud of myself. I left drenched in sweat, but I also left with a feeling of great accomplishment. I'm going to be going twice a week now with a personal trainer. (: Who was the last person you fell asleep with? Sara. Have you ever punched a hole in the wall? No. People doing that shit terrifies me. Have you ever felt replaced? Sure have. Have you ever kissed someone who was high? No. If you caught your significant other cheating on you what would you do? I don't have a partner, but hypothetically, leave their ass in a blink. I don't fuck with those kind of people. Do you know who Jeffree Star is? Well, yes. I watch him on YT sometimes and (astonishingly) love his music, and I find his work ethic extremely inspiring. That man knows how to hustle. What’s your favourite alcoholic beverage? Probably sangrias. When was the last time you saw a photo of your ex? "The" ex, it's been years. I've removed all pictures I have of him, irl and digitally, because it's triggering for me. How many push-ups can you do? Probably zero. Do you play any games on your phone? There's Pokemon GO, DragonVale, and Dragons of Atlantis that I play semi-regularly. Have you ever received a compliment from a stranger? Yes. Have you ever shaved your face? Just my upper lip to avoid the lady stache, ha ha. What colour is your front door? It’s white. Do you take the stairs or the elevator? If an elevator is available, I will ALWAYS use that. I have an extreeeemely hard time getting up stairs because of having just about no leg muscle. Do you get motion sickness? No. When was the last time you went to your favourite restaurant? Oh man, it's been forever. :/ Olive Garden sounds soooo good right now. Do either of your parents have any tattoos or piercings? No. Well, Mom has her earlobes pierced once, but that's it. Are you desperate for anyone’s approval, in particular? It's funny, even though he hasn't been a part of my life for years, I still desperately crave what I think would make Jason proud. There have been many times where my mind has wondered to what he would think of me now... and I know it's not good. Are there any activities you enjoy doing, but can only do for a short amount of time before you get bored or tired of them? Reading. When was the last time you felt hopeful, and why? Today, after finishing my workout at the gym. I think, finally, that I may be taking another stride forward in life. Do you find yourself asking for the same things for your birthdays and for holidays? Ha, yup: a new tattoo, 100%. What is something someone recommended to you that you disliked/hated? Girt's recommended some music to me before. He loves sharing songs he likes with me. Of course I didn't tell him it sucked, ha ha. What’s a fact about the last person you kissed? She is very passionate about animals, reptiles in particular, and is simply amazing with them. If you had a child, would you rather have a girl or a boy? A girl for sure. Has anybody ever accused you of doing drugs? No. Have you ever fallen asleep with the last person you kissed? Yeah. Honestly, do you think that you will wanna settle down in the same town you’re currently residing in? HELL no. I hate this place. Does anyone call you darling? If so who? Sara does sometimes. Are you close to any of your cousins? No. Are you a romantic person? I think I am. What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen out the window of an airplane? Mountains. Have you ever been in the mountains when the moon and stars were up? NO BUT FUCK I WANT THAT. Just lay in a grassy spot with some s'mores or something and just ~vibe~. Do people like your hair? I get complimented on it a bit. Have you ever held birdseed and a bird came and ate out of your hand? Yeah, at a bird sanctuary. Could you ever live in Alaska? Hell yeah, I'd enjoy that. On the main page on YouTube, what’re the three recommended videos? There's one by a WoW gold maker, a song by 3TEETH, and a video of bullsnakes hatching. Do you really care how many friends you or anyone else has on Myspace/Facebook? Couldn't care less. I only "friend" people I know and care about. Does your significant other have any piercings? I'm single. Do you ever get bored of yourself? Oh, all the time. I feel like I'm extremely dull and plain and, well, boring. How many band shirts do you own? Which? Oh goodness, I have no idea. I own a lot. Do you go to shows mostly for the music, the moshing, or the merchandise? I go for the music. It's nice to buy merch, but it's SO expensive that it's dumb. Moshing, I think is just stupid. Have you ever had anything pierced that you don’t have now? Many places, actually. So many holes closed because piercings had to be taken out when I was in the psych hospital. I was so annoyed. Who were you with the first time you watched the last movie you watched? I was alone. Do you have any twins/multiples in your family? Are they identical or fraternal? No. What is the highest number of jobs you’ve had at one time? One. Is your mom a good mom? She is the actual best. Last thing you threw in the garbage? The crust of some leftover pizza I had this morning. I generally eat the crust, but this time it was WAY too hard.

[camdennightingale]

My good friend @uwujustsoftthings tagged me to do this QnA thing, so let's go!

1. Do you prefer writing with a black pen or blue pen? Black pen, just looks cleaner and nicer to me.

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or city? The country. It's where I live currently and I wouldn't change it for the world. Cities make me extremely anxious, I don't think I could bare living in one.

3. If you could learn a new skill what would it be? I'd like to improve my bass playing skills and get back into art, but as for a new skill? I want to learn to sword fight. Not fence, sword fight.

4. Do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar? I don't like tea or coffee especially, I prefer hot chocolate and that doesn't really need sugar.

5. What was your favourite book as a child? Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. Also The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

6. Do you prefer baths or showers? Bath, good and relaxing.

7. If you could be a mythical creature, which one would it be? Yikes... Either a witch, because I honestly look like one, or a dragon because awesome.

8. Paper or electronic books? Paper books, electronic fanfiction, audiobooks day to day.

9. What is your favourite item of clothing? My witchy coat. It's got the ideal of making little kids look at you with wonder and old people with extreme disapproval.

10. Do you like your name or would you like to change it? I'm perfectly happy with my name.

11. Who is a mentor to you? J.R.R. Tolkien. That man gave 150 percent to everything he did except his actual job. I respect that. Also, he all but invented the modern fantasy genre and I owe him damn near everything for that.

12. Would you like to be famous and if so, what for? Pfft! I'd like to be famous the way Daft Punk and TWRP are, there's a persona that people know and then there's the actual me who's got plenty of anonymity.

13. Are you a restless sleeper? Unfortunately...

14. Do you consider yourself a romantic person? No, I'm quite possibly the most UN-romantic potato there is, I've just never got it.

15. Which element best represents you? Not sure, probably water.

16. Who do you want to be closer to? My new online friends. You know who you are, you're awesome, and I'd love to get to know you better!

17. Do you miss someone at the moment? My irl friends. It's been a year since I've been in a room with them all and it makes me very sad.

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory. Uhhh, I've got a really bad memory... I remember meeting a very large praying mantis while on holiday in Minorca, I was pretty young at the time, but I can't remember how old exactly.

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten? Chicken rice on toast. I refuse to elaborate.

20. What are you most thankful for? My friends, that I still have my ability to create, good music.

21. Do you like spicy food? Yes. The spicier the better.

22. Have you ever met someone famous? Technically yes, kinda depends on your definition of famous.

23. Do you do you keep a diary or journal? I used to.

24. Do you prefer to use a pen or a pencil? Both, depends on the situation.

25. What is your star sign? Aries.

26. Do you like your cereal soggy or crunchy? Depends on the cereal.

27. What would you want your legacy to be? That's the business of the future, not my concern. All that matters is that I lived.

28. Do you like reading, what was the last book you read? I love reading! The last book I read was A Steanger In A Strange Land and I loathed it. The last thing I read was a gift fanfic from Uwu and I adored it.

29. How do you show someone you love them? Always be there for them, for whatever they need, include them in things.

30. Do you like ice in your drinks? Not usually.

31. What are you afraid of? Wasps... Myfriendsnotwantingtobefriendsanymore and being completely alone.

32. What is your favourite scent? Sea spray, woodsmoke, old books.

33. Do you address older people by their name or surname? Name. Are you supposed to do differently?

34. If money was not a factor, how would you live your life? Probably exactly the same as I do now, I'm content. That being said, there would be so many concerts to attend...

35. Do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean? Pools, they're warmer.

36. What would you do if you found £50 on the ground? Pocket it and add to my collection of semiprecious stones. Finders keepers.

37. Have you ever seen a shooting star? I have and it delighted me!

38. What is the one thing you would want to teach your children? My gay ass is not having kids anytime soon.

39. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? Time Spiral on my right shoulder, my personal sigil on my inner left wrist.

40. What can you hear now? Twilight of the Thunder God, Sabaton.

41. Where do you feel the safest? My room.

42. What is the one thing you want to overcome/conquer? My long-term illnesses would be nice...

43. If you could travel back to any era, what would it be? Rome, 2007. I've got a concert to go to!

44. What is your most used emoji? 💜

45. Describe yourself using one word. Nerd.

46. What do you regret the most? I had a very close friendship with the two most toxic people on the planet.

47. Last movie you saw? Monty Python and The Holy Grail.

48. Last tv show you watched? Star Trek: Deep Space 9.

49. Invent a word and it’s meaning- Thura. A word to call someone who you love very much (definition of love is up to the user.).

I'm actually tagging someone for once! @cardinalxsin as I don't believe they've been tagged yet. Absolutely no pressure to do this, just if you feel like it!

[veiljumpernyssa]

Personal update for ya

I’m 1 month post op and living my best life especially now restrictions are lifting in my city, currently splitting my time between hanging out with my S/O and friends IRL, playing new video games and slowly working on my Arcana and Dragon Age comic pages.

honestly I think just recovering from the 100-day lockdown is taking a bit of time and I’m trying to be easy on myself. so mainly I’ve been playing video games

Currently I’m playing on AC Valhalla and love it. I can see how they’re gradually bringing the franchise back around to Assassin’s Creed (the OG, with Altair) in terms of chronology and mechanics (e.g. blending).

I think if you’re looking to get started on the franchise, I’d recommend beginning with Origins, then Odyssey, then Valhalla, if only so you can appreciate the benefits of the reboot (e.g. updated combat system, more dialogue choices, armour customisation).

I think this will tide me over nicely until Dragon Age 4, whenever that is.

[benisasoftboi]

Unorganised thoughts on Trails in the Sky: First Chapter:

Going to keep this as spoiler free as possible because I want you to play this game if you haven’t

I’m well aware that I’m very late to the party here, but... Trails in the Sky is very good, everyone

It had been on my Steam list for like six years. My friend reminded me about the summer sales, and a combination of the price having dropped and good reviews convinced me to finally pick it up. And I am so glad I did

Calling it ‘FC’ from here on out because the title is long, and I can’t exactly uses the acronym that Trails in the Sky shortens to, can I?

So I love JRPGs. I almost exclusively play JRPGs. And FC, to me, is kind of the JRPG. It does basically everything that is expected of the genre, but it doesn’t feel generic because it does all of those things very, very well

Gameplay! The gameplay is fun, a good mix of allowing for strategy and tactics without being massively difficult. I really appreciate that - I don’t play JRPGs because I’m good at video games, but I also don’t like just mindless hitting things all that much 

There are one or two slight annoyances with the combat system (if you’re fighting a lot of enemies you’ll be waiting forever for them all to take their turns, some of the animations are a little slow, when you’re in the field enemies touching anyone in your party can start a battle, which means you have to be extra careful where you step when you have a full party), but none of them are game ruining

And there are no random encounters! Yay! I hate random encounters!

Story! FC’s story isn’t the most unique JRPG story out there, but there’s lots of little touches I greatly appreciated

For one, (trying to work out how to say this without spoilers) - I really liked the main antagonist’s motivations. So very often it’s ‘destroy the world’ or ‘become God King of the universe’ or something. This person had a very understandable and honestly kind of reasonable motivation - like, you could really see how someone would think it was a good idea, the problem wasn’t that they were evil, it was that they either hadn’t considered or didn’t care about the negative consequences it could have on the average citizen. 

Also, the conflicts don’t just stem from like, tangible nefarious forces - you also see how it results from things like untreated PTSD, or industrialisation, or societal sexism. Which is more compelling than ‘everything bad in the world is the result of the evil dragon god, kill it’  

There’s also really good foreshadowing. During a certain scene at the end of the game, I actually gasped when I realised the connection it had with a certain character’s second S-Break. I will say no more, but people who’ve played this know what I’m talking about

Characters! FC has great characters

Estelle: I like Estelle. Firstly, it’s pretty rare for a JRPG to have a female protagonist (hell, it’s relatively rare to even be given the option to play as a girl!), so that was very cool. She has good character growth over the course of the game, and I really enjoy that - she starts out very hyper and optimistic, and she never loses that, but gets better about recognising the right times and places for it. It’s a pretty risky move to give the protagonist of a long game a personality (you have to spend a lot of time with them. Silent player avatars are easier and don’t run the risk of the player not liking them), but with Estelle, it pays off

Joshua: Joshua is very well designed. He’s the game’s real mystery - the whole time, we want to keep playing so we can find out what’s up with him. Appearance-wise he’s unique among the rest of the cast without coming across as ‘my first OC’, he has a great rapport with Estelle and I like him in his own right -  I want good things for Joshua. 

Joshua and Estelle are just a great duo in general. I found the romance subplot... weird, at first, but I came around. I want these kids to be happy, damn it!

Schera: Not my favourite, but good at what she needs to be. My least favourite to use in combat. I like her mentor relationship with Estelle and Joshua, and I also like her design

Olivier: MY BOY. I love him. He’s so great, I love ‘weirdo’ characters and he’s great example of one. I love his design, I love using him in combat, I love his interactions with other characters - Olivier is just the best and I want to be friends with him irl.

(It’s also pretty neat that he’s undeniably canonically biseuxal - that’s a rarity!)

Kloe: She’s fine. Not a huge fan (probably didn’t help her that she joins the party after MY BOY leaves), but I definitely don’t dislike her. She just feels a little generic, is all, and I predicted the ‘twist’ with her a mile off. I love using her in combat, though, and I really like her design

Tita: Tita is cute, and she’s a little girl with a big gun, which is always great, if silly. How old is she meant to be, though???

Agate: I 100% thought that I wasn’t going to like Agate. He comes in with that Arrogant Asshole Shounen Protagonist vibe and I hate that. But then you get to know him, and you realise that his earlier attitude was actually pretty understandable, and by the end he was actually one of my favourites

Zin: Eh. Like Kloe, I don’t hate him, but there’s just kind of nothing that draws me in with Zin. I think he joins too late, and doesn’t have enough time to really build up an interesting rapport with anyone. I liked his interactions with Olivier, though, and he’s pretty great to use - I have a massive bias for defensive characters 

Maybe I’ll feel differently about some or all of them when I’ve played the second game - we shall see...

There’s also a tonne of major NPCs, pretty much all of whom I liked (except maybe Dorothy - I don’t hate her, but she kind of got old after a while. I appreciate that Estelle found her equally annoying)

But the other thing that’s really worth mentioning is the minor, faceless NPCs. Because they all have names and little stories and lives - like, when you’re in the city of Ruan, there’s a maintenance worker named Clive who’s offered a prestigious factory job. He turns it down to look after his brother Todd, which upsets Todd because he doesn’t want to hold Clive back. Then when you move on to the city of Zeiss, you can visit the factory and learn that they’re now struggling to find someone else. Eventually they hire a woman names Louise, who ends up being an excellent choice - but if you visit her home, you find out she has a strained relationship with her own sibling

And none of this matters to the plot at all! You can miss this entirely, but the fact that it (and hundreds of little stories like it) are there makes the world feel so alive. It’s full of people living their own lives that don’t revolve around what your team is doing. It feels real.

We’re told that Estelle and Joshua have to travel the world by foot so that they really understand what it is they’re tasked with protecting. It took me way too long to realise that it’s also so that the player understands, too

So many JRPGs ask you to save the world. FC is special because it actually feels like there’s a world to save

Now I’m going to go play the second game and hope they keep that up!

[felassan]

Thoughts on Dark Fortress #2

(This post is under a cut due to spoilers.)

So late with this one! some stuff irl was keeping me really busy and hyper-distracting me lately, but it’s finally over now so I’m back on my bioware bullshit. :D

Overall there were a lot of beautiful or awe-inspiring scenes in this issue, and a lot of great, meaningful / poignant character interactions and moments between characters. It’s pretty impressive actually how much was able to be packed in. I posted some of my favorite panels here. also omg! the action sequences! the big reveal! the ending!! woww

cool scene-setting, panned out shot of Neromenian and behind it, the Dark Fortress, to immediately pull you back into the world and ‘where we left off’. the combination of ruined dead trees, red lights, lightning and fire/smoke is very atmospheric and hints at what’s ahead

“From this... city, if we can call it that” is a sick burn and reminds you that the Qunari are technologically more advanced than most of the rest of Thedas, from their cannons to their aqueducts

more individually distinct Qunari soldiers, sth I again appreciate

! last issue there were big ‘You haven’t seen the last of Tractus!’ vibes, naturally, but I didn’t expect him to escape by stabbing and killing the Qunari using a chair-leg..!!

the last panel on the first page of Karasten is really good. the way it’s colored, the way it’s lit, the light and shadow, the fiery backdrop, cinders floating, the details of his expression.. 👌 it also makes me think to the possible future, to DA4 when mainland Thedas may be continuing to face the entirety of the Antaam

in Vaea’s acrobatics scene on the bridge, I know rationally that she’ll be fine but couldn’t help but worry for her. again I like how they don’t shy away from showcasing Vaea’s specific abilities. also the attention to detail - you’d think some rocks are just some rocks, but it highlights the risk she’s undertaking that if she falls it’s into rough seas which could dash her against the jagged rocks :’S. Vaea, gooooo!

Fenris’ “Enterprising girl” line has big “Clever girl” meme energy :D

my heart can’t take Fran and Autumn leaning over the edge after Vaea in worry ;; or Aaron looking back in concern over his shoulder ;; or Fran’s tender reassurance ;; or Autumn’s Worried expression ;; the care and bonds which have grown between this group of characters ;;

notice Aaron starts drinking when Vaea’s away from them and they’re beginning to grow worried about her safety. the poor man’s nerves and stress levels

Fran touching the vegetation while she’s considering if she could use her magic to open the entrance from the outside is a nice touch

did Marius leap in front of Fenris and Fran there when the entrance opened?? damn, he’s quick. and the three of them look all scary and formidable here ready for combat. notice how the curve of the door and the spikes that go into the ground, and the composition of this panel, make it look like they’re standing in front of an opened dragon’s maw? ‘teeth’, a rumbling ‘roar’.. some nice foreshadowing here.

the reunion panels are so cute. Autumn’s lil tum as she jumps and Fran and Fenris’ lil smiles of relief and at Autumn’s reaction to seeing Vaea, then a rare happy beam from Aaron.. feel.. the love ;__;

red lighting in the tunnel sets a dangerous, dramatic build-up mood

👀 more info on Fenris’ past, on the specifics of the process which gave him his markings. in the panel where he says that it took a long time, his shadow on the wall behind him reminds me of the shadow of his past that has dogged him for so long :(

Fenris and Marius height difference

discussion of the process shows the power difference between blue and red lyrium. blue lyrium took a long time, red lyrium is almost instant

Autumn is such an intrepid little explorer and alert scout, tail and ears up, head forward. good girl!

“I just... worry about you, my girl”  ‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚  I’ll be so sad if these are death flags for Aaron and he doesn’t make it out of here. also note Fran in this panel, who recently had to kill her own father and is still dealing with that, watching the strongly paternal moment between Aaron and Vaea :(

love Vaea’s faith in Aaron and her sense of humor. also I don’t know why, maybe it’s because Vaea met Sebastian, but her “Maker, no!”, although in a completely different and light-hearted context, reminds me of Sebastian’s “Maker nooo!” at the end of DA2 hh

the reference again to Hawke, who Fenris saw haunted by what they tried to do - save their mother - and couldn’t :’(. also with the shadow in this panel, here’s another person struggling with the shadow of his past qq. this is later emphasized again in Aaron when he continues to talk about his past and in the panel is a chain and manacle. smart visual metaphors, a must in the comic medium with limited space

mushroom skull 💀🍄

“It isn’t about what I’ve done. It isn’t about my failures. Or my choices. It’s about their impact” - he’s misty-eyed here as he thinks back to Ostagar.. does this line btw seem almost meta to anyone else btw? :D it feels like a meta reference to the experience of DA players and PCs, who are always having to deal with the impacts of their choices

I wanna point out that I was right on reading issue #1, when I said “I’m positive that in panel 2 here, it’s the exact moment when he sees Cailan die” ;;

So Aaron is also a veteran of the Battle of Denerim

reference to the Hero of Ferelden - “Those were someone else’s battles”. I’m being captain obvious here but I can’t help but [heart pitter-patter] at any and all references to the HoF

I like the.. parallel? is that the word? Aaron’s stories were him trying to inspire people to make a change, or him trying to convince himself of that. and now here’s Vaea, inspiring Aaron with her words in these panels. the little guys can make a difference! in the world of Thedas, you don’t need to be a big bombastic hero or a Player Character to have an impact 

lmao Fenris right on cue. the moments of humor/light-heartedness are nice because they break up the tension and are sprinkled throughout without derailing build-up or taking away from dramatic story impact. yknow?

yeah Aaron!! leave it behind. leave it to rot with mr mushroom skull (and hey the mushroom skull was there for a reason). again tho if this is a death flag i 

Fenris straight down to business with the tactics

its cute how close Autumn has been sticking to Fran

Tessa checking in on Fran again, as she did in issue 1

Could Vaea’s “Well, shit” be an homage to Varric? :D they have met

I also wanna point out that I was right on reading issue #1, when I said “My guess is that the thing Tractus shows Marquette and Nenealeus is probably a chained up dragon or similar”

the poor dragon :’( big dragon the Qunari had in Trespasser vibes

the sword has a really cool design, kind of reminds me of something a samurai might be depicted wielding

👀 lore-drop! so ancient elven arcane warriors used lyrium-infused swords. this seems to confirm the sarcophagus is an ancient elven artifact, no? makes sense, wasn’t it said that the sarcophagus’ design was based on the architecture/outfit-design type elements of a specific faction, and that this was done intentionally? it looks kinda ancient elfy in make, right? also about the lyrium-infused swords of the arcane warriors, well well well.. remember that the Evanuris and the ancient elves mined the bodies of Titans for lyrium, for power and to use as a resource. here’s an example of that use

as I read through this portion I became increasingly concerned for my boy Shirallas.. we really are in it now aren’t we 😭

the Qunari are launching STRAIGHT-UP ROCKETS ohhhh

pretty ‘lightshow’ over the wall in the “Let’s hope the fortress is as secure as Danarius boasted” panel hh

protective older brother Fenris, impish younger sister Vaea. love that dynamic, we love to see it. sheepish and exasperated Fenris is so cute

the Bone Pit dragon fight with Hawke and co reference!

I wonder how long the dragon has been captive here, and how Danarius/Tractus was able to capture it

lore-wise what are the implications here? when Fenris’ ritual was being undertaken, the sword and the sarcophagus were bombarded with magic, fire spells. in this one they aim to have the dragon bombard it with fire-breathing. is it just fire that makes it work/powers it, or is there magic in dragonfire, in dragons? it reminds me of “Your heart beats with the old blood, as well. Where do you think it comes from? It sings of a time when dragons ruled the skies. A time before the Veil, before the mysteries were forgotten. Can you hear it?”

purple color for the dragon’s growling sounds/typeset is a great idea

lets.. goooo!!!!

Marquette is such a nerd. later on when he activates the sarcophagus he has mad scientist vibes

the dramatic reunion face-offs begin!! as the prophecy foretold!!!!1

true to form, Marius DOES have nothing to say ahahaha, even at this, his personal climax. maybe Marius dies in the next issue, but Tessa lives and gets to go back to Charter

these Venatori look almost Star Wars

Shirallas my boyy.. nooo... don’t do it 😭

ah ah ah! try casting magic with no ARMS

Francesca a beacon of blue light and goodness

the splash combat page is masterful. everyone playing a part, so much going on, everything happening at once. a thing that sticks out to me about it is Aaron’s outstretched hand and alarm as he watches Fran fall 

Autumn with her lil hackles raised

“The Venatori have returned” dun dun dunn

goodbye Shirallas 😭😭😭

the composition of the second to last page with triangle/diamond-shaped panels and the framing of dragon wings is awesome

the Dread Wolf rises, “the Tevinter Imperium will rise again”.. on-point on-point cohesion

there he is, the red wraith

Super Saiyan Shirallas

what a note to end an issue on

wow wow wow!!

and separate to the above, some speculation based on the cover of Issue 3: the piece of metal looks like a broken collar coming off Shirallas, like the one there was on the cover of Issue 2 coming off the dragon. also he’s all bulky now with draconic talons/claws (reminds me of in-world legends of Reavers who dug too deep of their own power after drinking dragon blood and whose bodies consequently began to manifest subtle reptilian traits actually). I’ll be interested to see what results of this allusion between Shirallas and the dragon!!

[yutaya]

Iron Fist Rewatch: 1x01: Snow Gives Way

-Someone barging into Ward's office acting like they own the place and also know Harold is alive must have sent such a jolt of fear through Ward for a second

-Ward puts himself between Danny and Joy when it seems like Danny might get physical

-Ward tells Joy not to have Danny arrested - Harold concerns?

-Danny PTSD set off by the elevator turbulence?? But he was fine going up. Just stress induced? He's shaking.

-FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT BREAK INTO THAT HOUSE

-Joy's dog just disappears after this episode?

-Danny just meditates or something to get that dog to calm down. Calms his mind so as to seem not a threat / not present? Is Danny some sort of animal whisperer? I'm now positive that at some point during Danny and Ward's Adventures Across Asia, they were stranded somewhere for some reason, Ward is complaining about being stuck in some muddy backwater hick town or whatever, Danny just sort of strolls up to some large animals (attached to a cart? Wait, that would be stealing. Hm...) goes all zen state, then says to Ward "they'll take us to the next town" like that's a normal series of events and not COMPLETELY INSANE, DANNY, WHAT THE F---.

-Pictures on Joy's shelf: Harold with his arm around young Joy, all six of them on some vacation. Rands + Meachums kind of separated in this photo, though. Don't people normally stand closer together in group photos? Also, young Joy much shorter than young Danny. Note: Wendall's hands on both Heather and Danny's shoulders. Harold's hand on Joy's shoulder. Ward and Danny both have hands in pockets.

-"Dad says rules are for pussies" ;___; (Young Ward refusing to pay monopoly rent because he just doesn't want to. Starting the corrupt financial elite training off early, huh?)

-"Oh, here comes Mommy and Daddy to protect you and give you lots of hugs and kisses and tell you what a sweet little boy you are. It's disgusting. *sweeps all the game pieces off the table even though they've clearly been playing for awhile and it's not like Danny just won he was only asking for like $200*" Ward, you dramatic bitch. Also, they were literally only saying they were home, not necessarily rushing in to protect Danny from the Big Bad Ward refusing to pay $200 monopoly money. Metaphorically, I suppose this is still Ward being a sore loser, though. It's not monopoly Danny beat him at, it's having parents who love him. T_T AND THEN HE LIES ABOUT IT, PLAYING THE BELEAGUERED BABYSITTER, ASDFGHJKL - WARD. (Note: neither Danny nor Joy speak up against this blatant unfairness. Previous failure? YOU'RE SUCH A BULLY, WARD.)

-Big Al is first person to be friendly to Danny and I'm sure Danny doesn't forget it. Headcanon Danny is def actively caring towards 'lower class', including homeless and drug addicts, and actually sees + treats them as equals. Classism definitely a theme in these shows with the people who struggle financially like Colleen being the kindest and most charitable and the rich being assholes.

-But also why is he informing Danny that the internet can be used as a search engine with no prior indication in their conversation that Danny doesn't know this? I mean, Danny does not, in fact, know this, but.

-In the news article, the photo of the Rands is the same one in Joy's apartment, but the Meachums are not there. However, they are not merely cropped out: the background extends into the spot they should occupy. Did some poor news article graphic designer have to go find a photo of that tourist spot background at the exact right angle and photoshop them together to get rid of the Meachums, or was Joy's photo a photoshopped family vacation image, which could have explained the awkward distance between the two families, even though it wouldn't have been that hard in editing to set them all closer together? Maybe they all still went on the same vacation together, but instead of asking a passerby to take a photo for them, both families took photos of each other and then someone combined them at a later date? Practically speaking, that still means the angle would be likely to be off for the background, and it's also suspicious that there are zero other tourists around. These rich families rented out the entire space?? Would lend to lack of external parties to take a group pic for them. Obviously, IRL explanation is they're all photoshopped onto a static background, but fun to think of the in-universe reasons. ...Actually, most likely explanation is that they took multiple photos - Rand only, Meachum only, maybe also kids only, Wendall+Harold only, etc, as well as group. So this entire train of thought is inconsequential. Oops.

-Harold had a big event funeral, "mayor and everything"? That must have been fun for both Harold and Ward, with significantly different usages of the word 'fun'.

-Hello Joy, not only did I follow you home to accost you at your front door the morning after I attacked the security at your workplace to enter your probably restricted top floor executives offices, I also did extensive research into your childhood history down to the position you and your friend played on your childhood soccer team, oh and also I broke into your house yesterday where I interacted with your dog. Now watch while I prove my physical prowess by flipping over a taxi.

-Bird flying into city while Danny meditates?? Symbolically, follows the idea of the bird flying through the pass that was Danny's sign to leave K'un Lun and return to NYC. Spiritually - what? AU where the bird is Danny's spirit animal and he's connected to it / seeing through its eyes right now. For the HDM AU fans: bird could be Danny's separated dæmon? (Would a HDM AU Danny's dæmon be a dragon? Honestly, idk how much dragon stereotypes match Danny's personality. Would have to think about that. Would be funny if someone else had the dragon dæmon, not any of the Fist holders.)

-Danny. Danny. Colleen JUST HUNG THAT FLYER UP. Take one of the little tabbies, if you must, that's what they're for, but don't take the entire flyer down! Those cost money, you know. And it takes time to cut all those little tabbies out and then go around hanging the flyers up.

-Colleen be like "dear god, this is why you shouldn't be nice to people, they start trying to hit on you, @ random park dude, please stop talking at me and following me while I continually shift out of your line of vision"

-Danny: "Hey you speak Chinese? I speak Chinese." Colleen: "I'm Japanese you dick. :)"

-Ward: I'm gonna make sure our personal security team is guarding you against this clear and present threat, but also we're still not calling the police??

-Ward turns this from either a crazy homeless guy or a scam artist into a potential organized corporate sabotage - the kind of threat that Joy is more easily able to compartmentalize her emotions on and crush under her heel?

-Ward just gets into a moving vehicle with someone he has verbally acknowledged as an active threat to his family. Did you have ANY stranger danger safety lessons growing up, Ward?

-Danny now appears to be actively threatening Ward, while using the reasoning that Ward and everyone else have been seriously trying his patience and he's in danger of losing his temper, but he's still giving Ward one last chance to back down. Note: this is a technique commonly employed by abusers, and probably more triggering to Ward than Danny knows, even though Danny probably actually does think he's being sincere as opposed to manipulative.

-->Aaaand Ward responds by ratcheting up instead, because of course he does, IMMEDIATELY leading to the gun to head scene. oh, geez.

-Danny provides personal details - probably this is the moment Ward starts to believe it might actually be Danny somehow, against all logic and reason. He looks shaken, then immediately starts trying to gaslight Danny. asdfghjkl WARD.

-->Ward lying to Danny's face and putting himself in the position of the righteous with Danny as the person in the wrong when they both know it's a lie is very reminiscent of the monopoly scene from when they were kids and the implied constant behavior from when they were kids. But this time, Danny doesn't accept it the way he did as a kid. He stares at Ward, remembering this pattern, actively teetering on PTSD flashback mode, and fights back. Makes Ward think he might be about to kill them both - while having flashbacks that hinder his ability to stop so Danny in hindsight gets freaked out about what he almost did too. (Note: looking freaked out and claiming he didn't mean to almost kill them both just now was probably more concerning to Ward rather than less.) And then he promises he'll be back because this isn't over. gdi, Danny, no wonder Ward wants you gone asap.

-Colleen, trying to tell Danny to go away because he's being a creeper: TAKE A HINT TAKE A HINT

-Danny, casually: Oh yeah Master Lei Gun "The Thunderer" used to smack me hard in the face with the practice swords

-Colleen bringing a sword to a gun fight

-Danny grabs enemy's gun, but not to use as weapon/defense - only to disarm it and run off - which Colleen sees.

-What festival is this that's happening in Chinatown? Has anyone figured out an IF timeline? Could compare dates to real world events, see if there's any potential cross over.

-None of these bystanders so much as bother to look at the fistfights happening 2 feet away from them

-Ward sitting in his office eating his food (it has decorative greens so you know it's ~fancy~) and answers his phone smiling because he's expecting the good news that Danny-probably-an-impersonator-but-also-potentially-maybe-not-but-we're-not-thinking-about-that-Ward-get-a-hold-of-yourself is dead. Way to be a villain stereotype, Ward. I know you try real hard at it so good job uwu

-Harold intro. Ward clearly at his beck and call and just as clearly resentful of it. "I think...” *resigned* “-of course, right away." is such immediate shorthand for someone abusing the power imbalance. (Note: Ward puts off approaching Harold with the "Danny problem" until night 2, tries to handle it quietly until he has implicated himself (Danny now knows Ward tried to have him killed) and Danny is still present and now an even bigger threat)

-So many elevators. All express to specific floors/areas? This lobby is so unsettling. Elevator leads to another hall full of elevators, then stairs, then handprint access to hall with second elevator into penthouse. (Note: Ward is one of those people who press the close door button multiple times with a frustrated facial expression)

-Ward to Harold: "How do you even know about that? ...Shit. Are you behind this? Is this another one of your stupid tests?"

-Harold to Ward: "I wish you would take things like this more seriously, so I don't see my company destroyed."

-Photos on Harold's shelf: young Joy, posed photo of Meachums in formal-ish clothing, Harold's hands on both kids shoulders, indistinguishable group of people on a bridge(?) somewhere. Group photo atop a fancy box, Joy photo in front of the Meachum family photo. On Harold's desk: another photo of young Joy, this one looks like one of those posed school photos where they have the kid stand against a "tree" backdrop.

-Ward says out loud that he could ignore Harold and Harold wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Harold casually observes that Ward is now and has always been childish. Ward remarks that Harold has been telling Ward he's disappointed in him his whole life. Harold is still disappointed in Ward right now.

-Harold: this is how you make your employees loyal to you. *proceeds to display his complete dominance over Kyle, who looks nervous and threatened by the direct attention* Ward: "Jesus, Dad, what the hell is wrong with you?" (Still doesn't do anything to remove Kyle from this situation though)

-Harold lectures at Ward as if everything Ward has ever done is wrong, always, including snapping his fingers at him when he starts to speak himself, like a bad dog, and listing off things that Ward has already brought up to Joy as if Ward is an incompetent who would never consider those angles himself

-Ward makes a snide comment, Harold snaps at him, Ward smiles a little bit because he has succeeded in getting under Harold's skin for a moment

-Harold: Leave this to me. I'll tell you exactly what to do. Ward: Like always. Harold: Like always.

-Awww, Danny was rushing back to tell his new friend Al all about Ward sending people to kill him, possibly looking for advice? ;_; (Also, why is there a foreboding music significance to Al having a bird tattoo? Does this ever come back??? I don't remember this mystery going anywhere.)

-Danny is lurking in Joy's office. He doesn't say anything even slightly reassuring, like that he has an appointment, just heavily implies that he snuck in. sigh.

-"I'm not gonna hurt you," Danny laughs, after displaying a whole lot of extremely threatening behavior. Joy smiles, drugs him, and buys time until it kicks in.

[jacksgreysays]

audiatur et altera pars "let the other side be heard also" (aka free pass to dig up and expand any of your previous works :p)

A/N: Hm, I do love digging through my own old work, anon, like a narcissistic raccoon, so having a pass to do so and further write about it is pretty nice :P

I will be honest though, a lot of my time was trying to figure out which previous work I wanted to do or which best fit the prompt or which I've been wanting to do and needed the excuse to touch back on...

So I narrowed it down to nine. Which isn't particularly narrow, but considering the list I started off with... is pretty good? (Although, one of the nine could be considered technically three for an actual total of eleven? But... uh... yeah...)

At this point I'm typing out my thought process so as to help me eliminate/figure out which 'verse I want to use for this prompt. And also, in a very meta way, this kind of fills the prompt since it's like the other side of the curtain? Anyway, here's the honorable mentions:

9. Torifu POV of Ascendant : an outside (but still close enough to witness) POV of Danzo is in theory a cool idea. Because he can't have always been that megalomaniacal sadistic bastard, surely. But for Torifu, depending on how much he knows about his former teammate/friend's actions, how sad this would be? Not just in seeing all of his former teammates/friends turn into increasingly bitter people but also, if he tried to save any of those ill-fated Hokage candidates it would just be a series of failures. And that's mondo depressing. Plus, part of the... fun? challenge?... that was the original Ascendant was to do a... not necessarily unreliable narrator but a villain's POV and mitigating it with Torifu's POV would peel back a layer unnecessarily.

8. rockstar!Shikaara AU AU : here's the problem, because it wasn't a full fic (this 'verse originated way back in the ask box three sentence fic event) I don't have a proper tag for the rockstar!Shikaara AU. Best way to find it is probably through the Sabaku No Gaara tag, chrono, and then search for rockstar!Shikaara. It is not a great method. However the reason why it came to mind was because of the literal "hearing" part of the prompt and, well, muuuuusic. So then I thought, hey, what if it's an AU of this AU in which Shikako is the rockstar? However, I think we've established that the Nara twins actually aren't that musical and I have to admit that I do still love Shikaara, I haven't been in those feels for a while. And I'll be honest, that ficlet would've been mostly froth.

7. The Saga of Windy Strife: I'm just very fond of them. Unfortunately, it does need to be revamped. And also, I haven't actually FFVII, not even the remake! Something about Windy Strife is just... they're always against something. Which is... there's a difference between being a champion of something vs being a soldier fighting something and they've always been in the latter. And I guess in that same literal "hearing" part of the prompt, it would work well to address the language barrier of Unto The Climate. But again, I'm just not vibing it :(

6. Tamed (aka, the fairy tale!AU) : There's no real plot to this one which was largely the problem. I was thinking about--hey, what if I added a war in there and the team of misfit fairy tale protagonists have to use their unique talents to stop the war before it consumes the land? But then that was a little meh... while there is some misunderstandings about Sasuke hating magic because of his brother and Shikako having magic its largely. That's just drama and rehashing friendship that I'm not so keen on.

5. dragon rider!AU (another one of those “lost” ‘verses): baaasically for the same reason as above but the conflict already exists there. And like, I'll be honest, I did have a little bit written which I've let stagnate on my laptop for literally years and given the premise of it was Shikako showing up and trying to convince the Sand dragons to aid against probably Akatsuki. And literally about getting herself heard by Sand's government. But again! A little meh!

4. Indelible: I mostly wanted to play around in this world because of how hyper-political it's become. I mean, I made it so of course I'm enjoying the drama, but it's one of those things where it's just--hey, a tiny thing can be blown so out of proportion and have so many consequences but it's not out of anything evil or mean. If anything Danzo's bullshit machinations were made obsolete because of this. Which is a little hilarious. The only reason why this didn't win at being the prompt fill is that, kind of like the Torifu POV for Ascendant, this fic would have to be either a Gaara/Sand POV during the chuunin exams (which is so far removed from the original butterfly flapping its wings) or a Nej POV as the only person other than the Nara twins to be in on the secret. And I don't really write Neji well... or at all...

And now for the top three, in no particular order:

Cadmium City/Counterclockwise/Ode to 11010201: ie, my original fiction world. Mostly because, uh, yeah. There's a lot that's happening in that which the prompt could apply to. I was thinking about using the framework of Twelve Sessions since of my original fiction series I think this one is the best received. And, also, the literal "hearing" this also applies to this in multiple ways. But for the prompt this would mean its about Curtis learning about Simone's backstory which isn't as fascinating as a literal superhero going to therapy. Maybe more of an exploration of the other Could/Should/Actually 'verses? Alternatively, and this is a little weirder, I was going back over the Ode to 11010201 'verse and just like. Realizing all the personal shit I put into its foundation and thus how inherently biased it is. I was considering trying to write from R's sister's POV but its almost too personal? Because then I'd have to reexamine the IRL analogue of the situation and consider what pushed me there in the first place. And why, conversely, I haven't written that much in that 'verse since. Emotional Maturity is not here right now.

Iron Will: the only thing stopping me here, tbh, is that I still haven't figured out which iteration of Tetsuki is the one I'm going with. Is she actually the semi-feral, Earth Kingdom, would be Freedom Fighter? Or is that a cover that the Fire Nation heiress uses to manipulate and murder on Azula's behalf? I legitimately do not know.

Primadonna Girl (Says No Thank You): specifically, the dark future AU. It's such a bonkers AU that I don't think I'll ever really be able to justify playing around in it, truly, but dang. I went real bleak with it.

... so less of a fill and more of a fanfic equivalent of a clip show, I guess. Sorry, anon. If any of these struck your fancy, let me know and I'll try my hand at it. Otherwise, uh, feel free to send in a different prompt.

Ask Box Advent Calendar 2020