#this is not a criticism btw just an observation

[disclaimer-performatico]

Curious that Dylan is the only one who sees his innie as like a whole ass dude. Like Helena is all 'I am a person, you are not', Mark clearly sees his innie as an extension of himself, and Irving has it a bit more separate but does seem to think of it to some extent as 'me, but I don't remember/we are the same person in diferent circumstances'. Meanwhile Dylan is like 'tha's a whole other dude he is a quantum variable of me, we are capable of similar things bc we share a flesh suit, but we are two separate dudes'.

[maroononthemoon]

We've all seen the talk about the tree of wisdom in the wiggles the rattlin bog song... but is anyone talking about the buff purple wiggle in the bouncing balls song, or...?

[cupcakeshakesnake]

I was wondering why I didn't find the Junimos from Stardew Valley cute, even though a lot of people apparently do. And then I realized I grew up seeing a lot of mascots and logos with the same dot-eyed cutesy designs. So when I looked at the Junimos they'd feel more like a Pelican Town mascot than a forest spirit.

They literally feel corporate to me.

[swordscleric]

I'm only halfway through the second phase of Predathos (which, to be clear is an incredible vibe for a bossfight, love a good head & hands/multitarget-same-entity boss) but I cannot shake the feeling of disappointment and just dissatisfaction I have had with this campaign that definitely started with Dusk/Yu, got followed up handily with the first Delilah/Sun Tree fight and then has been unfortunately reinforced with every discussion surrounding the Prime Deities since Hearthdell. This campaign is fascinating to pick apart, I have been really enjoying pulling apart why it isn't working compared to C1 or C2. But as much as I'm having fun dissecting where the worldbuilding has led to the current weaknesses in the gods' argument or reading other people's incisive commentary on the lack of personalities on the Ruby Vanguard's end, the "girlfailure" nonsense, etc etc, man do I wish this campaign was better than it is.

There are so many avenues of improvement -

Matt telling everyone to prep and write characters for this campaign instead of a C2-esque character-focused campaign.

Matt working religious organisations into the world properly.

The cast engaging with Marquet as a genuine location rather than set-dressing.

Otohan, Ozo and the rest of the Vanguard having more than "*insert snappy line here*" for their personalities.

No Delilah.

Bell's Hells having an iota of curiosity for anything outside of their own selves, including but not limited to: the gods, religious worship, the Elemental Titans and why they were sundered, how the people of Exandria feel about the gods, Vasselheim and its role in suppressing information about Predathos, Ludinus Da'Leth's plan and how it would still break the world if they did it in his place

I don't know why all of this fell into place in the way that it did, but it did. We can endlessly speculate why - the cast resting on their laurels after C2, not having enough time between the animated shows and Daggerheart and Candela Obscura and, and, and - but at the end of the day I really do hope that whatever form the final campaign wrap-up takes, they burn the damn questions asking the cast "what if the world was made of pudding and this character and this character kissed?" and instead pick questions that get them to introspect for a potential Campaign 4. Otherwise I don't know what will happen, but it sure as hell won't be Mighty Nein part 2: Issylra Boogaloo.

[vampire-in-the-corner]

this is how Armand fans sound to me when they justify his actions in Paris because of his trauma

[heartbeat-echo]

One thing i really appreciated about dead boy detectives is that that show was fighting tooth and nail to be as much of a monster-of-the-week, character centric, teens having sci fi shenenigans in their silly little urban fantasy bubble show as it could be despite its 8 hours streaming format. There are points in the show where that results in a bit of odd pacing which could have been avoided if they actually let them have a longer season but nevertheless i Adore the stubborness to keep that type of episode structure

[wraithfangz]

It truly is fascinating how Ashton Greymoore's mere existence within these last 3 to 4 years exposed so many diet t/erfs and diet gender essentialists in this fandom

[grimm-the-tiger]

Sometimes I wonder if the Crane Wives and the Oh Hellos know that the MCYT community has fixated on their music and how they feel about it if they do.

[weptfreedom]

"So.las doesn't care about modern elves" gods forbid somebody be allowed to grow and change for the better

[tauforged]

this post but instead of hamsters it’s tenno ocs (i am guilty of this too LMFAO)

[lordgeneralsix]

I can't remember who said this but there was this one dev who said that when making romanceable characters they have to be attractive in some way (personality, looks, not too morally fucked up etc). and since I read that, the statement hasn't left my mind and I'm very aware now of whenever outside influence and modern discourse get to me or other writers. like just yesterday I found myself rewriting a scene to be more "comfortable" to witness, even though the point was to be emotionally charged and face a difficult topic the character had been actively lying about. but some things can't be glossed over. sometimes it's good when media grabs you by the shoulders and makes you face horrible shit. it's good when media makes you uncomfortable even if it's coming from a ~romanceable companion~. that means it's working. if you remain comfortable forever you learn nothing.

I bring this up bc the veilguard companions are the perfect example and victims of the "romanceable characters need to be attractive" mindset. they don't have ugly sides, they don't fight with each other--and I mean really fight--they don't have controversial opinions or do problematic things. they don't ever question your authority over their lives and why you're the guy in charge. they are nice and perfect and their problems aren't really that serious and can be fixed by simply having a therapy session w rook (bc being possessed or gaining new magic isn't a big deal in a world where previously such events are Very distressing and hard to control). they are further proof that trying too hard to make something attractive has the complete opposite effect if your brain isn't the size of a pebble.

it's overall very frustrating that big game developers continue to be so spineless and I'm not giving anyone a pass for shallow writing, especially from a franchise that is known to have complex characters. none of this is impressive after the first three dragon age games, which were well loved and dissected and debated for years after their release. that isn't to say these games don't have kind characters, having that balance is why I personally like dark fantasy and liked what the dragon age games offered (whenever the writing was good..). it's not dark for the sake of being dark (see grimdark), there's a reason why these things are happening, and in this world no one is completely innocent even if they have good intentions. most people like when their characters aren't always kind or agreeable, bc it's extremely rewarding to finally find that middle ground (of course I have to bring up larian, who made bg3 and proved just how much people appreciate flawed characters, see astarion). conflict is the driving force of a story, no matter what it is. even the most sickeningly sweet cozy slice of life story will have some kind of conflict. it's unavoidable. that's life. taking that away is setting yourself up for failure and all that remains is a boring story full of boring people. no one cares about characters who have their lives together.

(the post is technically over but I wanted to put some final thoughts under the cut bc this got longer than I meant)

I want to go back to the statement real quick... like i do agree, it's true as writers we'll subconsciously (or consciously if you're insecure) try to make our characters appealing, but this is the common trap writers fall into by giving a shit about what others think and want from Their work (which btw I fully believe in writing what you want even if it's "bad" because something with genuine soul will never be as bad as soulless cashgrabs). romanceable characters can and should be as flawed as you'd make any other character, bc trust me there's an audience for everything. even a random npc with two lines will be attractive to someone.

the pressure of an imaginary audience is what pushes writers into a corner and prevents writers from writing and exploring what They want. it's the writer's story first, not the audience's. I think the romanceable companion trap can be easily avoided if writers just 1) grow a bit of a backbone and 2) ask themselves if this is even a necessary or insightful mechanic that will help develop a character further. ask themselves if this character even has the capacity to handle a romantic relationship bc everything else is subjective and it's impossible to appeal to everyone (which apparently this is a controversial take). I won't sit here and pretend that I don't appreciate a good romance, but sometimes all someone really needs is a friend.

obsidian is a good example of self aware devs. they tried to do romance for pillars of eternity 2 bc of fan demand, and it didn't work very well. now for avowed, they didn't explore romance bc they know it's not their strong suit and don't feel it's necessary for this story, instead that time and effort went to developing the characters in other meaningful ways. I have nothing but respect for such a decision bc they know what they want from their story instead of lying and trying to be everything at once. less is more as they say.

[akkpipitphattana]

crazy thought btw but i don’t think anyone in the main six is actually in love with anyone else aside from sand with ray, at least not where we are at this point.

there’s a case to be made for nick with boston, but i truly think he’s more obsessed with than in love with him. and while we’re TOLD ray is in love with mew, it’s very clear it’s way more idolization than genuine love. top and mew love the IDEA of one another without actually getting to know each other (top literally couldn’t name anything he liked about mew right before he said he loved him for gods sakes). boston, while i think he has some amount of feelings for nick (and possibly ray, bostonray truthers rise), it’s definitely not full blown love. and while ray has clear feelings for sand, he’s been too stubbornly focused on mew to let that grow into something more.

sand, however, has been shown again and again the darkest parts of ray and the best parts of ray and he comes back every time. he’s the only one actually in love which is also why i need him to grow a fucking backbone so ray doesn’t keep breaking his heart.

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

WAIIIITTT me thinking my sunless ground writing is bad and then revisiting seventh virtue where the writing is like this except probably a little "worse"

[theregoesmylurkerstatus]

Ah, I see! Still, we'll see how far I get!

[dulcevenganzaa]

i guess for mcr fans the sense of community is a determining factor

[fooligandan]

kind of fucked that planet zoo makes my computer hotter than final fantasy remake but i think thats the nature of simulators (have a fuckload going on regardless of actual optimization) as opposed to an action rpg (unsure of how optimized it is; got it to run really well tho)