#whatever game they were in is corrupting btw

[nikikeya]

OMG

The Same Shoes

Prefacing this with: This was quick iffy practice on Procreate so it's not super great - I just really really just want to see Ragatha do something hard to forgive -

[bunabi]

I finished Veilguard btw so here's my long thoughts (be warned I've been writing notes during my entire playthrough so this is very long) for folks who want it:

My favorite parts of DAV:

Best level design in any DA so far. The platforming grew on me, and I think the levels were well-thought out and mostly fun to navigate. Arlathan Forest was exhausting but other areas felt nicely balanced with branching paths, hidden rooms, etc. Exploration in smaller contained maps done right imo.

Mage combat is really satisfying at higher levels. Pure ranged combat is totally impossible unless you have Davrin and Taash popping taunts back to back, but dropping a massive AOE while fighting close-range feels good too.

Being able to auto-equip and compare new gear is great.

Same with the codex entries. Not having to hunt down whatever note I just picked up is a huge improvement.

Upgrading equipment via duplicates incentivized treasure chest hunting, which I would have otherwise skipped lol. It really helped me slow down and take time exploring areas, and I appreciated that.

The final act didn't make the previous 70+ hours feel better, my fault for spoiling most of it for myself, but it was neat. Cool set pieces, cool fights. I was worried Elgar'nan was gonna have the same moveset as the Regrets, but his final battle was great.

Oh, I forgot Felassan! His notes were a tragic delight. Such a good man. Funny too. They didn't need to kill Varric to make Solas less sympathetic...I think Felassan's betrayal(s) serve that purpose well already.

Rook & Their Faction:

Without rehashing what I've said over the past few weeks: this is my least favorite protagonist.

Being a funny and sarcastic and irreverent hero in a DA game is not new. Not having a choice in the matter is. The Inquisitor was pretty fixed in their tone too (cant even choose a personality for them in CC) but even they had better aggressive options available.

Folks say not to judge Rook's depth by a Lord of Fortune playthrough but since factions are asymmetrical on purpose here are my impressions:

The Lords of Fortune didn't contribute to my run in any meaningful way other than getting Emmrich hot which is not unique, as it turns out, to any particular background. In fact, learning Natalene was a galley slave as an aside detracted from my experience. Being a former galley slave, former Circle mage (again: Rivain doesn't have Circles), semi-Dalish city elf with DIY vallaslin is unreal. Especially as characters continuously imply Rook is a young 20-something. The fact this wasn't immediately caught and course-corrected shows -- to me -- how hectic and spread-thin DAV's development really was. :(

Story & Antagonists:

Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain have cackling witch disease. No motivations outside of power. That was a little disappointing. Was also hoping they'd at least comment on Rook/Davrin/Bellara's vallaslin but they're too busy plotting world domination to really notice. Love their designs though. I'd love to hear a deep dive on how they animated Ghil's tentacles.

Veilguard feels like an immediate follow-up to Trespasser, not the ten year timeskip it says it is. I wonder if that's a symptom of adapting the live service story (content that was likely meant to stretch, similar to Anthem and Destiny, over a decade) for single-player.

I miss the politically-motivated meddling. Every villain is allied with the Evanuris. We needed some that aren't. The Right and Left Hand of the Black Divine, corrupt brothers of the Imperial Chantry, the agents of the Archon, a Minrathous street gang, some Rivaini pirates, anything, anyone.

It's crazy how all elven resistance seemed to evaporate with the dissolution of the Dread Wolf Army. As much as I'd hate seeing them duped and betrayed by Solas…I prefer that to just pretending everything's fine now. I could easily see alienage elves and slaves take Cyrian's path, desperate for change no matter the source, especially since oppression is all they've known and there's no end to it in sight. Especially with their gods confirmed as the source of the blight. All downhill from here I fear.

The Butcher. Would. That voice and that frame....it purred I fear. But even he was not immune to cackling witch disease. Wish he stuck around longer for personal reasons. My South is under siege and I aint talking about Ferelden.

Combat:

I found myself switching builds a lot, which was nice and kept things fresh. That being said: DAV needed loadouts for skills and equipment and a menu showing active passive skills + enchantments. A QOL update for this stuff would have been amazing. I want to try an archer run, but I dread (🐺) fussing with skill tree nodes again.

After fighting Mythal (my first full dragon fight) I was disappointed how all dragons share her same attack patterns. They didn't have to reinvent the wheel or anything -- this was the case with dragon battles in DAI and I thought it was fine -- but Mythal of all enemies should have been unique.

High-level demons are limited to Rage and Pride. High-level darkspawn are limited to Ogres. I miss those little scrungly lookin' despair demons and nasty ass hurlock emissaries. After 60 hours I did get a little tired of the same handful of mobs over and over.

Companions & NPCs:

The Veilguardians feel like my kids. Except Emmrich who's absolutely convinced he's in an age-gap relationship with my older lady Rook. It's not that they're uniquely dependent or rudderless, it's that their struggles are solved with nurturing pep talks. Reaffirm their worth, give them a hug, and all that inner turmoil is cancelled. Rich coming from the 'I should have been able to influence my companions more in DAI' girl, but Rook's impact on the Veilguard, the way their doubts vanish completely via some life coaching, feels off.

Speculation: I think the companions were originally planned to be NPCs. Their written banter in some of the notes, their verbal banter throughout the Lighthouse, they feel like they're meant to stay in the hub and act as quest-givers in the live service game. Especially with how Rook is excluded. That's fine btw it just helps explains some things. (Just remembered something else: when you talk to quest NPCs out in the world and the camera focuses in on the conversation, you can't see your companions. They chime in with disembodied voices, always hidden out of frame. That also gives me the feeling they were added later. Not confirmed btw just my hunch!)

Torn about Taash. I love them for breaking the 'agreeable companion' monotony but hate the ~animalistic race~ tropes they were saddled with. I've had issues with Weekes' handling of race and culture in the past. I'm disappointed to see it continue a decade later. I'll leave it there. Sten cannot smell ovulating coochie!

I tried to kill Lucanis during the final assault. Had full faction strength but I didn't complete his personal quest. It didn't work. Sorry Zevran!

Shathann's VA was acting her ass off. Great performance. Absolute bars from Taash's VA during their scenes too.

I dreaded (🐺) opening the Lighthouse map to see who wanted to talk. I usually love chopping it up and getting to know my party; that's my favorite part of any DA game. But so many conversations were just spent restating the obvious (Bellara is worried about The Gods and her brother, Harding is worried about her powers and Solas, Davrin is worried about the griffons and Gloom Howler, you know like in case you forgot). Running person-to-person-to-person and feeling no sense of accomplishment or progress for it seriously drained me.

The Inquisitor… I assumed vowing to stop Solas would block my Lavellan from pining and questioning herself after a decade apart and two very clear rejections. She kept asking whether he could still be reasoned with even in the midst of the final operation. I'm disappointed how little that choice mattered in the end. The second-hand embarrassment was crazyyy.

Romance:

Now this part is a little unique. Sorry for what I'm about to say about Emmrich. If it helps: I found him the most fun of all the companions. He's handsome, thoughtful, and has a fascinating past. But I ended up being dissatisfied by the end, and not just because of being soft-locked into a May-December fling, cringe commentary from Rook, and feeling like I was straight-up harassing Emmrich in early flirting dialogue.

The main issue: I don't care for the Mourn Watch. I like the Mourn Watch characters, but the organization makes me crazy. We hear so little about how they function in the context of an Andrastian nation like Nevarra. Summoning the dead in a world that still believes souls join the Maker's side in the Fade is huge. I wanted to really dig into discussions on the afterlife but in the end I'm supposed to go 'waow cool skeletons' and forget that religion is such an important facet of Thedas. I was so bummed!

I made him a Lich because he didn't seem to care either way. Reuniting him with Manfred is morally good, turning him into an eternal protector of the Necropolis is morally good. Emmrich is happy with whatever, so I gave him whatever, and I said 'whatever' when it was all over. My god is that man cute, but the romance overall just didn't do it for me.

Should've known when I saw his rotunda lol Bioware you sly dogs you got me again!

Personal final thoughts:

Well? I don't think I'm sad anymore, but I am left with complicated feelings. Obviously things are a little different for me being an EA Partner and getting an idea of just how much work has gone into making the game exist period. And I think because I can't blame it all on one person, shit all over it, and move on that these feelings are just kinda churning with nowhere to go.

Things could have been handled better. Didn't like the attempt to hide the world states until launch, or the dismissive comments from writers about it. Didn't like the AMA answers. And this isn't really my business but I'll say it anyway: I feel like the community council was thrown to the wolves, having to base their DA4 impressions around the sliver of content they were allowed to see, and having a much more hands-off role than implied.

I hope DAV is taken as an opportunity to refocus, double-down on what makes Dragon Age so beloved, and lean into those strengths unapologetically. Easier said than done -- as much as I loved Swen's speech about creating games free of marketing expectations and mimicking the latest trends that's often times impossible -- but I want to believe it can be done in this case.

Anyway both Sabine & my antibiotics are complete and I'm overcoming my moodiness and getting back to work on commissions! I've cured the Blight in more ways than one! 😄

[neon-zipperooni]

Beast Corruption Order Theory

OKAY OKAY i needa post something not beast cookies related for once but they're just so fun to talk about.. that's not today though before it's potentially debunked in the upcoming update i wanna throw out my theory i've had for the order in which the beasts corrupted

So, we know that one by one, each of them turned to villainy, but in what order did the five of them go down that path? My theory is that it happened in the same order they were showcased in the "An Ancient Force Awakens!" trailer. My main reasons to believe this is that the order feels too random for what it is, it wasn't the order they're releasing, it wasn't the order they were named by Elder Faerie in the Silver Kingdom story, and it wasn't the order their counterparts were introduced, either. Sure, they could've just put them in whatever order looked the coolest, but it's more fun to ponder. Additionally, all these visuals specifically happen while Elder Faerie is narrating how they each fell under the weight of their own power, so it would be appropriate to show them in the order that happened while it was being spoken about.

This would mean the corruption order is Burning Spice, Silent Salt, Mystic Flour, Eternal Sugar, and finally, Shadow Milk.

Do I have any actual in-game evidence to back this up? Well, sort of, actually. Let me start with the stronger piece of evidence: Mystic Flour's in-game description. What about this backs up my theory? One particular sentence: "Her once radiant light tarnished, leading her to join forces with the fallen Beast Cookies."

This outright confirms two things.

Mystic Flour Cookie was not the first Beast Cookie to fall.

It says Beast Cookies, plural, so at least two of the others had to have corrupted before she did.

This means she had to have either been third, fourth, or fifth. My theory places her as the third Beast to corrupt, so this lines up.

My second, less strong but still notable piece of evidence lies in the backstory of the Beast who could've been the very first to crumble under the weight of their power, the backstory of Burning Spice Cookie. (Which btw, hot take but his backstory isn't bad it's just presented badly there's a lot more to it if you read between the lines but that's not important right now)

How it supports my theory is simple. Would Burning Spice have finally snapped from the cyclical nature of the Tides of Change if his friends were out there going mad and sowing havoc? I don't think that'd make sense unless he had somehow not heard that was happening, this would have definitely given him other things to focus on for that moment of time, for better or for worse. Also, nowhere in his in-game story or any content about his backstory are any other Beast Cookies mentioned, so there isn't anything implying he WASN'T the first, so that's something.

And that's basically it, this is my theory on the order of which the Beasts corrupted and why I believe in it. We might find out if this is correct or not as soon as the upcoming Shadow Milk update, we'll see.

also I just think it'd be cool if Shadow Milk was the last one to fall

[ligninn]

I know I'm reeeeally late to the party, but I just finished Diablo 4 and I have… questions. First of all, the game looks incredible, and I loved the aesthetics, the scenery, the character designs—they were all really well done. However, the story felt a bit "meh."

Since Diablo 3 (or maybe even 2—tbh I really don't remember D2 lore; it's been ages since I've played), the story kept showing us how Heaven, source of light and good, doesn't care about humans or anything related to them, that they just mind their own business with Hell. They see humans as abominations since they have the darkness in them too. Again since D3, there's been this yin-yang situation going on, especially seen with Inarius and Lilith. Inarius is an angel corrupted by darkness, mostly by hatred, and Lilith is the daughter of hatred "corrupted" by love and care. She was a mother, maybe not the best for sure, but it really looked like she cared when her son got killed. Especially since Inarius was the killer and his reason was so fucking stupid. He really thought killing his son would get his ass back to heaven- i can't with this man... We see more humanity in Lilith than any other "villain" we've had so far, I believe. I'm not saying she's perfect of course, her ways were brutal obviously but she only talks about giving people the freedom to do whatever, suggests that they're free to do sin but never really gives any details on what a sin is. In the end it's the people choosing to do evil. She's saying that no religion, especially one following a corrupted angel, can show them the way to live and act. AND SHE WAS RIGHT! But why was she doing all this? What was in it for her? Did she just want to send a big "fuck off" to both Heaven and Hell, or was she craving power and wanted to be the sole ruler?

That's my biggest issue with the main story. We never get to learn. We were never given a chance to really talk and consider her points, which mostly made sense, btw. But instead, for some reason, we were considering more of what Mephisto, a damn Prime Evil, had to say? Like I said, the story so far had a yin-yang theme, so I thought we would dive deeper into this with less prejudice, but it felt so superficial, unlike the theme itself. Because it was literally just Lilith = bad while everything about her was mostly gray. And I think they wasted a lot of potential there :/

[hopeymchope]

Hope's Peak and... Whatever is Going on with the "Talents" They Study

Hope's Peak Academy! Where only the greatest talents are invited to focus on the areas in which they excel (and to be studied by the staff).

The people working at Hope's Peak Academy in Danganronpa (whether staff, scientists, or Steering Committee) are pretty consistently presented as being dedicated to researching and understanding the nature of talent. They talk like talent is this hazy concept that only certain people somehow possess, so they're out to crack the code of its mysterious origins.

We have top men working on the origins of talent right now. .... TOP. MEN.

Now, I know we all eventually learn just how much of a shitshow HPA was and how corrupt its primary operators were. But the evidence of their crimes is mostly focused on how they take their interest in "Talent" much too far. So long as it furthered the study of "talent," human experimentation, endangering the lives of students, and much, MUCH more were totally on the table as far as HPA's Steering Committee was concerned. Which is very bad, yes.

However! I think the issues with HPA's intentions ran even deeper. The people in charge weren't just corrupt; they were also stupid. And this is evidenced by many of the "talents" they identified and researched.

See, Hope's Peak makes no real distinction between the types of talent they identify and accept into their walls. Even though there's a MASSIVE DIFFERENCE between the talent of someone like Junko Enoshima vs. that of someone like Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu. Y'know?

(I strongly doubt I'm the first to observe how bullshit some of these "talents" are. But since I can't find any other conversations about this on Tumblr, I'm going to move forward with making my own commentary. Sorry?)

BTW, consider this: If Komaeda were somehow born earlier and was an adult by the time the 77th Class entered HPA? He could've easily been one of the staff members putting Hajime into that metal coffin.

In descending order of "I can see why they were interested" to "WTF is this," here are the four core types of Super High School-Level "Talents" that Hope's Peak Academy welcomes within its hallowed halls:

(DISCLAIMER: I include V3 students as some of the examples cited below. YES, I know they don't attend Hope's Peak in their game's main storyline. However, they attend Hope's Peak in both UTDP and DRS. That's good enough for me; you can always ignore those examples if you disagree.)

CATEGORY (A) Talents that seem to come innaately/naturally to those who have them. These are either your wunderkind types, or they otherwise gained their talent seemingly overnight. — (e.g., Yasuhiro Hagakure, Junko Enoshima, Nagito Komaeda, Miu Iruma)

My Thoughts: Okay, SURE. I get why you'd want to study how this can happen and where these kinds of skills come from. No notes.

CATEGORY (B) Talents that are developed over a lifetime of practice and/or hard work. Most Hope's Peak students we know about seem like they slot into this category. — (e.g., Nekomaru Nidai, Mikan Tsumiki, Kaede Akamatsu)

My Thoughts: My first reaction is "What is there to study/research about this?" Do the Hope's Peak staff not know that working on something for a long time can make you get way better at that thing? Y'all reminding me of Hajime in the now-classic @reddpenn comic where he is legitimately shocked to learn people can gain skills through practice. :P But HOLD UP; let's give them the benefit of the doubt here for a sec. Perhaps Hope's Peak's personnel are wondering why only some practitioners of these talents can reach such a noteworthy level of skill by the time they're teenagers? That's the most reasonable conclusion to draw about the inclusion of these students.

CATEGORY (C) Talents that are only noteworthy because these students demonstrated some above-average skill relative to their age or because they garnered attention through one specific incident. In other words: These individuals aren't nearly as exceptional as those in the previous two categories of talent, but at least they seem pretty decent at what they're being identifed for? — (e.g., Mahiru Koizumi, Shuichi Saihara, Kaito Momota)

My Thoughts: I hope I'm being clear enough about what I mean by this category. But if not, I'll try to clarify: Shuichi was supposedly recognized for his talent solely because he caught one murderer. Mahiru's photography is almost solely portrait photography and therefore not particularly noteworthy to most photographers; she's just pretty good at the one thing she happens to do. (And in truth, her mom's reputation probably played a role in her own Hope's Peak invite.) Kaito being able to pass a basic Astronaut screening exam at a younger age than is usually allowed is neat, but it's not like he's been an exceptional trainee or even gone into space; he's just the "Ultimate Astronaut" because he cheated his way into taking a test early and did surprisingly well at it. Maybe we're meant to think "Oh, Kizakura or whoever could somehow tell these students have the innate potential to be truly spectacular" or somesuch?? But that interpretation requires putting a lot of faith in this questionable-ass system (and the one HPA scout we're familiar with — a known alcoholic). Do these people REALLY demand further study? Is there ACTUALLY anything to be gained by learning about their "talents"??? I... can't see it, y'all. I don't get it.

CATEGORY (D) Talents that aren't even really a talent at all, they're just a position/title someone gained by being born. — (e.g., Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, Sonia Nevermind, Keebo)

LIVE HINATA REACTION

My Thoughts: Okay, so MAYBE Sonia was recognized by Hope's Peak as the the absolute pinnacle of refinement and royal behavior or something? But I kind of doubt it based on her actual behavior (and weird interest in serial killers) in DR2. And there's no way in hell that Fuyuhiko is the baddest-ass Yakuza, even among teenagers. You scratch that kid slightly. and you get the babychild undernearth. And Keebo? His talent is HIS OWN EXISTENCE. His "talent" is actually just his creator's talent, FFS. He's not even "High School"-AGED in reality; he's just programmed to operate at a mental capacity of approximately teenage-level. So ultimately, I'm asking: What is there to STUDY about any of these?! These aren't even TALENTS, frankly! These have got me wondering if there's some other reason to include these particular students... like perhaps Hope's Peak wants to extend their tentacles into the power/influence afforded by Novoselic royalty/the Yakuza? Or perhaps they wish the leverage Keebo's A.I. technology in their own pursuit of creating of an "Ultimate Talent"? Point is: THESE 'TALENTS' ARE SEVERELY SUS. (I have to wonder if the larger public and Reserve Coursers ever complained about how sketchy some of this shit sounds?? SURELY they did.)

ADDENDUM/NOTE: There are also those who hover between the various categories I've cited. This includes those who might be a mixture of two categories, or those whose background is hazy enough that it's not clear whether they always had their talent (A) or developed it over time (B). But I think the above list encompasses everyone we know about, either in one or multiple categories.

CONCLUSION: Hope's Peak is so vague and weird about what they define as "talents" that it's tough to say what on Earth they believe they're studying over there. Because the methodology they were employing for identifying these talents is super loose, they're inviting over SOME fascinating subjects right alongside a bunch of teenagers who... really can't reveal much of anything about anything?

How did Junko Enoshima learn to easily analyze the patterns all around her to the point that she was able to accurately predict most outcomes? GREAT question! You may genuinely be able to unravel something about inborn skillsets and unusual brain development from such a case.

How did Mahiru Koizumi become a great photographer? Uhhh, she observed some stuff from her mom and just tried a decent amount of portraits, I suppose. But she's not even that amazing frankly, she ain't taking any award-winning pictures or using any particular artistry. She's just good at smiling portraits. That's it. You ain't gonna learn shit from this.

How did Fuyuhiko become the Ultimate Yakuza? Because YOU decided he was! And that was just because of his inherited leadership role! He has NO special talent, wtf are you idiots doing?!?!

ANYWAY, that should cover all of the Hope's Peak students we've ever me—

Oh, right. There's ONE weird half-exception to this list, which I guess I'll explain for anyone who wants to be extracirricular about this topic.

BONUS! Outlier Case: Makoto Naegi (in DR1 only)

My Thoughts: In the original Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, the player/viewer/reader is made to believe that Makoto Naegi possesses no talent at all. Instead, Naegi was merely this year's winner of the annual drawing at Hope's Peak, and THAT IS IT. He was just drawn from a proverbial hat, and his presence is just a randomized factor. And SURE, by the end of the game/manga/anime, he's declared the "Ultimate Hope," but it's not like he was brought into the school based on that talent, so that's not particularly relevant. What I'm saying is simply this: DR1-era Naegi is the only known Hope's Peak student who doesn't fit into the above four categories. ............ Though this was later retconned, of course. Stories such as Makoto Naegi's Worst Day Ever (which came out alongside the first release of DR2, a mere two years after DR1 first hit PSP) and Danganronpa 3 would state that Naegi always possessed some unpredictable form of Komaeda-style inborn "luck" even if he wasn't necessarily aware of it. Which slots him into category (A). AS SUCH, he was only an outlier for literally THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF THE SERIES. And since the first installment didn't really delve as much into the sketchy, obsessive ways the Hope's Peak scientists chose to study their roster of "talents," his outlier nature isn't really relevant anyway. I don't feel any need to justify "Makoto Naegi as portrayed in 2010-2011 continuity" for his inclusion in the class roster.

..........................but if I DID have to do that, I'd say including him among the students makes him the Control Group. :P

[ntaras]

Khaos Reigns? More like Kill Yourself

i honestly went into khaos reigns with no care because i had already lost a deep interest and respect for the mess that mk1 became, but i came out caring a little. it took a lot of restraint to not post every single thought i had on the story and have a second meltdown similar to when mk1 was released. but i gathered my thoughts (kind of. this is just me rambling) and decided to put it all down in one post. 

btw when i say it's me rambling i mean it. like half review and half saying whatever the hell i want. if you need clarification or don't understand what i'm saying please ask. i'd also like to figure out what i'm talking about

i think this story mode was overall bad because it provided no actual expansion to the story. it kind of just was? like, liu kang’s timeline is safe at the end of the story and i don’t think there’s any repercussions to the timeline itself from havik’s invasions. the only thing that “changed” was bi-han turning into noob saibot- but that also has no bearing to the story. one of the things the dlc is centered around is bi-han’s transformation, but there is zero growth from him. him being forced into corruption via chaos did not change bi-han at all because he’s still the same power-hungry, stubborn, desperate man. the lin kuei is now under sektor’s command but she’s proven to be so loyal to bi-han that she’ll lead exactly him (in fact, she won’t even lead it because the tower endings show she breaks bi-han out of the temple of elements and continue his desires of lin kuei dominance.)

i understand they “rescued” bi-han so early from being noob saibot because in past games bi-han been noob saibot without growing- but it was still done so poorly that there was no need for noob saibot. like i just said: noob saibot is still just bi-han. nothing changed. nothing affected him. he had no purpose to be reintroduced as noob saibot. he was just kinda mad about it. it feels like a very cheap shot at bi-han’s character- somehow worse from how he was written in the base story. at least the base story allowed you to think on bi-han’s redemption or even his prolonged villainary. noob saibot proves he’s nothing but a brat who wants to be a brat for the sake of being a brat. (like sure his anger is understandable as it’s directed at havik for what happened to him but did it change anything about bi-han? he was prevented from killing havik because he let his anger and ego get in the way but what is new about that? that’s just bi-han. that could also be kuai liang. that could also be raiden. that could also be sonya blade. there is nothing special about his specific reaction.)

there just has never been any commitment to bi-han’s character nor has there been an attempt at understanding him besides “hey. he’s kind of an ass and sometimes his soul gets corrupted. wdym corrupted means he wasn’t always the evilest man alive?” i just don’t think they take him seriously as a character and he was quite honestly a nothing character in khaos reigns. i’ve said before but for a man who had a whole game dedicated to him it is shocking what they do to him. 

another thing they really fucked up on was making bi-han a frost/sektor wannabe and as a result the actual sektor we see is just. written horribly. 

both cyrax and sektor were not treated well by the story but i think sektor got the short end of the stick. cyrax’s biggest downfall was her lack of involvement in the story because you can get rid of her (and sektor) and nothing would change. however she still felt like cyrax. i liked her a lot. i liked her naivety to the lin kuei. her want to prove herself. her establishing that she refused to cross certain lines. i like her and i want kuai liang to stop harassing her and every other woman. 

but back to sektor because wowwwwwww. wow. i’ve said before bi-han’s bad characterization is also a result of kuai liang’s bad characterization and vice versa but add sektor to that list also. i’m going to speak as objectively as i can regarding her and bi-han because i have never enjoyed them as a ship the second they announced she was a woman. but i assumed there would be implications about their relationship but nothing set in stone like they did with cyrax and kuai liang being exes because making them canon would be stupid. it would make no sense because sektor is not a character who values the romantical life. there has never been such a connection between sektor and bi-han. sektor as a character- not a man or a woman- has always been involved with a storyline of a lack of humanity and the embrace of “perfcetion” in the form of lifeless cyborgs. sektor’s character would not make sense if they were romantically involved with anyone. yes that also includes cyrax because their relationship is too complicated to be boxed in as “love”. 

the moment i saw sektor and bi-han embrace each other i could only feel emptiness. 

it’s because she’s a woman. that’s it. that’s the only reason. this isn’t indicative that sektor and bi-han were banding in previous timelines because i’m so sorry to smash your fantasies of bi-han getting fucked because you’re incaplabe of viewing characters as anything BUT fuck dolls even if sooo much of their character contradicts that BUT. they would never. well actually maybe they would but only on my terms. but honestly it’s just a disregard of who sektor was because he’s a she now. (this isn’t only sektor. it’s cyrax becoming exes with kuai liang and it’s tanya needing to be paired with rain (her needing to be paired with anyone for her character to matter! i have more thoughts on tanya though that i will get into later)). it is not an incapability because writers are capable of writing women like normal people without the need for romance but it is a refusal to write women with the same regard as male characters because well. they don’t think women can exist as characters without being in some kind of relationship. they don’t want to examine sektor’s anger as frustration at being ignored and dismissed and her need to lead and her anger being an emotion that frustrates her and that leads her down a path of removal of humanity but instead she’s mad because of bi-han. she’s loyal to bi-han. why? because they’re dating. why? because it’s a new era. ok. but why are they dating? because she loves him. why? like there is no reason for this to happen to sektor. must a character who’s expressed no desire for humanity suddenly be open to love because they’re a woman? this romance is useless and goes against sektor. it’s not sektor it’s nrs hating women. 

it is mk11 sindel and shao but like. between people who do not give a fuck about each other.

also i know you can argue that bi-han and sektor were seen working together in sub-zero’s ending in mk11 but i did not like that either it does not make sense for bi-han to give a fuck about those robots.

before i forget i should touch on sareena because not even a snippet of her in a character ending? i don’t care if you ship them or not i don’t care if they canonically bang or not they’re still sooo intertwined with each others story that this entire thing was baffling. i read the leaks so i was aware sareena would not be involved in the story but still it feels so malicious and gross. she is evidence of bi-han’s humanity and bi-han is evidence of her sareena’s humanity. she’s so important in all the “is bi-han evil” arguments. besides havik she’s one of the most demanded characters that this just feels juvenile. i want sareena to have a story outside of sub-zero (and she does i think!! it’s barely there though) but their interaction is still so important. 

onto other things. 

ww2 johnny was BORINGGGGGGG. like this is your comic relief and for some reason he suckssss?? i do think he just existed to be a skin. how shocking. but genuinely the story would’ve done well without him and gave his slot to someone else. dare i say khamelon? it was very nice to hear her speak after years of not really mattering that much. i like that she’s a little sassy. i wanted to see more of her. fan of her dynamic with sektor. 

i am very tired with mk1 mileena because she is so very passive and listens to everything that liu kang demands of her. she’s a little cranky and wants to kill people because everyone is responsible for her mother’s death. i think empress mileena is just kitana on steroids. 

btw i just rememebred the wedding and i forgot about because who cares lol. kuai liang looked ugly what else can i say? ok fine i’ll talk about harumi ummmm it’s nice that she’s alive so that johnny cage can flirt with her. 

but seriously while it is nice to see her in game with an actual model it is gross how she is kuai liang’s voice of reason. he is a grown man he should come to the conclusion that killing cyrax is not a good thing on his own. also real kuai liang would not kill cyrax like the writers want hanzo the writers want hanzo the writers want hanzo the writers want hanzo 

speaking of kuai liang. and bi-han. i am sick of those two. i still don’t understand what brotherhood they ever had. like the one thing i really liked about those two is when bi-han and kuai liang started bickering while fighting khaos cyrax/sektor and the khaos version of themselves. like that shove bi-han gave kuai liang felt soooo brotherly. and it made me happy to see them like that for a couple seconds. also because kuai liang just took it like lollll you are such a little bro, bro. youngest siblings unite for being beaten up by their older siblings <33

speaking of younger siblings. tomas looked REALLY ugly. in general. :// also back to the wedding why was no one dressed up considering how good soooo many alt skins looked. cause if a white man came to my wedding in his ugly uniform. 

and now speaking of the good things… well the mediocre things also i guess. 

i already discussed cyrax maintaining some of her old self which i am happy about. her and ermac i loveeeee because they are their old selves while also suffering from minimal screen time (cyrax worse imo because she didn’t do much plot wise).

do you have any idea how good it was to see frost thrive in that arena? how she succeeded in killing everyone? how she killed mavado cause GOOD RIDDANCE. i truly thought she’d get a one second scene but no she got a 10 second scene. it isn’t anything but i am so happy for frost. 

one thing i thought i would be pissed about was wife tanya and her wife rain. i don’t care about tanya and rain as a ship. i think it’s a very boring ship. and i’m still not ecstatic about them but… there’s something charming about those two. and i think what i find charming is tanya’s character. like i think she pulled all the weight for not despising her and wife rain as a couple. 

i’m not really into mk1 tanya. and i don’t like that the second tanya we see is also a good version of tanya- but something about her works. it might just be that she’s in the main action? and it is because of whole “tanya can speak to dragons thing” cause that scene was SO GOOD. first the nervousness in her face and then the determination as she prepares to speak to orin. the calmness as she elevates to orin. i’m so happy we also got to hear the language being spoken. just the way tanya spoke to orin feels like we got a good serving of lore- of dragon lore. 

if i ever want a good tanya i want empress tanya. 

i ended up liking havik A LOT more than i thought i would. i think the only thing holding him back is his goals because they do not suit him. i’ve said before it’s tricky to write havik into a villain because his chaos is his neutrality. he is both kind and mean. helps both bad and good. titan havik is fighting for a dictatorship which is not what havik is about!!! but he is SOOOOOOO funny. he is hilarious. ww2 johnny sucked as a comedic relief and titan havik stepped in. he is sooo charismatic and sooo lovely just ignore how the story glosses over what happens to him in the end 

but the thing i truly loved the most was chaosrealm. oh my god i love chaosrealm so much. like move over deception chaosrealm we have mk1 chaosrealm and it is superior in soooo many ways. there is so much happening when you first see chaosrealm. giant rainbow slug i love you. guys beating up people on the street i love. preacher shokan i love you. THE TVS. THE INTERCOM IN THE MAZE. they should've given havik a mic and it would've been perfect. like i wish the game was free roam because it would so fun to explore that place. i want more places like this. i want to look at the details and keep finding more random useless details. i want to wonder what the fuck is going on in a fun way. 

however. none of that makes up for how painfully bad the story was. like how bi-han developed in no way as a character- the story was moved in no way. the story just boils down to noob saibot = popular character. cyrax and sektor = people have been begging to play as. and cool skins. everyone gasp in shock upon realizing this was just a way for wb and nrs to get money. 

but really like what do i say when nothing happened? the only character development i can argue for is kuai liang accepted cyrax into the shirai ryu. but is it such a small thing that it doesn’t matter. the lin kuei will still operate without her as they usually do. portions of it were fun. we got orin back. rain got a chapter. i don’t know what else to say. it’s just… not good. it’s that shrug emoticon 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯/10

[tarajenkins]

It's that time again

Time to make a massive post for my thoughts on the Lord Vauthry side of the new Encyclopaedia 3! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Spoiler alert: they aren't positive at all, lmao As it turns out, there is a convenient cover-our-ass disclaimer right off that this book is diegetic. The information in it is supposed to have been gleaned from the Scions. The Scions who, especially in the case of Eulmore's ~dark secrets~, would know jack shit about fuck all.

Admittedly, Hydaelyn should've known at least some of this through the death of her last Oracle, but for whatever reason it slipped her mind to tell us any of it in-game. Whoops!

Or maybe she was relying on that child to be the stopgap against the Rejoining happening too soon, like Selch. She could've at least given credit where it was due, if so. >:T

Twitter had a huge pearl-clutching shitfit the other day about that Oracle's death, which boiled down to "EW GROSS FATTY BEAT A CHILD TO DEATH OMG". The OP showed a screenshot of the page which mentions that Vauthry attacked the Oracle after having a nightmare that she would kill him. But they chose not to link the FIRST part for whatever reason, where it stated the Oracle in question had been fighting Sin Eaters alongside Ran'jit before Vauthry was even born. So unless this Oracle was an infant slayer of Sin Eaters, Vauthry was the child in that scenario--at age TWELVE. A twelve-year-old somehow defeated Hydaelyn's avatar, who was a skilled fighter trained by Ran'jit himself. (Ran'jit was a Master Assassin at five years old, btw. No, really.)

That said, the fanbase in that post naturally bought the OP's failure to math the way Estinien buys his hair ties: like suckers. Players were parroting the misinformation via solo posts and showing their entire ass on fatphobia in this character's tag all day. And, of course, where the fandom forgives and forgets the atrocities of almost every other character, people suddenly seemed very invested in making Vauthry enjoyers EXPLAIN THEMSELVES because this character did THIS.

When that was called out for the glaring hypocrisy, one poster replied it's just that "people are shocked at child abuse suddenly being mentioned and relevant."

Except child abuse has ALWAYS been mentioned and relevant in this game. It also applies to Vauthry himself. Emet-Selch essentially killed Vauthry before he was even born, dooming an infant to a life of madness and violence by fusing the baby with a Lightwarden. His father groomed him on lies for a power grab, Ascians further manipulated him in his madness to raise the Virtues, Ascend Gaia's parents, and who knows what else. What would you call that, if not abuse? Thank Emet-Selch for the previous Oracle being murdered. That wasn't going to happen with a 12-year-old who wasn't corrupted by a Lightwarden.

But, let's be real. All the derision of the character's weight during that Twitstorm made it extra obvious what makes him ~problematic~ to them. For their faves, it's "it's just fiction uwu" or the classic ~moral relativism~. For Vauthry, it's rabid foaming because it's clearly a Moral Failing to enjoy THAT character, and we who do must be harassed for it! Case in point, the Twitter OP even pulled out the old uwu ~at least I'm not a ~Vauthry shipper uwu" chestnut, I kid you not. At least, rabid foaming on behalf of vidya game children everywhere until I asked if it was finally time to discuss how many pixel children were murdered by the Rejoinings or Garlean occupation, for a start. Kids freezing in the Brume, etc. Kids made monsters by corrupting them in the womb. You know. A Tuesday. Crickets, then.

"I can't imagine Vauthry ever being a child", someone else posted.

They showed him as a baby in his mother's arms, in the Echo flashback. It's not hard. But I guess it's easier to dehumanize a fat character than it is to think a little.

If anyone else wants to be pissed at me saying all this as they were years ago, I really, really can't be arsed to care. It's rare NOT to see this character's fatness derided in just about any discussion of him. It sure was in his Twitter tags the other day. And, well. Every day. If you want to prove me wrong, though, confront that behavior when you see it, make shutting it down the norm, instead of whining how I'm "too rude" and so that invalidates my points somehow. No shit I'm rude when this "great community" has all the wit of bullies on a playground. Go tone police them instead, maybe.

ANYWAY

On the plus side, some of this new sorta-lore does seem to still back up some of my original in-game theories, but he was already twisted by the corruption from birth. There's no denying that anymore at least, no more hearing stuff from the fanbase like "uwu Emet-Selch gave him a GIFT, Vauthry just abused it uwu". (Who am I kidding, the last part will still happen.) Also, since the actual writers of this book don't stand behind anything written in it, I can still give him the happy ending in AUville that he should have had canonly. ⸜( ˙˘˙)⸝ ♡

What the purpose of this book is when nothing in it is concrete, I have no idea. But if Square can't back off their unimaginative fatphobia, can they at LEAST make Eulmore make sense?

NOPE ( ᐛ )b

Vauthry's father was named Veronth Mudthane, and in this retcon they imply he took more than a minute to decide that allowing a rando to corrupt his baby without asking his wife first was a swell deal. "The Scions" should've at least known the Echo shown in-game just…completely refutes that. But this book also has a blurb for Anogg but shows a portrait of her brother Konogg, so I honestly have to wonder if "The Scions" even played this game.

Vauthry's mother, as per usual, is not given a name or otherwise addressed at all. Because reasons.

"A euphoric Veronth went on to spoil his offspring in extravagant fashion, showering this "new god" with adoration bordering on worship. Such treatment would warp any child's mind, and Vauthry was no exception: he grew up willful, wanton, and possessed of an awful temper."

No exceptions except: Alphinaud, Alisaie, Nanamo, the fandom darlings of Ishgard (arguably excluding Emmanellain but for some reason he always gets a free pass), Hildibrand, Sark Malark, I'm sure I am forgetting some but you get the idea! There's only one difference, I wonder what it could be--

reads book's description of Vauthry's "corpulent chest"

--ah, right. The shitty tropes barely disguised as storytelling. Double standards! It's not just for jackasses in the fanbase anymore! "The Scions" are trying to lay this on "spoiling", when the child was fused with a Lightwarden. Ask Titania how that went for them.

The book goes on to say Vauthry murdered both of his parents at age nine in a fit of temper. You read that right: age nine. With witnesses. Somehow. They go on to mention the witnesses may have been okay with it perhaps because of "a growing mastery over his Lightwarden powers of domination". You know, those powers of domination that didn't exist in-game when Alphinaud chastised the Eulmorans for willfully ignoring the plight of the rest of the world. Those powers of domination that, when they finally were exerted in-game, resulted in the Eulmorans staggering around like drunks, muttering and supremely useless.

In-game, Vauthry wasn't "dominating" anything until he sprouted meatwings and fled to Gulg. Otherwise, Tristol would never have been able to ask to leave? Alphinaud would've been affected, even if the WoL was shielded by the Blessing of Light. Kai-Shirr would have chopped his arm off gladly. The Eulmorans would be blameless for everything Alphinaud and the narrative blamed them for.

In any case, both in this book and in-game, the writers completely gutted their own narrative of Vauthry and/or Eulmore being symbolic of All Things Bad. It's pretty impressive. Vauthry was corrupted by a Lightwarden, like Titania; his mind and behavior were compromised by this from birth. And if he DID control the Eulmorans the whole time, then they had no free will, either.

The book claims Vauthry used Ascension as a cruel game and delighted in ~revealing the truth~ to his victims as they became Sin Eaters. But they never explained why there would be a need to hide any truth with this latest spin on the dumpster fire that is the Eulmore arc.

In-game, there were rules to even request Ascension of him, and it was limited to and at the discretion of the formerly rich free citizenry. Workers could be granted it, but only if their patron vouched for them. The free citizens apparently had to wait until they were at their natural end, as per the Warbler's patron. The random disappearance of so many people from the stagnant population of that tower over the years would cause a panic by any stretch of the imagination. Word would get out, because workers on the inside were shown to be able to visit loved ones in Gate Town. Only allowing Ascension at the natural end of life would cover all that part up, except Vauthry was only 29 years old. The opportunities for Ascension: The Game would've been about as often as Minfilias spawned in that one century. (Which, according to the game, was totally hundreds on hundreds of Minfilias!) Either way makes zero good sense. The convoluted lengths they went through for the sake of these cheap fatphobic tropes is staggering, I s2g.

Meol still doesn't make sense, either. They doubled down on the "fat character eats people" trope in the book, but tbh I've come to expect unoriginality from anything directed by Naoki "Diversity would be unrealistic in my giant magic summon fantasy game" Yoshida.

Sin Eaters are said to have been found in cages next to a butcher table sort of setup, even though in-game, Sin Eaters have no bones, blood, or meat. In fact, the sparklies they dissapate into upon death are rather important to the narrative, as that is what turns people into new Sin Eaters. Meol, you know, that dish which was still entirely optional, and so really contradictory to using it as some master plan to MC the populace.

TL;DR: This is what happens when you phone in lazy tropes instead of a story for a last-minute arc and call it a day. Imagine what we could've had if they'd done some actual thoughtful writing. Also TL;DR:

Mood, Your Lordship

[orinthered]

What makes you say the war never mattered and Melania got done dirty? Because miq got what he wanted in the end? From my understanding miqs 'heartfelt wish' was to have radahn as his lord. Radahn was the one who 'refused his embrace'(halted the stars+his fate?). Melania goes to kill radahn for miquellas ascension and ends in a stalemate.

Not trying to debate I genuinely want to understand your pov.

from the opening trailer, the general conceit of the war over the elden ring is that divinity, and power itself is an inherently corrupting force. radagon, the character who famously cannot bring himself to stray from the golden order, is quite literally broken by the end of the game. marika, in the end, shatters too. when we see radahn, he's a hulking monster, a shell of his former self.

the war was more compelling when you think about family fractured — malenia and radahn fighting for their right to become god, their right to shape the world as they see fit, is infinitely more compelling than malenia taking her warband south merely because radahn is a warmonger who refuses to die, not even for miquella's sake, unless it's in a war. also, i don't think radahn refused miquella, given the fact that him being the promised consort means it was a promise made between both miquella and radahn, it was consensual. i would imagine he was pretty much just trying to make sure nobody else could upend his eventual claim to lordship.

i'm not trying to engage with the actual text of what's being presented in the dlc, btw, but more what the writer's intentions were; i don't understand them. malenia, miquella, and radahn, were all on the same page! it makes radahn look like a little pissbaby who felt like the only way he could ascend to lordship was via revival after some war that has no stakes! i don't get why they would make the war a necessity for radahn's revival, when it is established that miquella has the ability to charm radahn into submission, charm him into killing himself or even charm us, as the player, into killing radahn for him. (since, you know, miquella is now established to be charming his followers instead of them having a genuine and heart-felt reason to believe in his cause like we previously thought — whatever, you can say this was expected but it's boring)

malenia as a character feels moot now because miquella's ambitions in curing the rot is a purpose that may as well have just been served by millicent. malenia only gets mentioned to be derided for abandoning her role as the goddess of rot, or as one little itty bitty throwaway line at the forefront of radahn's fight, despite the fact that she's literally miquella's blade!

like im sure there's someone who can explain this idea better, i have mutuals who are far more articulate than i when it comes to this sort of thing, but i just desperately hate what we were given honestly

[coffeesleep-ooc]

Kachina’s name is funny

Its 2 am and i cant stop thinking about this and i need to get it out bc every single time i look at her name i think of this and can’t even enjoy the storyline aaaaaa lmao

So! We’ve seen that genshin has a history of making up the most bizarre names ever, like idek what happened after inazuma or if sumeru’s names are this funny (idk much about the region it’s inspired in so forgive me for being uneducated), BUT, i do know this: there’s a poor npc in fontaine literally called Book, just Book, wtf genshin, there’s a lot of npcs and pplcalled weird things, and with Natlan that’s wven more obvious that while genshin team does great stuff for plotlines and inspiration for each region, they just say WHATEVER WHEEEEE for names. Bc, who calls themselves/their children Boba? Like wtf?! I’m not even mad about it just why??

I play the game in spanish btw, and Boba is like calling yourself silly or stupid, a friend told me that the English equivalent was also something along those lines so we know this is on purpose? Again wtf lmao

Then there’s the npc called Umi, isn’t that ocean in japanese? And said npc is from the ocean tribe dont get me wrong, if we want to make an accurate “inspiration” from America (America is a continent, ill throttle the person that says its a country thanks) it makes sense to have lots of names that come from different places bc we do have a mix of cultures that resulted in today’s life, but it doesn’t make any sense in Natlan’s whole description, bc these ppl are described as ppl that don’t go out of their country at all? They do receive visitors and i imagine one or two would probably want to stay but it’s still strange, noted, Umi is not the only strange name i’ve seen but i dont keep a notebook with all of genshin’s lore/plot/naming/etc holes bc i would have to make it a full time job. So far a couple things make no sense to me, BUT ALSO! Natlan is culturally rich and filled with stuff i approve, i mean, i like it so far, the legends, myths and way of interaction between characters is rivh and meaningful, i especially loved a quest about a shadow needles bc it felt like revisiting old myths from my memory!

the main quest relating to Kachina is also very interesting and despite it being complete fiction, the way the underworld is constructed is also reminiscent of myths and legends - ik its not called underworld, sorry, its 2am i forgot the name - that place felt to me like one of the scary tales ppl traditionally tell each other but with a very Teyvat element mixed in, and that’s good in my book

there’s also the apparent mix of maya, inca and aztecas in culture and storytelling? And its also true that America has more stories about wars and warriors known to ourselves and the rest of the world? I’d probably have much more to say about this if i had slept, but there are no towns named Fighting soul in my country for no reason, which i find funny and sad af bc wars are shitty excuses to steal and do awful awful things, but whatever. There’s also the way they captured the behavior of ppl in the coasts, kudos to them for that, obviously things irl are not always that good or pretty and some parts of America do have a lot of poverty bc corruption is also shit, but it is true that ppl (i’ve met) in the coast is much mote laidback than in the city, more prone to random music and parties and dancing, big big parties too, the surf part i have never seen in my country so no comments there

some stuff (like the food) is a bit so so for me (im still wondering where shrimp tacos were invented wtf, there’s also too much corn which i find hilarious), and im not even gonna talk about the saurian stuff bc his post is already long enough without talking about Kachina

anyways! in general i really liked it.

now, why is Kachina a weird name for me?

Bc my mother tongue is Spanish

the thing is, idk how many countries with spanish as their main language would have this two problems (or three…maybe)

nunber 3 and less important is the K, it’s overused in Natlan and i find it funny bc many ppl here use the c instead, the k it’s actually more rare in names unless your name is Katheryn or unusual (i once heard the name Ikza and I believe its cool, just not common)…just a thought but: Quinich sounds too much like Quiche so that’s why ill allow Kinich but the qu is way more vommon

number 2 the Ka is just fine, but the China. I just…China is a countey and I can’t help but think of it! Especially bc in spanish it aounds the exact same

number 1 and my biggest concern wity her name, and this is way more personal but I JUST CANT UNSEE IT! In my country we sometimes refer to young ppl as chino or china which is also the way to call ppl from China (probably not coincide but I haven’t researched why this happened to the slang in the first place) so maybe when someone is not listening to you or when they are being tricky or hot headed its bot rare flr someone else to say “¡Este chino/a!” Like saying “this little troublemaker!” Or smth like “¡esta china no hace caso!” Which means “this girl won’t listen/obey!” You could even say “la china de allá” which would mean you are pointing to a girl that is most definitely not chinese but it’s in your field of vision

its not used to denigrate anyonebut it is commonly used as slang by both adults and kids, sometimes even elderly will use it but in more informal situations…

this is why, it feels so damn weird to keep reading and hearing Kachina, sometimes i think im reading ‘pa aca china” kinda “come here kid” and other times im reading the equivalent of ka-girl

I obviously don’t blame the developers or genshin team for not knowing this (i do blame them for Poisson-Fish, Livre-Book, Boba-Silly, etc etc) but i just cant unsee it, even in serious situations its so weirdly funny and awkward

im re-baptizing her Kachi in my mind

someone save me from this misery 😂😂😂😂

[lolotheparagon]

Yknow, dating sims sure do make up the wildest shit to justify you dating standard anime guys. Hey, do you want to date actual historical figures (Napoleon, Vincent Van Gogh) but as vampires? How about you get isekaied into the middle of a fantasy civil war with the warring armies representing different Alice in Wonderland characters and Wonderland is actually a generic fantasy kingdom and btw you are the reincarnation of Alice for some reason, oh hey you want to date these mafia guys in 1920s Italy but Mussolini is not mentioned (almost as if what’s the fucking point setting this game in Italy) Or what if you want to date modern Japanese cops? BUT DONT WORRY ALL COPS ARENT BAHHHD. Do you also want to discuss the inherent corruption in the police for- Hey, you wanna play as a time-travelling reporter who finds a wholesome found family with her studio-mandated male harem? Sure, but after we spend two hours failing to tackle drug trafficking and illegal immigration and using trauma for shock value. What about a game where you play a woman who suffered amnesia and is trying to piece back the fragments of her past with her chosen boyfriend and you have to rekindle your relationship with him? Nah, lets leave all her characterisation to a pixie flying in her head and make her harem consist of an abuser, a serial rapist, her math tutor and a terrorist. Theres one where you play as a librarian who got kidnapped and sent to the palace and is forced to sign a royal contract where you have to MONITOR 1 OUT OF 12 PRINCES to see which one should be the king cos the brothers are split into two parties on which one should be king and only the woman can choose cos apparently the contract need some pure hearted woman to be an unbiased party?? WHATT. There's a game where you play as a literal living doll with poisonous skin who's the clone of someone's long dead daughter being abducted by a fancy thief and now lives in steampunk London to start a new life BUT OOOHHH IT TURNS OUT YOU HAVE A SECRET LITTLE BROTHER WHO REVEALS YOU WERE THE 666TH CLONE EVER EXISTED AND IT TURNS OUT YOUR CREATOR DAD HATED YOU WOOOOOO SCARY!!! QUEEN VICTORIA IS THERE AND ALSO A TERRORIST WHO WANTS TO NUKE GREAT BRITAIN WITH THE MC'S POWERS AND A MAGIC TREE. (well at least they were accurate in Britain's vampiric levels of colonisation) OH AND APPARENTLY THE SOURCE OF YOUR POWERS COMES FROM A HEART SHAPED PHILOSOPHER'S STONE EMBEDDED IN YOUR CLEAVAGE.

BUT WAIT THERE'S STILL MORE

There's another game where you play as the female reincarnation of Cupid (So Aphrodite, then?) and you are sent to Earth to be a matchmaker and you would think someone whos a literal love goddess would be very worldly, snarky and doesnt fall for any traps men pull in dating BUT NOPE SHES JUST AS DAINTY AND NAIVE AS EVERY OTHER VISUAL NOVEL PROTAGONIST. WHAT ABOUT A GAME WHERE YOU PLAY AS A WOMAN WHO JUST TURNED 18 AND BECAUSE SHE IS THE LAST OF HER "WHITE" CLAN SHE HAS TO GET A HUSBAND AND EVERY TIME SHE DATES A PERSON FROM A DIFFERENT COLOURED CLAN HER HAIR GETS DIFFERENT HIGHLIGHTS AND ALSO THERES A RIGID CASTE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD BASED ON THE COLOUR OF YOUR CLAN AND THERE IS DISCRIMINATION AND PREJUDICES AGAINST THE CONSIDERED LOWER COLOURS, SO MUCH SO IF A HIGHER COLOUR CLAN PERSON DATES A LOWER COLOUR CLAN PERSON, THEY GET BANISHED INTO THE UNDERWORLD. COS THATS WHAT DATING SIMS NEED! CLASSISM, RACISM AND EUGENICS! THE WHOLE FUCKING NINE YARDS.

AND FINALLY IF THAT DOESNT SELL YOU, WHAT ABOUT:

A GAME WHERE YOU PLAY AS A DAUGHTER OF A PRIEST WHO HAS THE BLOOD OF EVE (my god XD) THAT MAKES HER IRRESISTABLE TO VAMPIRES AND SHE BECOMES A SEX SLAVE/CHEW TOY FOR EVERY ROMANCEABLE CHARACTER IN THE STORY. AND YET WE'RE SUPPOSED TO SYMPATHISE WITH THE RAPIST VAMPIRES BECAUSE THEY HAVE MOMMY ISSUES....THIS GAME BECAME A MULTIMEDIA FRANCHISE

...Whatever happened to games where we just date decent people?

[desultory-novice]

The Pause Screen lore of the Sphere Doomers EX really surprised me. If I understood it correctly, they're connected to Fecto Elfilis!? They look nothing alike!

What's your take?

Got two different asks about this, so it's time to tackle the question of just what the Sphere Doomers are! (Hint: I have no answers, only curious speculation! But I think both of you are on the right track! ... If there IS a right track! This game sure shook up a lot of previously held Kirby fanon, huh?)

So, let's look at both versions of their, shall we say, "most interesting" Pause Screen Lore!

[EN] 

Halcandra stands alone, only reachable by passing through other dimensions... The Doomers, long ago, had a different form and could warp space and time... Is that why they seek the spheres

[JP - Mine]

Halcandran hovers silently in a different universe. Another Dimension is the gap space surrounding that universe. But why do the Doomers seek Energy Spheres? It is said, in ancient times, they looked different than they do now, and wielded the power to cross dimensions, but now...

-

Maybe it's just the phrasing, but I think the Japanese makes the fact that there could be a significant difference between how they looked in ancient times (the time OF the Ancients being implied here) and how they look now feel like a much stronger possibility.

Honestly, the theory that they're similar to Elfilis's species is a pretty good one! (I didn't spot anything myself to confirm that outside the possibility that their powers could be inborn - unless I missed another clue - but it is an interesting idea!)

That said, the main thing that I get from this is that the Doomers are probably all that is left of a highly corrupted former species.

Look at them! Their jagged mouths just don't SEEM right, as if that was a development they gained as their bodies broke apart. Speaking of their bodies breaking apart, their bodies being made of this weird, swirling energy? I don't think they were like that originally either...

This is all speculation, so let's go wild!

I think they probably took on the form they hold now due to an extended period of wandering the gaps between dimensions.

I mean, we've all sort of got the feeling it's not healthy to stay there long. Why build devices like the Lor, that can travel through them in a flash if you could just kind of swim or float or take an ordinary craft through there? I think Another Dimension is probably a somewhat toxic, corrosive space, and that maybe that contributed to the corruption of WHATEVER life forms the Doomers used to be.

The other key is pointing out why they seek the Energy Spheres. We were led to believe they "eat them" - although, wait, now that I think about it, isn't that novel lore......?

(Btw, now that we have RtDL DX, I can safely say that the novels ARE a different universe from the games. Not only is Kirby and Magolor's relationship in the novel completely different from the one portrayed in the game, there's all these little things the novel says that are just flat out different in game. The novel mentions everything from AD glows with a pale blue light. The game's webpage boldly states that everything from AD glows with a bright colorful rainbow light. You could argue that I'm nitpicking, but these two things released SO close to each other, that the differences have to be purposeful. I can probably go into more details about the differences, but as far as I'm concerned LSatLW is officially a non-canon adaptation of RtDL.)

So, okay, they want them at least. Which is INTERESTING, because ideally what you'd want them for is the power to travel dimensions, right? Or...to operate other Halcandran technology...???

Outside of the Grand Doomer, the other doomers don't seem to possess the ability to cross over into dimensions, like the one Pop Star is apart of. They're confined to the gap. Are they trying to get their original power back by collecting spheres...?

The other question is, how did they lose that power in the first place? Were they, like Elfilis, drained of their power to fuel the Ancient's ambitions? Are they now mad, lingering ghosts trying to get what they lost back? (All of which, it must be said, fits in very well thematically with Magolor's epilogue, about the pain of previous generations who suffered due to the Master Crown's destructive capabilities, and Magolor's own quest to rebuild himself.)

Or was their power to travel across dimensions artificial?

Where THEY the Ancients? (Or some other species that got looped into what we know as the Ancients. Assuming Hyness is still one. At this point, I'm not laying down chips that anyone's an Ancient XD ) I'm reminded of the theory that the residents of Pop Star are what became of the Ancients after they left for their "land of dreams."

Something interesting that might connect these ideas is we don't just have the Doomers.

We have a variety of species who appear to have suffered the same corruption the Doomers did. And if you squint, remove the fangs, and cover them up, some of them vaguely resemble the kind of life we see on Pop Star. Waddle Dees, Bronto Burts, Gordos and the like!

...All I can say for sure is that I'm definitely looking at the Sphere Doomers now as if they are "ghosts" rather than some malicious, unknowable space entities.

[s0lar-ch3ri]

theory time!

so reasoning as to why i cant reblog the other one is just cause it doesnt allow videos when i reblog now which sucks but whatever so yeah! its a jrwi theory again, and whatever future info i have was 99% gathered from the wiki (the remaining one percent might not even show up in this theory so ye), and of course theres spoilers for the black rose one shot AND riptide pirates (dont have any exsct eps, all i can say is im at ep 101 now so anything before that is kinda fair game)

for the original theory post

k so we gonna put that one clip (scroll message, about a minute long) and talk about it, def mention all the connections gill would have with the black sea, shit like that

apologies for the buggy clip, just needed to add this and when i recorded i was in school aka just recorded like this for less risk, lets talk about the message though.

"a map that is a guide and a key passed around the hands of destiny, it leads to chaos infinity beneath the seas, the garden giant, the nameless prince, the unborn kings, all await to be inevitably free"

i think in my og theory post i talked on how gill was very connected to the black sea imo so how does all this tie in? lets do some quick lil notes first

ok so the scroll of legend lore has been held onto by gillion, the one closest to destiny's ties, and has not been used until now

chaos infinity while refering to the black sea could also be an undersea thing, what with the leviathins (nobody else remember how the pearl shard gillion has came from one? and how the pearl was never supposed to even see the light of day probs let alone be in some cat mans evil base? just me?)

while i wanna say aster mythborne aeiliana shes not real here so she cant be garden giant

BUT we do have a known leviathin(? could just be a dragon turtle) named duke who has plant shit and is controlled by a gollieth

nameless prince is everso chip coded but we looking all across our board here so yeah

it could apply that the "nameless prince" could refer to someone "unnamed" who holds power like that prince from edison kingdom or smth

it could also reference marshal jon, who's canon first name has been forgotten and canon last name is jon

unborn kings? honestly while i dont think chip's bit of mpreg is apart of this i think the lady inspiring it (aka aslana's mom) has some relations to this whole thing

we all read "kings" btw so theres probs multiple yall

would goobleck count? he is goobleck he must apply someway

non-literal one again? maybe their monsters or smth

wait to be free. huh. gee, i wonder, will the door nightmare with arlin come into play here. thatd be so fun. yeah. ahahaha im losing myself

okay okay maybe its not all clear and i honestly have had this as a draft for too long (as shown below)

BUT ill reblog this later cause ill really just be using text and images and shit

whats the basic idea? this is def where the oath from the sword comes into play (murdering destiny), with the whole "the black sea twists you" thing we may get hints of killion or even dark gillion again, the thign about it being a "key" might imply like a 'this means that' type deal rather then being actually a key, the chaos isnt really referring to the black sea but the state of the undersea in general (lost champion becomign criminal, ally shit gone, oversea war, etc), unnamed prince is either someone we havent met yet or someone who we dont expect to have a return (ie: were deemed before as not really lore relevant), and the unborn kings are monsters, oh and the garden giant isnt arlin but something related to the duke! THIS HAS TO CONNECT TO THE LEVIATHINS FR

some details/info about gill/things related to gill so i write this better:

"You promise to slay all evil before thee, crack corruption that takes hold of this world, strike swiftly enough to split the seas, and even if the thread of fate poses an obstacle against us, we shall sever it"

A hero born of moonlight, storm and sea. / They shall rise or fall to bring unity. / They will be tested or bested by evil’s hand. / By their choice one will remain: sea or land.

[obstinaterixatrix]

pita was saying that 100% completion (with dlc?) was estimated at ~80 hours so they think it’s going to be 4 kingdoms, we were talking about one of the kingdoms being toshiro himself and I’m betting the last one is whatever god feeding on corruption/misery atlus writes in. anyway, it’s fun when relatively normal people are wrapped up into supernatural/psychological jrpg shenanigans (‘relatively’ normal because toshiro’s still a candidate for prime minister lol). rei and zen were cute and I definitely cried at the end of pq, but I don’t really like spinoff characters that just kinda disappear at the end of the game. also, I like that toshiro detectives a lot of this out, feels like the character has more agency/initiative when they figure stuff out on their own & reveal it rather than it being revealed to them. also also the second we saw yuki I was like. is that going to be toshiro’s mom lol. anyway if there were any changes I’d make the scale smaller (like campaigning to be elected as a member of the diet) because atlus really needs to recognize that if they’re going to make a game about rebellion against corruption, the bigger the stakes are the harder it is for them to end at a point where it *feels* like there’s even the *possibility* of a change to the status quo that’s meaningful, an individual change can feel satisfying if it clearly lays the groundwork for systemic change BUT atlus is very prone to ignoring systemic issues and giving the impression of like… If That One Guy Is Taken Down We Win! so even though their narratives are revolutionary (on the surface), a lot of the themes of p5 feel messy by the end because it’s just like. the system is fine it’s just the one guy. so it’s a return to the status quo with surface changes but without something that feels meaningful. and this is evidenced by them STILL trying to make makoto a cop. the second and more important change is I would make toshiro a female character. if it’s that jarring to write a high level politician who’s a female character (this is cowardice btw) she could be the heiress of a company and the prospective fiance of a politician her dad’s trying to collude with, like if haru was trapped in her situation until adulthood

[magnoliamyrrh]

not to be some sort of way but this is exactly what the hunger games tries to get across btw and it does so brillaint. the cycle of violence. the co-opting of revolutions. the way coin was largely the same as snow. the way that the revolution came in part because the hunger games were horrible and Yet after the revolution they wanted to make a new hunger games just with the capital children this time. katnissis horror with this, the bitterness anger and want for revenge of others. gale's rightful anger and revolutionary spirit being coopted and corrupted leading to prim, an innocent child, dying by his bomb. katnisses horror at noone struggling with morality anymore.

the books are brillaint in many ways, this being just one of them. a brillaint showing of human nature. an accurate one. a complex and fucking ugly and complicated one. to show this and critique it is not some sort of anti revolutionary propaganda or whatever, it is a very real, historically based and observed, warning.

[titular-twins-tournament]

Hooo boy, you want propaganda? I'll do it. I'll do it for my boys: Lucas and Claus propaganda, big time. Thank you for sending me into a passionate typing frenzy.

(Mother 3 spoilers ahead. Of the massive kind. Obviously. And also, a wall of text.)

So I was reading the tags and yeah, yeah the other two suffered and one died. Okay, but that's also true for Lucas and Claus. I think you really need to hear the full plot to understand exactly what went down here and why they've suffered enough to deserve the win.

They were happy boys. They were. Claus was the more energetic and spunky of the two while Lucas was a little timid. Claus would often encourage him to play in the more reckless ways he did and you can see from the opening "name your character" sequence that Claus has a lot of love for his family, enthusiastically dragging their mom, Hinawa, along to join them, always with a big smile on his face.

Okay, so that's great and all. But where's the pain? Oh. I'm getting to that.

The town they lived in, Tazmilly was rural and idyllic, no need for an economy or struggles really. Everyone was friends and things like farmers or builders. Until the Pigmask army. Now long story short, these guys were led by the frustrated secondary antagonist of the previous game who could time travel and stumbled upon Lucas and Claus's timeline. The guy was into messed up genetic experiments and might have let some loose around the forest surrounding Tazmilly while they set it aflame.

But Lucas and Claus were not there. No, they were across the forest with their mom while their dad, Flint, stayed behind. Having only received one last letter from Hinawa, Flint tries to reunite the family, but in the end, Hinawa dies to one of the monstrosities let loose (a corruption of a once nice creature the boys used to play with) and Claus, reckless as ever, vows to avenge Hinawa and fight the creature. But he loses and is presumed dead.

Afterward, as Lucas has to learn to grieve alongside his father (btw the scene where Flint learns of Hinawa's death? Oof.), it turns out that Claus wasn't actually dead, but gravely injured. Unfortunately, the people who found him was not the villagers of Tazmilly who could take him back home, but the Pigmask army. The baddies. And what did they do? Make him a cyborg. Remove most of his will. Create him as the ideal child soldier to their cause and after all that. After all that. After Lucas's journey to defeat the Pigmasks from ruining his home, who else is the final boss who has been in their way the whole time, but his OWN BROTHER.

Yes.

The final battle of Mother 3. Is against your own twin brother.

And here's the kicker. Here's the kicker, right?

Lucas can't stomach fighting him. No matter what. He can't. It is only when a final reminder of their mother hits Claus, is that when he remembers who he was. And in his incredible guilt over what he had done and burning desire to see his mom again after all that, he realizes. Lucas has since gained the ability to automatically reflect lightning. And Claus has lightning powers. So....

MAN

THIS IS THE WORST PART. He purposefully aims a bolt and Lucas to where it bounces back and hits HIM and he dies. He dies, to his own attack. On purpose. To see his mom again, to punish himself for what he had done, whatever it might have been, AUGH

(i am in pain)

So anyway, TL;DR this is one of the most tragic stories in gaming ever and that's why you should vote for Lucas and Claus. They need something good in their lives for once.

Sincerely, The Mother fandom

👀👀👀

[gameringgungke]

ain't no better feeling then being bored as hell because one of the mods you were using for a terraria run updated with a bug so awful exactly 0 npcs will spawn naturally, which basically deletes the progression, and you can't disable it because it made structures in your world, so that'd break the world and/or corrupt it. (it's happened to me before) then, upon realizing it'll probably take a month for the mod to update and fix even though this is a big problem, you go to the github to just get the previous version, and install it

only to be greeted by the fact that your tmodloader version, the publicly available stable version, is too old for the mod to run. so you have to use a possibly buggier beta version. fantastic, more crashing or bugs, but whatever

then, after you install the beta, you're greeted with: all your saves, gone. and either it's a risk to use all your mods, or you just. can't. (i basically live off the vanilla boss rework mods and will cry if i can't use them. also no boss checklist is actually painful and a detriment to the human condition)

i wish i still could, you know, just back up my files manually and easily when i install mods from the steam workshop, like what i could do with the browser on 1.3, so when something like redemption or split broke i could still be fine!!! but no i guess!!!!

(btw you can figure out what game is what in file manager by the numbers in the steam workshop files, just look at their store page url numbers. then, mods are found by their page url id numbers but, even though i found tmodloader's files, not every mod shows up in them. very cool steam. very cool.)

anyway, the terraria metroid mod is either bugged or has some new conflict, for anyone interested