#this would be my 3rd? playthrough i think

[melonyfelonyfellonme]

Had the most false of false starts to this year (in work mainly) and I just went back to AC: Black Flag after a year

Realised that Past Me decided to pause playing just before starting one of the more devastating missions, and then was smacked in the face right after with Leave Her, Johnny

It's kl I still have tears left apparently pfffff

[pokemonruby]

i really did love veilguard in spite of all the criticisms surrounding it (i'm a fresh da fan, i played inquisition earlier this year, nearly 100% it, and it resonated with me deeply. i'm excited to play its predecessors when i get the chance too.) but i will say definitely my biggest complaint is that i just wish solas was in the story more. makes me wonder what it would've been like had it still been called "dreadwolf." 🥹

[jennypigalle]

i started a second playthrough as durge (i'm nowhere near finished with act 1 on my first playthrough...), mostly bc i was curious what you could do in terms of customization of durge (turns out, more than i thought) and also bc i was curious about alternative choice/etc. for things i had done (i somehow missed shadowheart on the ship the first time for example) and i was hoping to find the boar to trigger astarion's reveal (i like it for battles in my first playthrough) but i didnt wanna search too detailed bc i realised i hadnt even had my first longrest yet and though yeah maybe i need to have that and see him sneaking off to be able to find the boar (i read it somewhere), so i go do my first long rest. i had talked to the bard woman in the druid grove. i was a bit durge preoccupied that night to see astarion sneaking off... (wow i was not prepared for that!) still no sign of the boar on a quick look, i do some things and have a second long rest. again preoccupied with the results of the previous nights. do some more things, figure there's no use looking for the boar, i'll just do it after all this - and so of course that night he comes to bite me. i didn't know that could happen. this playthrough keeps throwing me for a loop, but i'm also having so much fun (i played 5h in a row today) (also i made the durge a drow and it is very fun actually to see npcs reacting to it in various ways)

[pika-blur]

does anyone know what the fuck i did in april to have my playtime so low

[sticks-stones-sonic-insanity]

Expression practice

Below is some process yapping! And some explanation!

Having this next to a completely normal sketch felt insane but sometimes u hone in on smth so hard you forget what else is on the page lol.

While I was trying to get a feel for how to draw this expression I was thinking about what actually would bring Sonic to this point and make him this upset. I did a whole analysis of his character in my head and came up with this idea of Sonic, someone often capable and relied on in tense situations(such as the 3rd act of xyz Sonic Game), being forced to take the observer role as someone else takes the sacrifice role for him.

That someone in this case, being Tails.

I was looking at some Frontiers stuff today - cinematically edited playthroughs by AltheBoi to be specific-, and seeing their dialogue in Frontiers reminded me again of how badly I want Tails to get his own chance to save the day alone for once, and what would that look like.

But also.. how would Sonic react?

It's a show of Tails' growth as a character in bravery and skill being able to take on something as challenging and dangerous as Sonic usually would, but is also a painful role-reversal in which Sonic has to watch his brother face impossible odds alone and cannot step in to save him, only able to hope that he will make it back to him alive by the end of the fight.

Sonic has faced off against terrifying enemies and impossible odds in the past, but I think that what would break him harder than any Super Sonic boss fight would be having to see his younger brother take that burden on instead.

[jelloapocalypse]

Are there any games you wanna stream? After you finish the games your on now?

I think The World Ends With You or Mother 3 might be fun to cover and savestate my way through in the same way we did Skies of Arcadia, but I'd like Dani to be there for those playthroughs.

It would be really cool to get Austin-Arim-Mo and I back together for Trails in the Sky 3rd Chapter some day, but that would be real hard to set up.

[barghest-land]

drawing red dead actors with a main character vibe part 3 🐁

i think even if i was bug sized i'd still wanna punch Micah in the face. i'd probably die trying though. but it would be worth it

still can't believe how naturally evil Micah feels though. i remember one moment on my 3rd playthrough, with a stagecoach robbery. i've never intentionally thrown dynamite at horses in the story mode, but he made me do it, and i realized what i did only after the mission. got blindly influenced for a second there i guess 💀 damn ok i can't really blame Dutch after that

[collegetennisoriginstory]

So, I was romancing Sam on every playthrough but decided to branch out finally, and now I have a tier list; ‼️Potential spoilers‼️

Tobin: By far my favorite RO. I typically don't like the archetype of "brooding ro and their charming ro counterpart" It just doesn't interest me as someone who has seen a lot of het romances employ this trope. But giving Tobin the chance they deserve and finding that I like how they respond to my MC's own flirtatious nature and then discovering how they feel about my MC being the same gender, just adds an extra layer of interest for me that I appreciated. They're kind, considerate, and very thoughtful of their friends. Very quickly blew the rest of the competition out of the water for me. I think their mindset when it comes to tennis explains why they're not the no.1 Seed despite being the captain of the team, and it honestly surprised me. I think the full weight of their route is explored best when MC is similarly looking to go pro as it parallels Rayyan nicely. Their kidness is the space they give you is born from experience and the fear of doing to MC what was done to them and I just eat that stuff up. Also it is very rare to have a black RO who is treated with any level of depth, and I just 🥹love that we Tobin.

Rayyan: In a surprise twist, Rayyan gets the second spot for similar reasons as Tobin. I think the enemies to friends to lovers(partners) arc that is presented in their story is intriguing. Like Sam, they have a level of history with the MC that makes them familiar when heading into the new space, so I made it a habit to stay near them when at all possible. Rayyan isn't particularly cold, or as cold as ppl might assume, I think they have a very good balance of being a sort of quiet and reserved person that still manages to be personable. I feel that playing like I do, my MC might've come off as flippant to them, which only adds to the anxiety that they feel going into this season. Their struggle of being visually Arab in a world and country that sees non whiteness as punishable is very felt. It's really special to me that the two most prominent ROs are dark skinned people of color. Sorry for being biased, but even when I wasn’t actively romancing them, they got major points for that.

Sam: My baby gets the third spot and I think that's fair. What i adored about Sam is the pining of a friends to lovers story. I never make the first move with Sam, despite playing very flirty, bc I see my MC with not having to put up a front with Sam. So the things they do or say that signify to others that my MC is looking for something physical aren't used with Sam; they believe MCs closeness with them is strictly platonic while my MC believes that Sam has been lightly rejecting this whole time. Just something about those missed connections get to me. (Also, the varcity jackets!? So cute) Now, Sam loses points due to being away at another university for a majority of the story thys far. Which made me wonder if placing them in a new environment with MC might change things for them. Everything IS different now; so, who is to say that their relationship hasn't run its course? Juicy, but due to lack of presence, I'll keep them at 3rd.

G: They're French. Automatically, a point is taken off. They're also very sexy as a woman (my MC is a they/them lesbian) so I felt that, to remain true to character, I would have to ignore that and see what G has going on. Ngl, they do sort of play out like a romance novel character in the most obvious way so far 😭 no hate though. I just couldn't not think about "Oh, you sexy French student." Whenever they said anything. Smoldering looks from across the room at a crowded college party, like okay 400 days of summer <3. I think they're rather perfect for players who are looking for some steam outside of the locker room. They have the same issue as Sam, as in, they're not present in the locker room. They're not our teammate, so we don't really get the same level of relationship building with them as u would a Rayyan or Tobin. And I don't think that's a bad thing necessarily. I feel that speaks to the amount of work put in to make the team feel real and not just thrown together characters. Once I started to romance my teammates, I found it hard to flirt with anyone else, as I felt that they just didn't understand my MC on the same level.

Felix: ngl, they'd have to get security to get me off them, I have this burning rage in my heart whenever they show up. "🤼‍♂️ This is for Tobin, Cakepop‼️" I am sure there is indeed depth to them as a character, I am sure it hurts to hear someone say "I can not love you the way you want me to." And we are only human, we don't always behave the way we want to. But Felix makes my nipple itch they just remind me of men who just hold this anger for their exes unreasonably. I think there is an interesting parallel to be found in a Tobin route MC and Felix. I just don't have the language to put it together bc I will never romance them and I don't think I ever will, personally just can't bring myself to do so. They are what I felt Rayyan would be, and I'm fine with meeting them with hostility.

All in all, I'm glad I branched out to see what the other ROs were like it's definitely a testament to ur hard work and is greatly appreciated. I will continue to be messy and kiss Tobin, Rayyan, and Sam because I am toxic aim to be a learning experience, not a lover 🫶🏽

Oh my god~ It was so interesting to see your gradual evolution / journey through pursuing the different ROs.

I think it's really interesting in particular to see how Tobin's character is sort of 'hidden' beneath multiple layers, and you have to really work at unpeeling those layers, and it's really rewarding as a writer to see that route 'give' readers so much unexpected joy.

And, of course — I have a soft spot for stoic / unexpressive, overly-competitive, serious characters who are secretly just a giant sap. For Rayyan in particular, I think their drive to excel at tennis is counter-balanced against their loyalty, their ride-or-die-ness with the people they love. I love the extra bit of psychoanalysis that you did regarding Rayyan's anxiety about MC not taking tennis seriously, which is fine on its own, but really becomes an issue if they're partnered.

Sam having less 'screen-time' than the others is totally fair, and I think (or hope) will be made up for by the sheer amount of history they share.

As for the whole "French sexy" stereotype, I actually do think this is a crucial part of G's arc. The idea that perhaps they both see each other as 'archetypes' at the start (the jock-fling during one's exchange year, the sexy french exchange student), and then as they start understanding each other as real people, and then as they start (possibly) falling in love with each other (with all the eccentricities, all the imperfections), the relationship takes on more depth and dimension.

Finally, thank you so much for taking the time to explore all these different routes, and I'm so glad that doing so was rewarding for you :) I absolutely loved reading this message, so thank you also for sharing! It's always so fun listening to how different MCs, or different MC choices, and just different readers in general — have different takes on the ROs!

[elizabethrobertajones]

since they gave us a search area this big:

it would have been nice if Y'shtola's dialogue didn't immediately tell us to go look at the heartblossoms again when putting out a search party, but left us SOME opportunity to use our brains and give people a chance to put together even a basic 1+1=Krile went back here.

At this point it just acts as a trap for people who skip cut scenes and don't even read the text as they click through it as fast as possible. You have to be actively resisting the story for a search area this big to make sense. And while that's funny to me, I do think they should give everyone else at least the suspension of disbelief they're giving us a chance to do a little hide and seek game even if the answer is blindingly obvious and the only challenge might be remembering how to get back up here if it's your first time in the zone...

If I may ramble more, I am also bothered that the sidequests popped up after the frog thing, while we were on the other side of the map, and while the frog quest gives us no chance to DO side quests, picking them up to do along the way back since we're now going to have to walk back the length of the map to return to Y'shtola and then backtrack further here, would give plenty of time for sculpted sidequest storytelling.

My favourite example I always always go back to as an example is from the master storyteller of the game so maybe it's unfair. But in the Azim Steppe, I always recommend picking up and doing the sidequests as they become available, because they're deeply sculpted to the MSQ as it goes through the areas. The most important one is right out the door: a 2nd or 3rd wave of quests unlock in Reunion once you've met Cirina and got onto the quest to go meet Hien. Only then does a quest open up where you go collect lost children who've wandered all over Reunion, and with the Hien quest location an orange circle rather than an obvious MSQ dialogue marker, the mini map fills up with little orange circles of where wayward children of the steppe are including one up on the bluffs; one of the 5 circles is however Hien.

The simplicity and subtlety of it knocked my socks off and made me realise that while I'd already been impressed with how they use the MMO format for storytelling, you could get deep and interesting with it as a really unique medium for storytelling and characterisation, and converted me to ALWAYS doing the quests as and when they unlock rather than leaving them for after I've done the MSQ and am just noodling around a zone for the XP later.

Anyway, the labyrinthos quests are largely about the culture shock (we eat bugs here!) or jokes (there's both a beaver AND a namazu in a box startling or worrying researchers in separate parts of MSQ and sidequest) and not much upfront that either gives us stronger gleaner stuff (the questgivers are mostly/all researchers students and scientists) or lean into the mysticism of it all (the nice botanist who infodumps about his favourite flower says all that then walks out the story forever instead of sticking around to do follow up flower quests) and since you can't even pick up the sidequests in the medial zone when you're 99% likely to go straight to Krile from the toad event, do the big cutscene, and have already learned everything we needed to learn about the story from the zone by the time you walk back through Argonomics, the chance to really do anything with the MSQ is really weak. Add on that the first part of this storyline is further Sharlayan stuff in the main city and the sidequests there, the speed at which you can blitz through this area really makes it one of the weakest areas... I'm so glad I went to Thavnair first on my first playthrough because this is abstractly interesting but just so thinly told compared to the richness I normally expect of the game...

[revalition]

OCT 16 - PAIN THRESHOLD Shrug off the pain. They’ll have to hurt you more.

I love this guy a lot! even if he has some really questionable advice. I ended up dumping a lot of points into him in my first playthrough!

really simple drawings today, I've had a pretty bad headache all day. which you'd think would allow me to channel the pain threshold vibe better! but it really didn't. sadly the amount of love I hold for a skill doesn't necessarily correlate with how much effort I can put into drawing them (with a few exceptions lol). the one on the right was an old sketch I coloured... it was a relief I already had a halfway decent design for him haha

lots of quotes under the cut as usual!

pain threshold!!

fun fact - he does not refer to you as harry once. however he does call you: - pal - baby - son - buddy - man and none of these more than once. weirdo

PT also has the most anti-passives (passive failures) out of the skills, by a large margin. He has 31, second place has 19. He also has 3rd least passive checks.

quotes:

these two idiots!! causing mental and physical damage with their screaming... H/E coordination trying to reel it back in

<3 (this heals endurance!)

actual idiot skill

dudeee

he's so funny. he's fucking got this.

dying here

nooo

sigh

super normal.

he's a sad, sad guy

if you haven't been told yet that he has depression PT can figure it out for you!!! <3

sad PT in the final dream :(

this one too

he knows! he recognizes *fake pain*

dialogue after failing to save ruby... urgh

I really like this. 'A race to beat your own heart's pulse to some dark finish line.'

as always this is amazing.

:((( this is re: pawnshop roy

hehe

this one is always delightful. he has a sense of humour sometimes!

this whole scene was a mess, but this line in particular... I don't know, it just stuck with me. It's very vivid.

honestly, true

lol

sometimes these skills say some unhinged stuff, sheesh

poor guy, he's so sad

:(((

this one is brutal.

this guy has *issues*

ending it on this very important one!!! please look! during the last dream pain threshold tells you to pick the dialogue option that will cause her to leave and the dream to end... and volition tells you to keep dragging it on. hghh guys...

pain threshold is quite something. there are lots of instances of him telling you something painful feels good, or encourages you to do something that will hurt (both physically and emotionally). he also leads the finger on the eject button thought dialogue. My first playthrough I had FYS of 4 and I ended up dumping a ton of points in to PT cause I was fascinated by him. But I also had mega high volition cause I adored him too. they definitely did not have the same goals...

the first time I remember hearing from my personal PT, we were bowling and my wrist was really starting to hurt. and he was like, you should keep playing. thanks bro :/

anyway that's all. for tomorrow, physical instrument's design isnt super exciting to me, but I do have a bunch of good quotes picked. I can make a coach calling people a binoclard compilation...

[veryaren]

Hullabaloo shtpost..... If u care....

you have to guess which duo I think is the funniest (blatantly obvious)

ALSO. LORE YAP BELOW.

Replayed stupid fucking closin night for the 3rd time. The fact Mike tells Murro that he'll "see him later" makes me wanna kms. BECAUSE NO!!!!! You will NOT!!!!! unless you see him at the PEARLY GATES!!!!!!!! also vio death kills me as always. as everyone does. the animation of her hallucination was so fascinating and so horrifying once you recognize what is happening. very "what remains of edith finch" in grandeur.

Morton brothers were everything I wanted always. Thanks idv. I LOVE THEM SO MAWCHHHHGGGGBNNN. sooo awesome. THE WAY MIKE SMILES WHEN MURRO ARRIVES IS SO SWEET. that's his older brother....in addition to that. going back and reading murro's diary from previous deduction playthroughs is even MORE painful now. he and violetta are so compassionate they are every thighg.. .

I do still want to know more about them before the fire!!!! Didn't clarify much on their relationships but it's implied Joker, Mike, and Murro knew each other the longest. With Joker saying "Mike has loved stars and fire since he was little" and "Murro has always loved to play hero." And then. Murro w/ the "fixing Bernard's tent back in the day!"

I just need.... CONTENT THAT DOESN'T BURN. I need just SOME of. the good times. BECAUSE. Margaretha even sometimes missed the company of the other members. And if she would even MISS anyone from the place where she was hurt repeatedly. They had to be at least somewhat close (coping). I need them all to be happy

I NEED TO DRAW MARG BUT I'M ACTUALLY GOING THROUGH SUCH A BAD DROUGHT RNNNNB AUGHHHHH. HER DEATH IS SO CONSISTENTLY MISINTERPRETED as well as marg herself.

the description for this scene in the selection menu is so murderous. 'There is no more escape for Natalie. But perhaps Margaretha can," <- essentially it. FUCK.

do you hate me. do you want me gutted. BECAUSE YOU DID IT. she just wanted to live her life...likr anyone...NEVER EVER antagonize her for wanting to live a good life. I don't trust u if you think she is manipulative/evil at heart. YOU WOULD LIE TO A PSYCHO KILLER CLOWN IF HE WAS LOVING ON YOU TOO!!!!!!!!

this story was so fun and interesting and I hope idv continues to make complex games like it. and I also hope they get better vocal casting because FUCKING Nagito Komaeda and a man barely even trying to sound CLOSE to 45 did not cut it for my goats the Morton brothers. Please. if I pull up game 0 and Emil sounds like nerd from boyfriends you don't know what I'll do. xoxo

[teffiyx]

let's talk about mouthwashing!

spoilers for the game. duh.

trigger warning for abuse, SA, death.

i feel like we all know how complex the story telling for the game is yet theres still people that don't seem to get it entirely. i decided to ramble about that. im sure others have done it before me but let me ramble about my hyperfixation god damn it.

this is the first out of 3 posts so strap in. the 3rd one is a LONG one. second post | third post

before i start a few disclaimers: i am rather new to mouthwashing so i do not know EVERYTHING. im just talking about my own interpretation, if there's any missing details pls inform me!

Anya is a shy and timid character!

this of course is not true but i've noticed a few people that still cling onto this interpretation of her. even though its not a vocal group that has this idea, i'd like to talk more about this.

Jimmy is an unreliable narrator, we were given that knowledge with a scene where we see multiple working cryo pods post-crash, despite us knowing there is only one functioning cryo pod.

so of course, knowing that information, most people would start to realise everything we went through as Jimmy post-crash, it was all biased, we were in the eyes of an abuser, and we trusted the words he used to describe Anya as part of her character. that's also part of the horror for this game in my opinion. the horror that i agreed the views of an abuser horrifies me.

"He - It just hurts him so much. I can't stand the noise."

"...You did make it through nursing school, right?"

"Pony Express sure does know how to cut corners, if nothing else."

-

"I was hoping you could help me with Captain-"

"Curly."

"Right, sorry ...w-with Curly's medication?"

"People have to be worth their titles."

"Don't you think, nurse Anya?"

"...Y-yeah. Forget I asked."

these two different conversations happened in the same scene at the start of the game. after going through the game we can see now how Jimmy talks to Anya is downright insulting. maybe some people have picked up on it during their first playthrough that the way he talks to her is not normal, but we didn't think much of it. but now, now things are different.

"Anya never got into medical school because she's... well, let's be real."

"And how many employment years Swansea got left in him?"

"Daisuke will be fine, mommy and daddy have him covered. So there's that at least."

"But you."

"Headed for bigger and better, right?"

this string of dialogue came 6 days before the crash, when everyone is gathered for Curly's surprise party and Curly decided to drop the news that Pony Express is letting them all go. (this dialogue will be brought up again for something else.)

he was almost insulting everyone sitting at the table, yet in this string of dialogue, he completely disregards Anya. summing his point about her as "well, let's be real.". it shows how much he views her, which was practically nothing. but first-time playing, you didn't think much of it. because he also insulted everyone else.

to summarise this whole thing, Anya as a character is not shy or timid, it is simply how Jimmy views her. but even so, we probably will never know how Anya is truly like. because even when she mentions this won't be her worst moment, she is only remembered as a poor crew member that god abused and assaulted by another member, which is, her worst moment alive.

[ghostradiodylan]

@camillabanilla the ‘if they fucked nasty’ tag killed me. 😂😭💀

Look, the ‘maybe neither’ line isn’t my favorite for sure, but it also isn’t the only choice. My first playthrough I just made Ryan and Laura fight the entire time because that seems more true to their characters (loyal to their own goals, unlikely to change their opinions quickly), so I picked the more aggressive option and he just brushes her off. So that’s already only a 50% chance of even getting that line that is apparently the only part of the canon that matters to some people.

If you do get it, Ryan can either be smugly bragging about Dylan and Kaitlyn having the hots for him OR he can say “I guess… I’m kind of closer to Dylan… though after tonight, I don’t know…” prior to the ‘maybe neither.’ The fact that he can bring up Dylan unprompted is a clear sign of interest, even if he’s unsure about the future. My personal theory is that we lost the triggers that set up this conversation when they re-edited the script after lopping off 1/3rd. I think the ‘after tonight, I don’t know’ was supposed to be triggered by Ryan cutting Dylan’s hand off (based on the datamine scenes, we also lost conversations that would have been triggered by Ryan’s kiss choice when Kaitlyn and Dylan are walking to the scrapyard, so that makes sense to me that other options were also cut for the sake of time/simplicity). So that’s what, a 25% chance of a wholly Rylan-negative answer? I don’t think that outweighs the relationship you can build between them in the game if you choose to do so.

As for why the game doesn’t make Dylan and Ryan actually getting together ‘canon,’ I think there was a desire to leave it open-ended and also because the game IS NOT FINISHED. But their interest in each other clearly is canon. It has different flavors to it depending on what the player chooses, but it’s there nonetheless.

And, yeah, homophobia is definitely in the mix. The game was sold in Russia, China, Poland, and other countries where homophobia is even more common than it is in North American and Europe. Just the other day on The Quarry subreddit someone replied with this (they have Dylan and Ryan confused lmfao, they’re talking about keeping Ryan away from Dylan when making choices):

The Russian language version of the game even makes Dylan bisexual so they can imply a ship between him and Kaitlyn. It isn’t clear if it’s a mistranslation or intentional but for a country with a massively anti-LGBTQ government and plenty of homophobic sentiment, it’s not a great look.

The datamine implies the game was actually supposed to be even gayer. 😂 I hope we get that extra gay version someday. For all us gay men fetishists out here. /obvious joke

[fantaseagal]

so I have uh... been playing a lot of dragon age the past few months

good games. had fun :) extended spoilery ramblings about my time under the cut.

I started with Inquisition cause I knew people liked it and it ran well (unlike what I saw from Origins' steam page and would VERY much experience later). I then went back to play Origins and then 2 and am currently replaying Inquisition now that I know all the lore (Sera x Qunari Inquisitor is going great). I really like how even though I played mage through all 3, each of my girls ended up being very different characters.

Inquisition

To start with, Evira was my belligerently Dalish girlie. She fucking hated Solas and the way he acted like he knew so much more about magic than she did. Idk why, but his approval gain for asking him about his interest in the fade and magic ticked me, the player, off so I held a grudge against him for like 2/3rds of the playthrough.

Evira flirted with most of the girls, especially Vivienne, but ended up dating Josephine. Love that you get to have a whole duel for your girl's honor with her old fiancé. I did that in a heartbeat. I also flirted ONCE with Cullen in the chess scene cause it sounded funny and the game gave me the option to commit to dating him immediately after and I almost panicked.

Gameplay-wise, Inquisition felt a bit long. A lot of the areas felt way bigger than they needed to be. To be fair I did not use the horse as much as I maybe should have, and I feel it's been going a lot faster on my replay but there's still a lot of world to traverse even just to get between main story points. I still had fun, and Tresspasser's much smaller loop was nice after dealing with the giant scale of the main game before it.

I also stumbled into the deep roads dlc immediately after getting to Skyhold which was a very bad idea in retrospect. It was terrifying.

Origins

For Origins, I fully leaned into what I'd learned of the lore in Inquisition and played Ceres as a super devout Andrastian (picked up from her time in the Circle). She was very much a quiet little rules follower who just wanted to rat on Jowan and got pressured into helping him by the first enchanter. I also played her as having some real issues with her elven identity: hiding her ears with her hair and putting off going to Denerim or the Dalish as much as possible.

I dated Leliana (not that I had much choice as a Lesbian) and it was very sweet. Loved giving her Schmooples the nug. Best gift interaction in the game :)

As a story, Origins was great. Ceres definitely went through a whole self acceptance journey while also saving the world from the blight. It made me feel for the stakes as the end game really pushes hard choice after hard choice at you (I am so sorry Alistair for forcing you to be king and marry your dead brother's wife and have sex with the woman who has been bullying you the entire journey)

As a game, man does Origins crash so much. I didn't realise just how stressful it was just to play the game and try to not have it crash until I went to go play DA2 and had a weight lifted off my shoulders. Also, the game could've done with 10% less Morrigan bullying Alistair and 90% less Oghren sexually harassing the girls (I so regret taking him, Leliana, and Morrigan as my deep roads party, just for the girls' sake)

Awakening was a fun change from the high pressure of Origins. It was a fresh start with new companions (aside from Oghren, yipee... (I do totally get why he was the one Origins character to stay for Awakening, I just don't like him)). Anders and Justice were particular standouts for me (and I was SO glad to see their evolution in DA2)

DA2

Man I love this game. Varric the unreliable narrator my beloved. Any narrative inconsistency can just be explained as Varric gooffing. It's already just his telling of the events and just as accurate as anybody's fanfic if you think about it. You died? Just a goof. Interrior maps are all the same? Yeah they sure look that way bud.

I love the way the game immediately gives you stakes in the mage templar conflict and keeps pulling at those stakes with Hawke's family. I kinda love how Carver just wants Hawke to keep her head down as a mage but you as the player just can't keep your nose out of anyone's business. I made Carver stay home during the deep roads expedition cause, ya know, he isn't a mage that's going to constantly be in danger from the templars and mom doesn't want both her kids to die down there.

The messy conversation when getting back from the deep roads to see Carver joining the templars stuck in my head for so long because I know that I picked a dialogue choice I really shouldn't have. And even though I know it's a game and I could've just reloaded to pick something better, I let that sour realness stay because it absolutely was something Avery would've said.

I played Avery as funny girl who cannot shut up to save her life (while trying to be kind and respectful when needed). She was only going to be able to keep her head down around the templars for so long. She would have always taken the mages side from her own experience, but getting intimate with Anders definitely radicalized her. He was also definitely the one to teach her how to use healing magic cause girl would not have just picked that up on her own.

Going into DA2 having already played both Origins and Inquisition, it felt super clear that this was the exact midpoint between the 2 games and I honestly love it for that. It's very much a sequel to Origins, but in retrospect, so much of it directly flows into Inquisition al well. While I missed getting to share armor loot with my companions, I can see how this led to the character specific armor designs in Inquisition. And on Hawke's side of things, I know a bunch of the mage robes were definitely just lifted from Origns cause those models were crunchy as hell.

I loved the writing in DA2. It was funny. It was heart wrenching. The Hawke family was messy, but deep down they all really cared for one another, and I cared about them. The companions quests, even if sometimes super short, did a lot to flesh them out as complex players in the even bigger mess that is Kirkwall.

DA2 was definitely a lot shorter than Origins or Inquisition (by half according to my playtime) but it was just so tightly packed with story. This game has been living in my head rent free even as I'm 20 hrs into my 2nd playthrough of Inquisition. I'm still thinking about the little interstitial moments that would've happened to the characters, what they did when everything fell apart, where they went.

I did get pretty pissed that Inquisition won't let me put the same tattoos from DA2 on Hawke! What's the point of me recreating my girl in your new character creator if 2/3rds of the tattoo options are being wasted by transparency!!!!! >:( She looks so close but she's not the same without her tattoos :(

TLDR: I love my girls. Love playing mage. Love the time I spent with them. All three games were fun but DA2 hit way harder in all the right ways

[zieroses]

enda “rook” de riva

replay // the end of the beginning

thoughts and notes -

I’ve been scribbling looser but more timely thoughts and notes as I go on this (3rd) playthrough.

- “Be ready to talk by the time i get to you” is such a good line, sorry not sorry

- Varric on Rook- “Thought we needed an expert on trouble… one of the strongest pieces on the board but, he tends to think in straight lines”

- still don’t know how we went from varric being blond to being mostly dark under the grey, but i actually really love his redesign. I feel it suits him even better

- Briefly tried the option of questioning varric’s plan but decided on the other way. My Rook wouldn’t necessarily believe Solas could be convinced at this point in time but he does have utmost faith in Varric

- I do think it’s silly that in nine years Solas never once thought, if i just told them about the prison and what I’m actually doing and why I’m actually doing it, maybe they’d help me come up with something better, or at least stop trying to stop me. If he ever explained the ritual or the real purpose or potential consequences, then I would accept some fault for Rook “releasing” the Evanuris. But the game seems to want me to take some fault for it when there was quite literally no way of knowing. It may have felt like a weightier risk, and a heavier burden for Rook to carry after the fact, if it was really our fault, but it really, really was not.

- Chose Harding to take with me. I feel like Rook would’ve trusted Harding more at this point and also believed a mage had a better shot holding off the demons. Works both ways though; a mage would also theoretically have had a better shot amidst the ritual magic

[pebblesandpotatos]

Playing Hogwarts Legacy for the 3rd time and here's how I think the LU boys would play.

(Spoilers-? Sorta? Nothing really detailed anyway)

Houses are based on what I think they'd pick if they didn't know their house, NOT what house I necessarily think they are in!

Time:

He would just randomly choose a house without much thought. Probably end up with either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Would have the most straightforward playthrough but would absolutely be a little shit to some of the NPCs. Malon does take over and spends hours designing his room of requirement. He learns the killing curse and will use it cause it's quick and effective. Picks the 'bad' ending just to mess with everyone.

Wars:

Gryffindor. He spends an insane amount of time creating his character and keeping him stylish for every occasion. When he finally actually starts playing, he gets to a spider and instantly quits the game. Twi tells him about the arachnophobia mode so he does try again and it's still difficult cause he KNOWS they're still spiders but he does eventually get through it. But any quests that involves having to face more means that NPC better pay up or he just flat out refuses to do it. He does end up learning crucio just so he can use it on the spiders he does encounter. Choose the 'good' ending.

*Me. I am Wars. That was my first playthrough but a different house*

Twilight:

Hufflepuff. His sole focus on the game is to collect a pair of every creature. He didn't finish the game for the longest time because he simply got too distracted caring for the creatures and just didn't continue the storyline. Wild convinces him to learn at least one of the curses but he will never use it. Choose the 'good' ending when he does eventually finish the game.

Sky:

Hufflepuff. His character's feet never touched the ground. He flies everywhere just for the view, especially once he unlocks a hippogriff. He would also really enjoy finding all of the astronomy tables. He doesn't learn any of the curses and will pick the 'good' ending.

Legend:

Either Slytherin or Ravenclaw. He is the one trying to 100% the game. Determined to find every trial/cave/table, you name it. He's finding the best clothing and powering it up while also keeping his character looking good. He is making NPCs compensate him for side quests (unless no one is watching, then he'll just do it to be nice). He does learn the curses but he doesn't use them unless his character is about to die. Everyone is surprised he picks the 'good' ending.

Hyrule:

Hufflepuff. His character has been aimlessly wandering around the woods for so long he has no idea what he's even supposed to be doing anymore. If he's not crawling around in a cave he is in the room of requirements tending to his copious amount of plants. He does end up learning 1 or 2 of the curses and shockingly does use them often. He accidentally picks the 'bad' ending but justifies it to help the world.

Wild:

Gryffindor. Similar to Hyrule, his character is either in a cave or in the room of requirements making potions. All of his clothing is upgraded to the max and his character looks absolutely ridiculous. But his stats are top notch and that's all that matters to him. He ends up learning some if not all the curses as a back up plan and uses them in difficult battles. Intentionally picks the 'bad' ending thinking it'll give him cool powers. Is disappointed when it doesn't.

Four:

Ravenclaw. He is constantly keeping you on your toes by changing how he plays. One minute he is simply exploring and trying to complete all the Merlin trials. Helping out the NPCs with no hesitation. The next he is learning all the curses just to see if he can use them on other students. You have no idea which ending he is going to choose until he gets there and frankly neither does he. He will have 4 playthroughs though to see the different house quests and also so each color can have their own playthrough.

Wind:

Gryffindor. The kid is an absolute menace. He is running around trying to find as much treasure as he can get his grubby little hands on. Whether it's caves, raiding enemy hideouts, or making every NPC pay for his help. He absolutely learns all 3 curses and picked the 'bad' ending to have the power all to himself.