#this game is gd delight

[fandom-hoard]

Just thinking about the time in Gotham Knights when Dick had to use his "dad voice" on Tim to stop him from trying to make a Talon in their home base.

[newbiespud]

I'm sure it's been said before but I'll say it myself because why not

The game In Stars and Time makes for a revealing contrast to the movie Groundhog Day in how they treat their final time loop and how that reflects on the main character. (Even though, if I remember right, the dev largely wasn't aware of Groundhog Day when they came up with ISAT.)

Spoilers for both after the break, I guess.

In Groundhog Day, Phil starts out narcissistic and self-centered, has the realization that he can live life without consequences, gets depressed after having tried and done everything that he's got everyone and everything memorized so that nothing can delight and surprise him anymore, and finally escapes when he performs a loop that proves that a better, happier world is within his grasp to make, not something owed to him, and that he is happy with the life he has today, not always pining for his ambitions for the future.

In... In Stars and Time, Siffrin starts out deflecting and aloof, has the realization that they can do this perfectly - 'this' being not only the impossible challenge of defeating the King but navigating their relationships with their party - gets depressed after hitting wall after wall and repeatedly fumbling into faux pas after faux pas with their party, and finally escapes when they perform a loop where their true feelings come out, no matter how ugly, and they're honest about their own desires and wishes rather than trying to keep up an ideal façade.

Plenty of people have pointed out that In Stars and Time subverts the 'escaping on the perfect loop' time-loop trope that Groundhog Day largely codifies. Not only does the 'perfect' loop completely fail, Siffrin escapes on arguably the 'worst' loop, the one where they rightfully worry that they've hurt and alienated their loves ones forever and cannot escape those consequences anymore.

But I don't think this contrast is as direct as it seems, even though one could say that Phil got away scot-free compared to Siffrin and that In Stars and Time is the superior story for portraying a harsher outcome. (I do think that exploration and advancement of tropes is just inevitable and even healthy over time, and Groundhog Day came out in 1993 so of course it and the tropes it spawned deserve modern critique, but I digress.) I actually think that it reflects how both stories and the mechanics of their time loops are built around their main characters. (There's also something to be said about how genre shapes narrative since GD is an existential comedy and ISAT is an action-adventure focusing on interpersonal drama, but that's another digression.)

ISAT makes an impact on the whole time loop genre with its clever subversion, but like all the best subversive stories, it's couched in strong characters that embody its themes.

And to take a broader perspective, the best time loop stories are allegories for the real-life situation of making the same mistakes over and over again caused by your own deep-seated personality flaws, and being forced to finally confront your inner demons and overcome them and become a better, healthier person. (Relatable, much?)

Phil is a man who's never happy with his lot in life, so he needs to learn to find the eternal richness and beauty of what he has within his grasp, and that a better, happier life is something he can make for himself. Thus, he escapes on the 'best' loop.

Siffrin is a person who refuses to share their true feelings and problems with others to the point of self-destruction (and complete reinvention in one aspect), so they need to learn that no matter how ugly and twisted they think they are, being open and honest doesn't mean their loved ones will care about them any less, even when Siffrin is seen at their lowest point possible. Thus, they escape on the 'worst' loop.

It's not just clever subversion, it's holistic circular story structure!

...Though maybe I'm just drawn to these stories because I, too, would like some extra time to Figure Some Shit Out and have that time come with some superpowers along the way, even if it nearly destroys me in the process.

[cayfoley]

Once upon a time I was putting together a special stream and drew all of the slimes from Slime Rancher. I lov that game so gd much.

It's an absolute delight if you've never played it and enjoy any kind of farming game c:

[kindleaf]

I cant remember how far you got into eldermourne but Irina :] and lets do a non naddpod guy talk me about Grandma drawtectives

[ask game] yayyyyayayay :3

irina:

how do i feel about this character?

you're right i technically almost finished eldermourne and forgot almost all of the details because i wasn't actually There. but i LOVE irina i love a tragic magician i love a childhood best friend who haunts your every waking thought i love the beast you can't quite bring yourself to kill i love her.

all the characters i ship romantically with them.

just fia. gd bless she's like a pressed flower in my mind.

non-romantic pairings.

her and henry and her and zirk i just think her bonding with the other two third mates is really important to me since they're also very important to fia. they're a beautiful bundle of friendship and unfortunate circumstance. they even have a boat. also bukvar. gd. bukvar and irina. also i think her and billie could hang.

unpopular opinion.

i do not really have one? i really like it when people draw her with the same lil tusks that fia has. or would it be better for her to have heavy top fangs, so they connect like a puzzle when they kiss? much to think about.

one thing i wish would happen/wish had happened in canon.

same as zirk; i'd loveeee a short little oneshot with a little adventure with the third mates and irina (the fourth mates now?) in eldermourne. just to see them once more... funny guys... tragic, beautiful funny guys...

grandma:

how do i feel about this character?

LOVE HER. LOVE HIM. LOVE THEM. LOVE IT. GRANDMA! i love love love the way she slowly comes into his own and gets kinder and happier with a new direction to their life and even more comfortable with the other two and building relationships and gd. of course you have pronouns and a silly flower.

all the characters i ship romantically with them.

rosé (concrete) and york (ambiguous)!! and villainius, contractually.

non-romantic pairings.

i love his and jancy and their and eugene's relationship very much they are so. so silly. what if we were a dog walker a detective and a spiritualist and we pack bonded like almost instantly. and i gave you a little forehead kissie when i beat you in jousting even though i tried to lose. i also think falcon cracking its egg is awesome i think they would still hang, especially since york goes to her shows a lot. also. i think him and duke kingston munch would HANG.

unpopular opinion.

if you're shipping the drawtectives and leave grandma out of the relationship i don't WANT it she is integral he is a key component.

one thing i wish would happen/wish had happened in canon.

canon's still going babeyyyyy and i have high hopes that i'll love whatever we end up seeing in midnight alley but i do hope we get more drunk grandma and pissed off grandma they both delight me. let her get a little tips in his cute new outfit

[mickvalencia]

Devlog #001 - Summer is here and there's ice in the cooler

Hey Dear Reader! Here we are again, on our second week of the project being out in the open, and I must say that it has been absolutely delightful. The whole team has been hard at work on their own duties, writing, setting up things, discussing new and old ideas, editing, translating and mostly having a blast with this new working schedule we've developed so far. This whole policy of "Trade Perfect for Done" has done wonders for us, this week we've tackled some ideas we had in the backburner for a while, and I'll tell you what do we have in store for the next few days and weeks:

• DGS Podcast: Our Project Manager "elSolar" and I, just finished recording the raw audio for the first episode of what will be our bi-weekly (I'm not sure if it's the right term, maybe is bi-monthly, when you do it every other week, I get confused with those sometimes) official podcast, in which we'll talk about mechanics, lore and the development process of DGS, it should be out this week, and we'll release it as soon as it's done. It was a fun experience! We were a little bit nervous at first, but we got into it and let ourselves loose after a while, all in the spirit of doing things instead of overplanning. This episode we talk about the origins of DGS, we unveil some of the lore and have fun with some random questions, stay tuned for when it comes out! • Detrayan Prism Takes Off: We posted one of our main stories the other day, "The Myth of Creation", which will be part of our narrative series as a way to flesh out the lore and share with you some of the non-mechanical aspects of DGS. This week we're working on the translation of "Miracle - Losing Doesn't Halt the Bet", a beautiful story about empathy, forgiveness, and gambling, written by our Narrative Director, Mr. "R. Ursus". We hope that these stories not only help you understand more of the lore of our world, but also leave you with a message of hope and resilience. • DGS Annex: As you might have noticed, the manuals need some elements that are not available yet, like our continent map, the character sheet, a GD reference sheet and the script for the Prologue Episode. We're putting the final touches to these elements, and they'll be published very soon as well, which will takes us to a point where we can concentrate more on the lore, by having the mechanics already established in their basic sense, leaving us free to work on lore and subsystems! • Community Space Tidying Up: As you already know, social spaces are a difficult area for me, so our Subsystems Manager, "Kitt", is giving me a hand with the social and the construction of spaces to grow a community, play the game and discuss the lore and stories around it. We're aiming to have a presence on most socials, but we'll concentrate mostly on Discord (Which is where our sessions usually take place) and we've also made a Subreddit (r/Detrayan) as well.  • Green Book: We keep our progress on our third manual, we're taking it easy with this one a bit, so we can push the final parts of the playable stage, but it should be out pretty soon. This one will be a glimpse into the world in a general sense, we'll talk about the Planes, Ages, Species, Landmarks and Deities, among others.  Besides that, there are lots of other things we have planned for the upcoming weeks, like the Spanish versions of the manuals and stories, the construction of our own Discord Bot for DGS sessions, and the implementation of our Subsystems once the three main books of the "Detrayan Colors" series are finished (I want to get to the Yellow Book so much! Can't wait to talk about our moving cities and Behemoths!)

Anyway, I hope you're doing well, that your family, friends and pets are healthy and happy, that your today pales in comparison to your tomorrow, and that all your projects and ideas get to safe harbor. We want to thank everyone who has shown interest in the project and our ideas, we really appreciate your support, we hope you see us as friends you can reach out and talk to. Throw a message our way, let's have a friendly chat, talk about the project with your friends, clean up your cat's litter box and take your dog for a walk, call your mom and tell her that you love her, drink water, drive safely and enjoy life as much as you can. It seems I got sidetracked, anyway, have a most excellent day, and it would mean a lot to us if you can do the whole "like, share, subscribe, engage and comment" that everyone talks about, your support is the fuel that keeps this TTRPG vehicle going forward. As always, very big hugs from your friends at the Detrayan Team! Mick Lead of Detrayan Team

[coffee-or-murder]

For the interview asks:

Effie- 7, 17, 26

Daffodil- 12, 16, 33

Effie doesn't have a portrait because I cannot for the life of me settle on her gd face. More under the cut.

Effie- 7, 17, 26

7. You have the key to immortality in your hands. But not for free. If you want it, as a price, your worst enemy also gains immortality. Is it worth it?

Effie puts her hand to her chest, bright green eyes gone comically wide as she gasps lightly.  “I would never leave my Tempie behind! Now that she’s in my life I couldn’t imagine living that long without her! If we don’t die together in bed, old and loved, I won't know what to do with myself,” she says, pulling her hand back far enough from her chest to examine her neatly kept bright pink glittery nails. “Besides I would never give the cunt the satisfaction of living such a long life. Sort of defeats the whole purpose of me ruining it doesn’t it? No satisfaction if she just kept on living forever afterwards. Sooner or later her suffering would be so totally stale.”

17. Have you ever gotten sheer joy out of hurting someone else, either physically or mentally? To whom and why? Did it scare you?

She thinks about that for a long moment, twirling a lock of hair as she rolls the thought around a bit. “You know I have. It’s like….like the kind of satisfaction that comes from breaking down someone who spent their leisure time destroying other people's entire lives,” Effie says with a small shrug. “Unfortunately I can’t tell you who, that’s what NDA’s are for. You totally get it. I know they’re such a pain but an NDA is an NDA. Anywho I was totally within the bounds of the law when I did ruin them. Just because there was some social backlash doesn’t mean it wasn’t right. I’m not worried about enjoying it. My Tempie would stop me from going past the point of no return, if not by her direct action then my love for her would keep my reigns held tight.”

26. Is your personal happiness more important than anything else in the world? Than fame? Than the happiness of others?

Effie snorts, entirely unladylike, and covers her mouth as she grins. “While I am a bit of a hedonist with some things, there’s stuff I totally admit is more important than my own personal stuff. Tempie’s happiness for example. Fame doesn’t mean all that much if the people I care about aren’t cared for anyway.”  

Daffodil- 12, 16, 33

12. If someone else stole something and you stole it back is that a good deed, a bad deed or one of equal worth? Are you better than the original thief?

Daffodil leans her chin on one curled hand, lilac eyes sparking with mischief. “Have you been conversing with my dearest ever new delight? This seems quite like its source may stem from the ever turning mind of our captain Magpie,” she teases lightly, leaning back as she settles more into her seat. “Larceny can be many things, righteous or disreputable depending upon many factors the one may not always be in total dominion over. I do not believe either deed has any effect on the other really, and as long as our architect does not make a game of pilfering my family's good silver, I do believe I will leave the burglary in the hands of the professionals.” 

16. Have you ever contemplated killing someone? Who and why? Would you ever act on it? Are you frightened you might?

Daffodil looks directly at, or perhaps through, the interviewer as a sharp smile sets her gaze alight. “Darling I am well versed in many a trade. Death is not a stranger in my business, nor will they ever be. They dine at my table as easily as I at theirs,” she purrs, maintaining frankly too much eye contact as she speaks, lilting soprano voice gone low and even. “Those who attempt to harm my muses will find that I am quite the composer of final ballades, and I relish the opportunity to share my song, even if I should not deign to stoop to their level. I would not wish to upset my lionheart with such a slaughter, or draw too much undue attention to my privateer, so it is a rare song I sing in its familiar refrain.” 

33. If you could wipe certain memories from your head, would you? Why would you? What memories?

She plays with the thought for a long moment, twisting it to see different sides, before ultimately shaking her head. “No. The music would be poorer without the most varied experiences. My muses provide all the comfort I would require regardless of what the machinations of those in a higher power may thrust upon the path.”

[kpop012]

pink blooded.

it's been a good week for nostalgia.

last saturday, big bang staged an unofficial comeback at the 2024 mama awards, taeyang and daesang appearing alongside GD during his stage to perform "home sweet home," "bang bang bang," and "fantastic baby," and, wow, i went through a huge big bang phase from roughly “거짓말” to “붉은 노을,” but i was not prepared for how deeply the nostalgia hit — or exactly how much pride i apparently have for big bang (minus the garbage can), even though their appropriation and swagger had driven me away in the early 2010s.

and, then, on 2024 november 29, channel shiboya released their collab game caterers x SM episode in three parts. SM is coming up on their thirtieth anniversary, and the company sent one member per unit as a representative — kangta (H.O.T.), changmin (TVXQ), leeteuk (SJ), hyoyeon (SNSD), key (shinee), suho (exo), seungri (red velvet), doyoung (NCT), karina (aespa), and wonbin (riize). i'm still bummed/annoyed that they couldn't fit this around boa's schedule, and, while i understand why SM would have chosen to send just one member per unit, i still wish we could have gotten more people because i love seeing these generations interact.

i got into k-pop with H.O.T. in the mid-1990s, and i've been loyal to SM ever since. the company is deeply flawed and has made many mistakes, and it's been pissing me off tremendously in recent years with how they can't seem to support or sustain their veteran artists or respect the company’s legacy as the one that kicked off k-pop as we know it today. it's because i am familiar with the ugly side of SM, though, that i don't feel very many qualms in expressing my loyalty — to borrow the language of SM artists, i've been pink-blooded down to my bones for almost thirty years.

it's partly that i instinctively understood the number one rule of k-pop fandom — be loyal — but another reason behind my company loyalty has been deeply personal: i got into k-pop at a time when i started to become very isolated socially because it coincided with the start of the body shaming that would define my life because of how it obliterated me. the shaming came from all fronts, from family to church to the general korean community, and, as i started to withdraw more and more from people out of fear of rejection, i leaned more on k-pop and was drawn to the idea of SMTOWN.

SMTOWN got started fairly on, once SM had amassed a number of artists. they released albums (that usually coincided with summer or winter) and music videos and, eventually, held concerts around the world, all built around this idea of SM as more than its individual idols and groups but as a family, and i loved these collabs. they spoke to the aching loneliness in me that longed to belong to a group, to be more than just me alone against the world, to be someone because i was a part of something bigger than i was or could ever be as an individual. i know that SM is a company, that this is likely just an image they project as part of their brand, but that lonely child in me still lights up whenever SM comes together, especially when the company brings its five generations together — and that lonely child in me still longs to be a part of something bigger than i am, whether that’s the book community or the korean american food world or god knows what.

i keep coming back to k-pop, though, to SM, because i grew up with this industry, literally alongside the industry, from those nascent years with H.O.T., S.E.S, and shinhwa, all the way through boa, TVXQ, SNSD, and big bang to red velvet and bangtan, to where we are here today with aespa. it's been such an exhilarating, heartbreaking, enraging, delightful, and fun journey, and i kind of can't believe i'm still here with these idols.

almost thirty years in, and i still really, really, really love k-pop.

[sammarketer]

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[clawbehavior]

Hey friend, I'm curious abt 3, 24, 28 for the writer ask game if that's ok with you :3

hello my dear friend. thank you for these wonderful writing questions! i had a lot of fun answering them in what has been an otherwise frustrating week. ❤️❤️

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

my writing ritual is overly complex and therefore cursed but i wouldn't change it for the world because the process is so satisfying. it goes like this:

- have idea

- bullet point idea in google notes 

- develop idea further. usually it's a climactic scene, so i need to establish context and appropriate buildup. for ex, ihyal started out as the conversation in the kitchen, but in the actual work that scene happens at the end of ch 1.

- if idea is reasonably structured (ie has a beginning, middle, and end, even if patchy), i transfer it to google docs 

^^ this part is important. if the idea is fun but underdeveloped, it stays a plot bunny. i post those on tumblr as #myficlets and #myficideas. but if the idea is more than a single scene or chapter snippet, it gets turned into an actual story. 

- in GD, i work chaotically to add in context, turn details into dialogue, map out which event triggers the next one. i start with the scene that interests me most and work from there rather starting from the beginning of the story and working my way to the end. for ex, i wrote the opening conversation in ihyal last and right before publication 

^^this part is most chaotic because to rewrite a scene, i'll copy and paste it into a new document to preserve the details of the previous version. so i can have 3-4 documents with variations on a single scene until i get to the version i like the most. in eeaaao, chapter 9 had 6-7 different google docs and google keep notes going while i trialed different versions

- i'll get it to 90 per cent completion and publish  

- in the 2-3 days after it's published, i edit extensively on a03 for spelling, stylistic issues, imprecise language etc until it gets to the version i like. 

it's an extremely rewarding process even if onerous because i get to try different writing styles and tricks while working on a single story, which makes the craft a lot of fun. that's also why it takes so long to update lol. even though i work on my fics 3x a week, i average once a month updates.  

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

in terms of prep for executing the story, i do everything  above. in terms of prep for the story idea, i go with the flow and follow the plot bunnies my brain is intrigued by. sometimes they're spontaneous, like the sex tape revenge fic idea, other times they build over months. for months, i was interested in a story where yohan and gaon fight about how he weaponized gaon's parents' suicides in a really ugly way on live television. but i only recently turned that into a fic idea with mhgbty.

28. Who is the most delightful character you���ve ever written? Why?

yohan in 'enantiomers'. he loves his baby niece so much, and i thoroughly enjoyed getting to write that. young men are very sweet with babies sometimes. they're creative and not easily frustrated and down to have fun, so i loved getting to explore that in a softer, younger version of kyh who gets to experience all this love and affection. 

[randomnameless]

i’ve sent u anon asks

I agree with Lorenz in Nopes making interesting points about Claut - I mean, Clout’s bonker plans, but bar some “huffs and puffs” the poor lad is completely ignored.

Seeing this, Hopes Lorenz gives up and just goes with it because he’s too smart for the dumb ppl to listen to. :(

I agree, but there is giving up and this...

“They were the cause of this war, since they refused to die when Supreme Leader and her army marched and destroyed their home and politely asked them to!”

Like, no, I had more faith in you Lorenz, but I guess this route is just like mold, it spreads. But I guess Fodlan and victim blaming are like bread and butter, they go so well together so here he goes...

NOW THEN, on to the VW issues!

Yay main dish!

Having anyone else say something about it would mean someone else disagreed with Claude, which was out of character for all GDs except Lorenz (and maybe Lysithea at most. Leonie doesn’t care as long as she can show off her Captain Jeralt skills)

Hilda.

Hilda, would perfectly fit the bill.

Claude wants to open borders and get along with people of different faiths, origins and all? Hilda could spat her racist almyran tirade to him (instead of throwing them to Cyril... who used to be a “servant” of her very own house!) - not knowing Claude is Almyran, of course, but just raising doubts about his dream, mentionning how her family has been fighting “barbarians” for ages and opening up to them would only endanger the people of Fodlan, on top of, idk, spatting on everyone who died up to today to defend the border (i’m trying to think of an argument here lol).

Which, in turn, would made Claude have the big reaction we (I) was waiting for in the game - you cannot want to defend Almyra’s good name by rekting pirates pretending to be Almyrans (in Alois’s paralogue) but turn a blind eye to the weekly wednesday “raids for funsies”.

And I think it would have been a good dichotomy between Claude “sort of” getting along with Hilda on a personal level, they are friends (she dies to protect him, against their own reservations about people dying for others in CF!) - but this person he gets along with would (he’d believe it) turn on him/hate him if he revealed he was from Almyra...

(that could maybe lead to another Rhea/Nabatean parallel, no matter how good they get along with humans, there’s the fear that the second humans know they’re walking shinies to be looted, they might kill them)

I know I’ve mentioned this (Almyra being an apparently shitty place with shitty people) before on my blog at some point because I know I’ve talked about how fucking racist it all is, but… if you go plainly from what we know about Almyra and take out the fact that the writing for it was racist, we do know it’s not the best place ever and even Claude has only really had negative experiences there (including the weekly Sunday assassination attempts against him)

In Nopes -

Even if the localisation kind of eluded it, in his Mercedes support, in the jp version, Cyril explicitely says he was always hungry before being taken in by the evil church lady, let it be in PAlmyra or in Fodlan.

So ignoring the “they raid for fun and then throw big feasts and party like no tomorrow!” borderline traits that are, very... uh, reminiscent of how someone in the 1800s would describe “The Orient”, we know, per Cyril, that there’s no one there to take care of kids, and war orphans are starving.

Also kind of (read: very extremely) gross how Almyra treats Claude as being evil and disgusting for being half blood of another land when that’s literally exactly what Byleth is and Byleth is the white person who is viewed by any and all as amazing, stupendous, wonderful and unironically godly.

In a certain route, Billy’s mixed blood goes “poof” and they become “human” again (even if they never were since their mother was not a human), to the delight of a certain lord!

All jokes aside, that could be tied to the earlier Hilda point and in the general “racism” theme that - despite ending as we know - was depicted in Tellius with the Brandeds, neither Laguz not Beorcs actually like them. Almyra, through Claude’s bg, has, uh, “less than positive” views about Fodlan people thus shit on Claude, but Fodlan (especially Leicester and Goneril) have the same “less than positive” views about Almyran people, thus would shit on Claude if they knew he was Almyran.

And it could have been a bit cliché, but having Claude trying to protect people, stop the war and maybe rekt the mole people, to finally have people discover he’s neither from Fodlan nor Almyra but from both, and accept him, regardless of his origins, but because he is Claude, the person who saved the continent from the mole people and stopped the war led by Supreme Leader.

But... no.

Because that damn Hresvelg Tea needs to be sold!

I will say I think the urgency about the Opera company is valid since they’re immediately in an area of Edelgard’s reach. If they turned against her, she’d have them slaughtered pretty quickly because they’d have no time to escape

Okay, sorry to bring Nopes again, but I think it’s sort of relevant - in the Nopes Mittelfrank paralogue, in the jp speaking/understanding fandom there was a certain shitstorm (@renisfan correct me plz if I’m sprouting nonsense!), because in the jp text, the blurb to pick the paralogue mentions the Opera company is going to comfort the Imperial Army. Given irl history between Japan and people forced to “comfort” imperial soldiers, I’d say this shitstorm was very well deserved - but bar IS (KT) speedrunning Nopes to be the worst game received in the extended franchise, we know through Doro, Manu and Yuri that Mittelfrank Opera artists sometimes engage in sex work with imperial nobles...

So yeah, idk if she was going to slaughter them, take them hostage or have them “comfort” the Imperial army, but given what the Opera Company might have been used for in Nopes, there definitely was a sense of urgency!

Back to the point - maybe we can blame it on FE16′s lack of villages to save or random NPCs - but when Doro and Manu can go in the Enbarr map to the Opera company, there are no special lines or pseudo events or even NPCs to showcase the reality of Gloucester’s occupation and/or the reason why Erwin is siding with the Empire (I’m not asking for a paralogue that is basically Xavier’s recruitment in FE5 lol, who would want that - but in FE5, when Dorias is raving about Xavier being a traitor, there is an old man who tells him that no, Xavier didn’t betray, he’s just siding with the Freege occupation because he wants to protect his soldiers and their families. Why no old man like this for Erwin/Lorenz in FE16, with Lorenz talking to them or something like this?)

But indeed, it was less urgent to protect Gloucester’s random - since they were already under Erwin’s protection and Supreme Leader had no reason to target them (granted, sometimes, she targets people who don’t do anything to her so... and the demonic beasts won’t be created from scratch! Maybe some people in Gloucester were “volunteered” to become new war assets?) - than a bunch of civilians who have no one to protect them...

Yeah, it’s really annoying the way they spin everything to be “well maybe Edelgard is in the right after all” at every possible chance they can

That’s what I also hold against VW - even if it’s a BE recycled route, as sad as it is - we lit have Lysithea, iirc, saying they have to destroy Nemesis and the Shambala loyalists because...

We must obliterate them in the next battle. It's the only recompense for Edelgard's death.

What a joke.

(in jp it’s clearer she means she wants to avenge her death)

Imagine someone says they have to defeath Ashera/Lehran and ends with “It’s to avenge Lekain’s death”. Like, wtf. Seriously. This happens in the explore section before fighting Nemesis, after Rhea’s final infodump about how her people were massacred as things to be looted, but the game, instead of, idk, saying something like “it’s the only thing we can do to settle the wrongs made to Nabateans” reminds you that, uh, Rhea might be a genocide survivor, but Supreme Leader was experimented upon (by the same people she later sides with) and died (tons of sad uwus) and was used by those evil people (and yet she still aided and abaited them with their crazed experiments by foddering her own civilians to be used as guinea pigs, in Remire, and later on, using their demonic beasts as regular members of her army!), so, uh, for 1 step of “Rhea maybe not BaD?” we have to be reminded that, “Supreme Leader GoOd”.

This is essentially an example of Edelgard giving a non-answer.

There’s a reason why I came up with the “Supreme Replies (tm)” concept lol, remember the “no u”?

She often does this with Rhea, in SB when Rhea asks her why she is breaking Fodlan’s peace and attacking them, she gives a Supreme Reply in the lines of if you don’t understand then I can’t do anything for you or something like that. Even if CF, when Rhea is more or less telling her she doesn’t want to kill her because she was really fond of Willy, instead of asking why Rhea is saying this - because in her mind, Nabateans are creatures with no regard for human lives - she goes “don’t presume too much I won’t die today”.

And the devs let her sprout her flat one-liners (maybe thinking they’re very cool) and the discussion always ends here. Dimitri cannot give a meaningful reply to the “no u” and the Zahras chapters... well.

So the moral of the story is basically that Lorenz can be used to act ooc at any time it’s needed and used as the guy we can get mad at (and the dialogue makes a point of saying we should do that), but Edelgard must always stay in character because she is always correct about anything and everything, and if she were ooc then something she says wouldn’t be correct anymore.

Lorenz was a better character than what they gave him to work with in Houses, and in Hopes, when he was given that chance to work with what he really was, they had the characters just ignore him for the sake of fulfilling the Edelgard-is-right centric plot of GW’s second half. Which like… really fucking sucks that half of Claude’s route is literally just a second route of Edelgard-is-right-centric.

Hahaha, that’s basically my issue with the entire (minus the non recruitable characters) cast of FE16/Nopes, and why I warmed up to the BL after AG - everyone’s characterisation must be blown away at one point to give a small “Rhea/Church BaD” jab while, at the same time, be able to praise Supreme Leader (and even join her).

We can’t know what the fuck is happening in Gloucester or with Lorenz’s random people, because it’s a territory under imperial supervision and if it’s bad it will reflect poorly on Supreme Leader. SS is supposed to be her most critical route (it’s here we have the Ferdie’n’Lys paralogue, revealing that while Ludwig might be a douchebag, Supreme Leader is letting “Uncle Arry” run Hrym dry, in Ludwig’s supposed name while the guy is under house arrest).

Lorenz could have been so much, and I think he can be interesting in fanfics that explore his character more than IS/KT who ended up with making him a Supreme Leader mouthpiece or “the guy who has to disagree because the plot commends him to”.

It's still wild to me that people will go to bat for the nothing characters that are Randolph and Fleche as proof of Dimitri being bad; we know next to nothing about them, they have miniscule screentime, what little we do know of Randolph paints him as human scum who'd do horrific things if it meant a chance at a promotion, and Fleche illogically only ever holds a grudge against someone for killing her brother if that someone is AM!Dimitri, with her completely vanishing from the game in every other route.

Eh,

I'd say they play the same purpose than this random child in TS in Roland's story - at this point, both lords want vengeance, and they have to face someone who also wants (misdirected!) vengeance at them, smth smthg like war sucks because people die.

But it's completely wasted in FE16, because, as you said, Randy isn't a random or a civilian or a war orphan, he is a general leading an attack on refugees/civilians/randoms to gain more fame, and dies in the process.

Now, can we say Flèche's anger and death are ultimately directed at Randolph, who died for nothing and took his sister down with him in his quest for "muhrit" ? Or are we supposed to think that this scene is important because Dimitri, the Blue Lord, isn't supposed to fall as low as the Imperial Army - something he comes close to (apparently?) ?

And yet again, it completely fails.

Because for one Randolph - who also had a family and loved ones - we have 50 Waldos and Baldis, whose lives aren't given any fuck about.

We don't see a war prisoner, or an Adrestian civilian accusing Supreme Leader of having sent her/his wife/husband/daughter/son to death with a conquest they never asked and trying to off her.

Only Dimitri receives this backlash from - invaders who wanted to invade and suddenly remember they have loved ones so are very sad when their loved ones dies - Flèche, but not Claude nor Billy, as you rightfully pointed out.

And Supreme Leader never receives any backlash - or wake up call - from a real third party/civilian/casualty who could have done the exact same thing.

Emile mentions how, during her attack, the Holy Grounds near Garreg Mach were turned in a slaughterhouse, why don't we have any civilian who survived from that try to take a jab at Supreme Leader? Waldi's best friend? Baldo's mother? A war captive from Leicester/Faerghus or a conscripted Adrestian?

I laughed about it with friends earlier, and again with the teatime paralogue, but it truly feels as if only 1/3rd (since the church doesn't count) of the cast will face consequences for the war and suffers backlash from the constant fighting (they didn't even start!).

Whenever you have to deal with serious stuff in Fodlan, it'll be for the BL members.

The rest? Will sip tea, talk nonsense, try to solve "mysteries" and live as if nothing is happening in the background.

Just imagine how both deer routes could have been much more impactful and interesting - instead of being a recycled Billy route with a different infodump at the end - if Raphael's sister popped up to a War Council, asking Claude to stop coddling the Empire because their lands were invaded, her grandfather put to Aymr and her inn destroyed by the Imperial Army, or how Ignatz's older brother discovers how Adrestia is burning pieces of art and history and every material related to Leicester and Faerghus history because they want to push an "Adrestia Eternal" narrative. Heck, Claude could even discover more "lore" by picking a Leif route, sort of rescuing the people "handpicked" to become new Baldos and Waldis, discovering the secret of the artificial crest stones and maybe having an infiltration map where, lo, instead of receiving an info dump, they maybe witness Rhea being turned in a relic or used to "produce" artificial crest stones.

War BaD, but only when we can make the BL suffer for it, for the rest, it's just a bgm.

And even then, it can't be too critical of Supreme Leader, because she was made to sell alts in FE heroes or dubious Cipher Cards.

"Supreme Leader", "cute girls" and "I want to see how Faerghus and its knights will deal with the aftermath of the Tragedy while defending against the invading forces".

Tl; dr : Flèche and Randolph are named, which is a cheap way to make people care for them despite their role in the plot, but the demonic beasts and the civilians dying aren't mentionned nor talked about.

Hell, why do you think I gave names to the artificial demonic beasts? The game doesn't want you to think too much about them, but if I talk about Baldo and Waldi, maybe the fandom will?

[brooklynsmile]

WHICH AESTHETIC™ COLOR ARE YOU?

tangerine

You, frankly, are a goddamn delight. You bring light with you wherever you go, and whether you're aware of it or not, you're the life of the party. Despite your flamboyant nature, you're surprisingly soft. You give the sweetest gifts, and are probably the best amateur masseuse of your friend group. Those closest to you see this softness, and love you for it. Remember this when you are called "too much": there is no such thing as too much of you. People who say those things are just too small to have the space for your light. Don't tone it down, just find people who will treasure every piece of you.

tagged by: @webstinger​ still thinking of that broom

tagged: @missgwendolyne @thexprcdigalscn @snowinabottle @fallencrowns​ (peter) 

[flaticeball]

at the nhl all star game, there will be a number of cool skills challenges. one of these challenges is the "discover nhl fountain face-off(tm)". this competition apparently "takes place on the iconic bellagio fountains" which players will have to "travel by boat" to reach, and "fountain spray and the breeze off the strip" will provide complicating factors.

this is, in a word, insane. and there can be, in my estimation, only one conclusion. someone WILL end up in that fountain. the only question is will it be the result of: 1. accident, 2. zest for life, 3. pushed (affectionate), or 4. pushed (hateful). i now bring to you based exclusively on my own knowledge of the participants prior to this moment an assessment of the players based on why they, specifically, would end up in the bellagio fountain. no offence meant to any of them, i say this all either positively or neutrally. without further ado:

WHOSE FOUNTAIN IS IT ANYWAY

Jonathan Huberdeau: i don't really know anything about this man myself but the panthers have been dynamite lately and nhl.com describes him as an "offensive wizard" which i think could probably stoke some resentment at the moment. further information from My Good Friend @himbeaux-on-ice informs me he is currently leading the nhl in points. verdict: pushed (hateful)

Claude Giroux: my man here is so fucking tired. please let him live. he needs to relax and let loose for a while, and i feel like this might be a good opportunity for that. verdict: pushed (affectionate)

Jordan Eberle: buddy has Been Thru It on every single team he's ever been on. do not see why this would be any different. verdict: accident

Jocelyne Lamoureaux-Davidson: cooler than pretty much the entire nhl, has done so much interesting stuff and i've kept track of her career out of the corner of my eye. however. she is also a twin. so, provided her sister is in town, this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. verdict: pushed (affectionate)

Roman Josi: too pretty for his own good, recall him fondly from the period of time where he and pk subban were d-partners. his logo for that drawing competition was an offence against the preds as an organization and also against gd HOWEVER boy did he ever commit. verdict: zest for life

Nick Suzuki: a delight, a pleasure, a meteoric talent. on the habs. Fucking Cursed. verdict: accident

Zach Werenski: i don't know who this man is at all. i google him. he is supposedly "the face of the cbj". this is enough said. verdict: accident

Mark Stone: i feel like this one speaks for itself but it'll be interesting to see if this will be a manifestation of him as he is on the ice (#ExpressiveMarkStone my beloved) or how he is off the ice (ah geez, ah shucks, ah man-). however. either way i feel like he's going to give it his all, and my mental image of this which is probably incorrect has them on little platforms in the water itself which is a recipe for disaster if you either 1. freak out and celly too hard, or 2. get too caught up in doing a good job you forget where the fuck you are. verdict: zest for life

[novantinuum]

tbh i think the reason why the tumblr desktop crabs delight me so much is that they’re the perfect example of a prank that doesn’t involve flat out just lying. it’s just. silly. harmless and silly, that’s all it is. and that’s perfect.

i fucking HATE april fools and what it’s become, because most “pranks” these days are just people telling fibs for no reason that make me question reality and their intent. like literally want to throw my computer through the wall every time i see another clickbait article making up an entirely fake spinoff or game or movie or whaTEVER that sounds like absolute dog shit. literally so done with that style of “prank.” it’s almost never funny. being a gd liar is out, and innocent stupid dashboard crabs you can willfully turn on and off whenever you please are IN

[kmclaude]

Idk if you've been asked this before, but favorite horror movies? Anything particularly impactful to you? I'm kinda lost with what I want to watch lately, esp for spooky season

I just got all the OG Hellraiser movies and i may gorge myself on them bc that's always fun, I love fun. Ring is also good but it was also my 12 year old special interest. If you want a better and Japanese Would You Rather from the 90s, Red Room (also called King Card Game iirc) is good, unearthed films released the dvd but it once was on youtube in full. I actually need to watch a couple of horror dvds i've had and just never watched...

Obligatory The Devils rec

Oh, i have a love for the Re-Animator films, my exfiancé and I went down a Re-Animator and related films wormhole. Speaking of, by the same director: Society. Fun film. Good effects. Freaky third act.

(I am completely dead inside and desperate to feel so most horror movies fall flat unless they can do something fun/quirky/aesthetic/interesting for me lol so sorry if these aren't scary.)

If you have Shudder and like found footage, Deadstream is pretty good. One dude carries the whole dang thing, props to him. Host is also good.

The movie adaptation of the videogame Detention is good. Netflix also has a tv show based off it but the movie is more horror and the show is more ghost drama.

Kairo/Pulse, the OG one, is so gd good. Upsetting in a bleak way--I watched it with friends raaaaather soon after my breakup and it kinda fucked me up lmao--so I rec it but with the caveat I was in a super dark lonely isolated borderline suicidal place ("was" lol) so it hit even HARDER than usual. Good film. But like...if you watch it while depressed you're gonna be suuuUUUUUuuUuUuper depressed.

Oh wait yeah if you want bleak and upsetting true horror, on youtube for free is the film Threads from 1984. It is about what nuclear apocalypse would look like for the survivors. It is....it is difficult. It is kinda like watching The Handmaid's Tale where you just keep getting punched in the face over and over and it never stops.

Noroi: The Curse is a slow burn found footage that actually...ok so i love found footage bc the bar is low. So low. I have 0 expectations. You can only delight me. Noroi is like "what if we did found footage fucking RIGHT" and it is good. Again slow burn.

I'm sure others have better recs than I--tbh if you have access to Shudder I have found you can't go wrong with the Shudder originals. They have yet to disappoint. They also have a shitton of giallo films which tend to just be....very pretty trainwrecks.

[madebycoffee]

5. 15, 25 for the ask gammmme

5. Current favorite mod?

🤔 tbh I would have to say the First Impressions mod. I delight in seeing what people thing of each other and I REALLY wish I had it in my game before I did the Gianlerette. I'm so curious on how it all woulda added to that lmao.

15. How many hours have you spent playing the Sims?

In the Sims 4 according to Origin, I've spent 7,477 hours playing the game 💀 and in the The Sims 3 I've spent: 2,298 hours in game for a GRAND TOTAL OF 9,775 HOURS! I need step it up and get to 10k tbh.

25. What is your favorite or most used skill?

probably photography? Mostly because in the last 2 years I got really focused on making sure my sims have pictures of family n friends n such in their houses using in game photos. i hate to say it but that gd moschino stuff pack really added so much to my enjoyment of the skill dAMNIT moSQUITO.

[rexismycopilot]

Hey there! Number 44 for the WIP title tag game, please! Have a nice day!

Hello, friend!! ❤️

For the WIP Ask Game

44. Sith!Obi and Ani go to a kink club

Okay, I just need everyone to take a moment and appreciate the amount of asks I've gotten about this topic in particular:

Which then I realize begs the question, "then rex why haven't you written it yet?" Okay, hear me out... because I forgot about it. 😭

Well not forgot, but... i have a lot of wips. and things get lost in my brain. i'm sorry. please forgive me.

Anyway, onto this delightful topic. Basically what it is in my head is Obi-Wan being super possessive over Anakin. Only Obi-Wan is allowed to touch Anakin. And in this universe, Anakin is still embarrassed about sex (especially in public) but he gonna do it lol. (I know this is darker than my usual stuff, but... it's fun to write something a little different, right?)

I had a lot of suggestions (like spanking anakin because you know that's going to happen because it's me), but now i'm kind of laughing at the tag I used on this ask.

Okay... gd i gotta write this one. Maybe this game was a bad idea because I'm getting excited about this all over again and I HAVE SO MUCH TO WRITE.

but i love it