#treasure hunters clearly dont fuck around

[cocogum]

Enutrofs can be scary too in their own right.

Cuz imagine if these old ass fossils organized a secret mafia together 💀💀💀

[normal-thoughts-official]

Ahh yes the Polycule all being polyglots too. Poly-everything. But in all seriousness, Mel is so... charmed by their partners speaking other languages. Especially Spanish. And ugh imagining them traveling together and all translating for each other and oh god the pet names and introducing each other to new places/cities/foods ahhh.

hdbdidnsidn well i mean it's kind of canon since obviously raphael grew up in méxico, simon is hinted to speak spanish since he understands when raphael speaks in it and also uses some words with him from time to time, and emeraude refused to say "rosa" with an US american accent (which. sexy of her) meaning it's heavily implied that izzy speaks spanish because her pronunciation is, obviously, perfect.

and yeah i just. look. meliorn loves hearing different languages and thinks they all sound beautiful (i kind of have a headcanon that seelies can speak all languages? like including tree and animal languages and shit. like some magical stuff? yeah) and they know it brings raphael in particular great joy to call them pet names in spanish. and well, if it brings them great joy to hear it too, that's just a bonus. but simon and izzy notice and start calling them bella and princesa and mi amor too and aaaaaaaaa

and simon also speaks yiddish as we know (i know that some ppl hc him as a Sephardi Jew and i dont mean to invalidate that hc, im just saying that because he calls his grandma bubbe. maybe he's both?). and.... okay i looked it up for several hours and maybe it’s just because i’m stupid but most endearment terms i found in yiddish were said to be for children? but also i do love the idea of simon calling mel/rapha/maia “oytser” (treasure) and even with petnames aside, yiddish just..... has so many beautiful words??* and meliorn (and also maia and rapha of course) love hearing him talk about it and learning all those great words, from insults to beautiful descriptions. and it feels so important for simon too because he already had very few opportunities to speak yiddish outside of his home, and he’d hate to feel like another part of being Jewish was being taken from him when he was already losing most of his family, you know? plus, it’s kind of one of his special interests and it’s nice that he can monologue about yiddish and everyone is genuinely interested. and raphael of course partially understands how he feels about the language (not fully, since it isn’t really simon’s first language, and there are particular complications with being Jewish and the fear of losing your Jewish identity/culture that just don’t apply for goyim, but still, as an immigrant, there’s solidarity there) 

*a few of my faves that i came across researching yiddish for this: nakhes (”proud pleasure, special joy--particularly from the achievements of a child”), Kemfer (”a fighter… but one who fights for a cause; an activist”. lowkey obsessed with simon calling his partners that, because.... they are), mechayeh (”literally, something that has brought you back from death to life, and colloquially, something relieving or refreshing” - tbh i love how dramatic yiddish is, reminds me of brazilian portuguese lmao), balebus (”a gracious, welcoming, and considerate host”). 

anyway! i just love the idea that simon and raphael can find some sort of comfort and understanding in each other, despite the fact that by all accounts simon should be (rightfully) wary of raphael’s religion, but raphael is genuinely interested and respectful towards simon’s culture and he understands the fear of straying too far from your roots and losing yourself, the feeling of having your culture shunned and kept to the indoors, the responsability of trying to keep it alive and the feeling of being completely lost when you’re apart from your community. again, it’s different, but... most goyim (for simon) and non-latinos (for raphael) don’t even come close, even among vampires, and it’s nice that they get that

also raphael has no illusions when it comes to catholicism/christianity and he understands why ppl, especially ppl like simon and magnus, would be wary of it, and he feels genuinely humbled and happy that the both of them understand what being catholic means to him and accept that part of him, even if from a distance. like, magnus canonically helped him find his faith again, you know? that’s really, really humbling and a show of love, because the shit catholics put him through - he was literally there to be prosecuted by witch hunters, he watched in real time as christian colonialism tried to tear his homeland (and did tear his family) apart, and still he found it in himself to help raphael find his way back to the religion because it did him good. raphael will never stop being thankful, and humbled, by that. and even if simon sometimes rolls his eyes at the goyishness of raphael’s whole punishment and sacrifice thing or fucking whatever and generally doesn’t get too close to it, he also trusts raphael, and raphael knows that it’s a big deal. and simon loves that raphael knows that it’s a big deal and doesn’t have illusions when it comes to his religion or the role christianity had in oppressing not only simon’s, but thousands of ppl historically. u kno? 

hmmm that was a tangent. also as u (probably) know i’m not Jewish so please let me know if there was anything inaccurate or offensive in what i’ve written.

anyway! polyglotcule. and okay i think those are the languages i can think of (and well simon could also speak ladino if you hc him as a Sephardi Jew) other than the hc that meliorn just knows all languages, which...... i absolutely love and stan tbh??? like yes i know the logistics of that are complicated and that to truly know a language you have to understand its culture and so they’re not exactly fluent as much as they’re able to understand most of them, but look, look. i just love the idea of the polycule travelling around and meliorn talking to ppl for them and simon and maia being super excited and wanting to know, like, everything they can and asking them a billion questions and asking them to translate every sign they come across and every time they do (even as they have literally no way of knowing if meliorn is correct or not) they’re just like WOAAAA and generally being huge goofy nerds about it. and izzy and raphael have a more held back approach but they’re also clearly so impressed and proud of them, even if it’s literally just like, magic

like raphael is just in love and watching them with those soft eyes (especially when simon and maia get all wide eyed and excited about it because he loves them okay) and sometimes their eyes will cross and they share a little smile??? and hold hands???? and it’s super sweet??? and izzy is just smiling at them too, although with that more open, big smile of hers, head tilted to the side a little, while clary huffs because izzy is not paying attention to what she’s saying, even as she’s swishing their linked hands a bit because they’re That Couple. and then every once in a while izzy’ll ask a question of her own, except it’s always something like “how do you say ‘the most beautiful one’ in [language]?” and meliorn smiles and tells her and she’s like “yes, you are” and they laugh and make a joke about flattery and she just winks and smiles

(then she grabs maia’s hand and goes “you all are” and kisses her and clary too, just so they know she doesn’t play favorites. not that they need it, but it’s nice) 

foajhsdoajda im just a slut for the polycule okay

[aurimeanswind]

Your E3 Predictions!—Sunday Chats—6/3/18

I’m very excited about this week’s Sunday Chats because it’s all about E3 predictions! This time next week, we’ll BE INSIDE E3! I’ll have seen Microsoft/EA/and Bethesda’s pressers come the next Sunday Chats, and I’ll be writing about them, probably! I may or may not do a Sunday Chats, but we’ll see!

To catch folks up, this week has been a full-force build up to E3 for me. A new Episode of Get Acquainted posted, with my friend Brandon Gann, who is just an incredibly wonderful and amazing loquacious individual, and we spend two plus hours talking E3! We had a ton of predictions and great conversations around all of them! You should give it a listen!

http://irrationalpassions.com/brandon-gann-e3-predictions-get-acquainted/

On this week’s Irrational Passions Podcast we had my other good friend Logan Moore on to make some E3 BETS! Nabeshin was kind enough to put together 25 amazing bets for us and a ton of lightening round bets on top of that, and it was super fun. You can watch the video version of that WITH bonus content right now, and the fully edited version will post on Tuesday.

So it’s all about E3, but before we get to that, a little personal update.

Personal Update for June

So any one close to me will no that the last week of my life has been exceptionally difficult. Some folks close to me, both physically and emotionally have been making decisions that have been pretty toxic, I can’t lie. It’s led to a pretty unhealthy living situation that I’d rather not get into, and whether things blow over, get worse, I’m not sure. I obviously don’t want to spill any personal juice here, but anyone who has seen me out here tweeting like the dramatic boi I am on the inside about how I need some good vibes, that’s a general overview of the situation, if you were concerned.

I’m thankful for all my close friends out there texting me, checking on me, and making sure I am doing okay, even if I’m not. It is upsetting that this just so happens to coincide with the busiest time of the year in video games, so if this bleeds over into our content over on Irrational Passions I apologize. Sometimes its a bit unavoidable.

Anyway, I appreciate you all taking the time to interact and be a part of my silly Selfie Saturdays or Sunday Chats, it means the world. I’ve been working hard with the team @ Irrational Passions to make some really fun stuff, including a new show that acts as a spiritual successor to our roundtables from 2017 Game of the Year talks.

That’s all we need to dwell on in regards to the bummer business, let’s get to games!

What’s on Tap

Moonlighter

So I just started this tonight and I have to say: right away I just love it.

The idea is you live in a small town that neighbors these ancient ruins that lead to these very dangerous dungeons, and once upon a time travelers and adventurers used to come here to explore those dungeons, and merchants would sell supplies and goodies to gear them up for those journeys. Eventually it grew too dangerous, but you are someone who Moonlights as an adventurer and runs a shop on the front end.

You dive into these dungeons and get awesome treasure and loot and goodies to then sell in your shop to expand your shop, get better weapons and armor, and continue deeper into the dungeons. It’s an amazing idea, and it’s executed on so well.

The game sustains such a great and rewarding loop, and it’s also got tons of charm and amazingly well executed on pixel art.

On top of that the UI is also just very good? It’s super slick and smooth. 

I’m only a couple hours in but I just adore it. Mike Burgess, producer at IP, did a video review on it that I saw the first cut of today and it’s actually what sold me on it. See it soon!

Detroit Become Human

I’ve already said so much about this game I’m exhausted. I love this game.

It has so many issues and in spite of all that, I genuinely adored my time with Detroit.

Our roundtable discussion was about this very game, so look for it soon.

Dark Souls Remastered

This game is still so good. I think I may like it even more than Dark Souls 3, a game I picked up just very briefly a few weeks ago.

I’ve now got the power to fast travel and am just warping around and exploring again. I even dipped my toe into the DLC area which I have never seen before. 

It’s excellent, and seeing it run smooth has been super rewarding for me, a longtime fan of the title.

Your E3 Predictions

Let’s get to it! This week, something I haven’t done in a bit, I asked you for your boldest E3 predictions, and while some of you gave me a good joke, a lot of you came back at me with some great predictions!

Let’s get into it!

Remember to look for my tweet on Sunday afternoons/evenings with #SundayChats in it and respond to it with your reply to be a part of Sunday Chats!

Now listen, I know this was clearly written as a joke Sam, but I think that this announcement is coming, just not here. It’s a PSX announcement, if ANY, because that’s the only place it can be really gernally accepted as an “announcement”. It’d get a big riot of an applause.

I’d love this. I think they have such a “robust” (#branding) library of handheld games that it’d make too much sense to carry them over to their now partially handheld big console.

Will it happen? Well, I mean Nintendo has said no virtual console on Switch. But they’ve changed their mind, even if it has been rare, in the past before. While it could happen down the line, this up coming direct is about 2017, so I don’t think we’ll see it there.

Nah John.

You need to stop.

But... Well

I mean maybe?

MAYBE.

Maybe?

Finally. Some announcements we, as “hardcore gamers” care about.

Some cars

Fuckin.

On stage.

The cars have sex.

And birth a motorcycle.

I love this Peter. I mean, for some reason I guess folks think that Emma Stone will be the female actress pulled into Death Stranding, and I think there will likely be a big female reveal at some point, I don’t know why everyone thinks it’ll be Emma Stone? I bet there is a good reason out there, I just don’t know. I’m not complaining, Emma Stone is great.

I am definitely with you on the “deep dive”, though I don't think there will be a long explanation of things, just a nice gameplay demo. My theory I posited on Get Acquainted was like an 8 minute trailer that leads into about four minutes of gameplay at the end, but it’s just enough cinematic that we’re convinced there will be no gameplay, and then BOOM. There is.

I could see them saying 2019 at the end too, though I doubt they’ll hit it.

YOU DONT BRANDON GOODBYE.

Nah of course. 

We talked about this on our show, obvs, everyone please go listen to it, but NO FINAL FANTASY 7. IT WONT HAPPEN. Square Enix needs to figure that shit out, and so they’ll come back to it when it, and more importantly, THEY’RE ready to.

Here’s hoping for some dope Xbox Avatars.

I mean, it’s gotta be the time, right? I need to know what this Resident Evil 2 Remake looks like. I know the director was out there talking about it not terribly too long ago, and it just feels like ages since we heard about it. With Capcom announcing RE7 and then releasing it 6 months later, on top of Monster Hunter World’s recent success, they are on a great path! Time to continue it!

As for DMC 5 I mean everyone seems convinced it’s coming and I just don’t care.

I love the Rocksteady prediction, because they’ve been cooking that bad boy for a good long while. I hope it’s Superman because I have supreme faith they’ll knock it out of the park. Maybe even an origin story? I’d love to see Rocksteady do one of those.

And I do, also, believe that Shadows Die Twice is Tenchu.

Dishonored getting a reboot I just don’t see happening. I think it’s time Arkane moves onto some new IP. Something that is hopefully a bit more eye-catchy so they get get back into a popular circle, then maybe spend a few years making iterations of that. Maybe in a few years past that they can return to Dunwall and take another crack at Dishonored.

Doom 2 can be wherever the hell it wants and I am HERE for it. But judging by the sounds of things that may not be at this E3, and that’s okay. It makes me sad, but it’s okay.

Man. I fucking wish.

Them or Bioware. I’d love to have just an original story told at Hogwarts where you create your character and go through 7 years at the school and it’s great and it has dialogue wheels and it’s great. Feed me Bioware.

It’d never happen tho.

This would be very cool. I feel like this Star Fox Grand Prix rumor is too big to ignore, but it’s still a little far fetched. I wonder how they’d sell it, if it is real.

Honestly, not that far out there. Kingdom Hearts don’t give a fuck about Red Dead.

Here is my thing, I just don’t think an ARMs character will make it into the Smash roster because no one cares about ARMs and I don’t think they’d be crazy interesting. Who would it be? Twintelle? I mean she is super cool, but who knows!

THey’d make great assist trophies, and I know that’s a slight but I’m sorry.

PUT GENO IN.

Anyway, if they put Banjo and Kazooie in I’d literally start crying right then and there, and it may happen, who knows, but I would. I’d cry.

I think there could be a direct apology. It depends. I think within 15 minutes or so we will know if EA has changed their tone or not. Hell, within 2 minutes we’ll know. If they want to actually be well regarded, they need to start making big moves, and right now, they’re not. Period. Come out and own up to what you’ve done wrong, or GTFO. They need to make up ground on the PR front, even if they’re still making money hand over fist. 

I’m sorry times are tough Silver, but know that I’m sending good vibes your way!

I wonder if Microsoft would make such a bold move. Regardless, it’s a great bold prediction. I hope that they are gonna give it some more time, and let this generation cook a little more. I’m digging my Xbox One X, and them implying a replacement is coming next year or so would bum me out.

Finally. The battle Royale Battle Royale we’ve all been waiting for. 

And as the dust settles, there’s sha’boi Griffin. Standing on top. Winner of them all.

And let’s not front: I’d kill to listen to Donald Glover sing Parappa songs.

Thank you all so much for your predictions! I’ve had a ton out there all week, and the Get Acquainted Episode I think has them out there in the best way. Go check them out! Either way, I’m so excited for E3, not necessarily to see if my predictions came true, but just for the hype of it all and my inevitable editorial after its all said and done about my thoughts and feelings coming out of it.

So. Big Sunday Chats update. I may be making a BIG CHANGE to Sunday Chats in the coming weeks. There is some ironing out I need to figure out personally, but I just wanted to give you faithful readers a little heads up. This could be something that becomes a proper part of IrrationalPassions.com, and for that, I’m very excited. The biggest thing is it may mean I start soliciting questions on Saturday! Stay tuned for my twitter for that.

It wouldn’t be a big change for you all, so don’t stress about it too much, but I wanted to seed it out there.

I love you all and your support, especially in these dark dog days of summer I am in. Thank you for the perpetual good vibes. 

I hope you all are here for the E3 hype, but if not, that’s okay. Regardless, thank you for reading, and

keep it real.

(the Naruto kick not only continues, but never ends.)