#when i first saw the playthrough i actually really liked it. and i still stand by it being a good game if it wasnt in dh universe. it is fu

[meanbossart]

Ask compilation: DU drow, Orin, Astarion, lore things and little fun facts.

Trying to make a dent in this dang inbox. As always, thank you so much everyone for your patience and curiosity! Sorry that it is straight up no longer possible for me to reply to everyone, but I will keep doing my best within reason. Enjoy!

Absolutely! I had a lot of requests for bottom Astarion on my patreon which is why I was kind of on a roll there for a minute.

Though, for the record - I am really not very invested in strict bedroom roles at all. Or clear and distinct dominant/submissive dynamics. So please don't overthink it whenever there's a switch, no pun intended.

You wanna know how often they smash? Man, I don't know, I guess fairly often considering their lifestyle post-game (very active, often on the road).

Assuming that everyone agrees that sex doesn't have to involve penetration, I'd say once every other day or less, really depends on the circumstances though. DU drow's libido is much higher than Astarion's, but he's not an animal and can hold off fine. Astarion is likely to be pickier in regards to location and how-recently-have-we-bathed status as well.

I keep meaning to draw him, but I have like... A million things I want to do 😂 so its rough!

BUT you will at least continue to see him in ANE! And I'm sure i'm bound to draw him again in the future.

[MORE UNDER THE CUT]

If you mean in his bhaalist "AU", where he has the red robe and the extra scars, I imagine he would have gotten it through killing Isobel.

I think as a changeling she probably has the ability to just... Transform her hair however she likes at will, right? And based on her attitude plus some lines we get from Sceleritas about her own former-butler, it sounds like she would be really opposed to being serviced in that way, to me at least.

I see her as pretty aggressively independent with the way she operates, which is another factor that sets her apart from DU drow, who really enjoyed lording over the other Bhaalists and making an errand boy out of Sceleritas, to the point where he practically depended on their help to function.

Neither! I wasn't willing to let anyone take either of my eyes in my first playthrough, LOL.

I have since always given the Volo eye to SOMEONE, usually Gale, but I don't consider that canonical. I don't think anyone was desperate enough to let mister frumpy-hat over there ice-pick their eyes out.

He did do them himself. It was a profoundly stupid display he got caught up in because of Gortash. Also, de-handment is kind of a theme in his life, at least inside his head.

I have a comic about it planned for the future ;)

What do you mean, that's canonical to the game and everything! He loves the cuck chair!

He is an angsty 29-year old in denial. Your interpretation is still perfectly accurate.

Hates the guy. Hates when Shadowheart Astarion people joke about him being the Drizzt of his generation. Hates the guy like literally any countercultural weirdo hates Taylor Swift or the Weeknd. If he saw him at the line in the grocery store DU drow would find a way to roll his eyes loudly just so he could notice being an asshole.

Stay tuned, I'm cooking 🧑‍🍳

If you're asking about game strats, badly, LOL. Pretty sure I died twice to her in my first run and it was a rough way of being thrown into "serious" DnD combat.

With the exception of a couple of encounters that just so happened to turn out SURPRISINGLY cinematic, I'm just realizing that I actually don't think too often about how most of the fights went in real-time! I imagine Autie Ethel's in particular wasn't one that DU drow went into of his own accord, probably rather at a companion's insistence. That's as deep as I've thought about that personally.

Now... Back to game strats. I personally try to get a surprise round on her however I can by sneaking and shooting an arrow or AOE in her general location, since she always stands on roughly the same spot while invisible. I have my companions spread about the arena so we can take her clones down as fast as possible, and as soon as I identify who the real Ethel is I just have the strongest martial characters wail on her until she begs to be let go. Hers is one of the few fights that is actually pretty dang easy at this point for me - and I SUCK at this game.

That would certainly take a while! But, Bhaalist DU drow does kind of have an end goal, actually.

That might also turn into a comic eventually, but it would a rough one.

He pretty swiftly disposed of her, DU drow doesn't like being talked down to, which Minthara very promptly does. Him (and I, by extension) had very limited exposure to her and she was just kind of a speck of dust in his story in particular. Though I have since grown to adore her character in my proceeding runs where I do recruit her!

I guess if he got an invitation and it wasn't particularly painful to arrive at the venue, sure! He would specially love to take Astarion to Gale's wedding ceremony and purposely upstage him at every at every opportunity, LOL.

Yes. He got pretty freaky with the pain-priest. This is gonna sound like a lie but I made him get naked for it without even knowing there was a buff to be gained (I didn't get it, unfortunately, I don't remember whether I failed a check or if I had camp clothes toggled on, so it didn't count as being truly nude). I wasn't taking the game very seriously and just doing dumb roleplay things to see what would happen, LOL.

And I consider that canonical. I think DU drow saw the opportunity to show off his physique And had a strange inkling that this was a practice he was... Somehow familiar with.

Imagine my joy when Astarion and Shadowheart start having a back-and-forth about my absurd display. That's when i knew those were my people, to be honest.

[internetskiff]

hoo boy. SOMA. I definitely do not think of that game often ahaha that game certainly has not affected me in any way

Anyways!! Catherine Chun is honestly my favorite deuteragonist in gaming because of how well she's written (sorry Wheatley (he's a close second though)). On my first playthrough I (and I assume a lot of other people) just immediately decide "OK, she's the only other sane 'person' on this station, so she's automatically a friend", and hell, it seems that's how Simon himself views her from the moment they first speak at Upsilon's comms center. But reading into her dialogue, she really doesn't seem to view Simon as a buddy at all up until like.. Their heart-to-heart at the Climber methinks. Just look at how she speaks with him whenever he starts getting existential.

She speaks to him as more of an annoying coworker at times. Considering her attitude towards other sentient machines, I think it's extending even to Simon. She sees him as a means to an end, or at least tries to, up until she has to copy and paste his mind into a new diving suit. And then, when she fails to hide the original Simon from the newly created duplicate and he is rightfully distraught and furious - I think that's when the actual weight of it all hits her.

This interaction still fucks me up a little. The distress in that "Please, stop" as Simon (very righftully) lashes out at her. It's even worse when you consider this is how most of the people she scanned treated her. They're all desperate. They hope that when they sit down in that Pilot Seat and close their eyes, they'll open them in paradise. But when they end up exactly where they were. and realize a copy of them is going to be living it large on a spaceship while they continue rotting down at Pathos II, it's no wonder they'd suddenly view the whole thing as cruel and disgusting. It's still wrong and selfish, of course - especially directing that anger at the one person responsible for preserving humanity simply because you refuse to understand how brain scans work. It's worse when you realize she never got to defend herself from all of it, and in the end she was killed by her own desperate coworkers. And now she's experiencing it again. Unknowingly, Simon's putting her through the exact same thing her human template went through over and over and over again. She viewed him as a means to an end, but I think that stopped after she had to go through that. She shares her memories of home with Simon. I'd say they only REALLY start getting along at like, Phi, which makes the exchange immediately after the ARK is launched that much more gut wrenching. The thing is, while I think Catherine stopped viewing Simon as a means to an end, Simon didn't stop viewing her as one. From the moment she tells him about the ARK, he was probably itching to get on it. Sure, saving humanity is great, but you'd probably also want to be saved aswell, no?

The fact that this is her last exchange and these are the last words she manages to say is absolutely fucked up. You can just imagine what was going through Catherine's mind as she was saying this - Simon telling her she's "Fucking disgusting!", a sentiment echoed by people she considered acquaintances (people she was saving), seeing her own corpse with it's head bashed in by a wrench.. This wasn't just aimed at Simon, I think. This is basically her finally standing up for herself. Her standing up to everyone who despised her simply because THEY didn't understand how brain scans work. She did everything right, she saved humanity - and she was still treated like garbage in the end. And she doesn't even get to finish her sentence before her chip fries and she dies for the second and final time. And if Simon saw things from her perspective for once, he would have the time to pull her Omnitool out and save her from that.

[justali-anne]

Thought Week: Undyne

Undyne. Oh, Undyne Undyne Undyne. Oh, shoot. I can't think of an intro. So I'm just gonna get into it.

(You know the drill by now, I think. If you have any thoughts about Undyne, please please PLEASE leave them in the notes.)

First Impressions

I think I first encountered Undyne during my own playthrough? I never really saw her in any comic dubs or songs, which were my first exposure to Undertale. And I don't particularly remember watching other people play the game either, besides DanTDM and Jacksepticeye, of course (my childhood YouTubers besides Stampy and Squid). I knew she was the third boss and Papyrus' friend somehow (idk when, I just did). That's all I knew about her.

My earliest memory with Undyne was struggling at her boss fight during my first playthrough because I couldn't figure out how to spare her, and I was terrible at blocking her attacks, ESPECIALLY HER YELLOW BACKWARDS ONES!!!

Excuse my language, but THIS IS BULLSHIT! It's because of HER that I ended up resetting the entire game because I didn't get good enough healing items. SCREW YOU, UNDYNE!

So, yeah. Tough boss.

My Impressions Now

When it comes to playing the actual game, Undyne is my third favourite character to be with. She is a super fun, super passionate character that makes everything more exciting! Her "date" is actually amongst one of my favourite scenes in the game just because of how fun and silly it was! I don't know if you can tell, but I love lighthearted, silly, goofy stuff, so this was right up my alley!

(Jeebus, Undyne, no need to be so aggressive, I just wanted a drink lol)

In terms of depth and issues, she doesn't exactly stand out compared to characters like Sans, Alphys and Asgore, but honestly, I still think she's a complex character in her own right! It just doesn't seem like it because there are a lot of other characters with mental health issues and angst while Undyne... doesn't really have any of that? She's a fun, confident, tough warrior who takes it upon herself to protect the hopes and dreams of every monster in the underground. Although, on the other hand, Undyne taking so much responsibility on her shoulders means that she's prone to blaming herself whenever a fellow monster gets hurt because she's unable to protect them. She cares a LOT about her fellow monsters, so while she rightfully hates you if you kill people after befriending her, she's also angry at herself too.

(I skipped over some dialogue, but here's the gist of it)

I like how loyal she is and how fun she is. She's generally a very enjoyable character. Unlike Sans and Papyrus, who I love to dissect and analyse, I just like Undyne because she's got really awesome scenes, a bunch of passion, and a really enjoyable fight (that caused me to reset, forgiven, but not forgotten). Also, her determination. HOW ON EARTH DID SHE GET DETERMINED ENOUGH TO BRING HERSELF BACK TO LIFE TEMPORARILY?!?! That is an AWESOME power!!!! She isn't just a monster. She is a BEAST. And I love her for it.

Undyne and her Complicated Relationship with Humanity

A lot of fans mentioned something about her prejudice against humans, and while that's a part of it, it doesn't seem to be the whole picture when it comes to her thoughts about humanity.

Let's start off with the prejudice side of things. She does hold a bit of prejudice towards humans, like a lot of monsters do. And it's not like she doesn't have a reason for that. When you think about it, it's a pretty understandable character flaw to have with a character like Undyne, someone who wants to make everyone's hopes and dreams come true. In her eyes, humans have denied her people their rightful freedom. She wants to claim the last soul so she can bring them that freedom. Like I stated earlier, she cares very deeply for her people. She takes her position as the Head of the Royal Guard extremely seriously, despite her otherwise "overdramatic anime protagonist" attitude.

And come to think of it, this is mostly just speculation, but she's really close to Asgore. Surely she must have heard the story of how his kids died at the hands of humans. Surely she must know how much killing humans takes a toll on Asgore. She definitely knows that he's a big softie at the end of the day. So it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that maybe she wants to take the last human soul so he wouldn't have to do it? Sure, her main motivations mostly involve herself and her people's hopes and dreams, but she could be doing it for Asgore too. I dunno, it's more of a hunch than anything. Take it with a grain of salt.

But here's where things get more complicated. Everything Undyne knows about humans comes from "human history" AKA anime. And she's clearly a huge fan of it! She's outright disappointed in the mercy route when it turns out that you're a merciful wimp, at least until you change her mind.

So she doesn't see humans as all bad. She thinks they're cool. Also, consider how fast she becomes friends with you after you deal a super wimpy punch to her. Like seriously, that's all it took? A trick from Papyrus and then a disastrous friendship date was all it took to get her to change her mind about you? People with prejudices in real life, as I've heard, are really stubborn and set in their ways, and then Undyne comes in and after a day, she's like, "Nah, we're not enemies anymore." Freaking love this woman.

The Narrative

Undyne is an amazing support for other characters, I've realised. She's close with depressed King Asgore, she's Papyrus' first friend besides you and his own brother, and of course, there's her relationship and crush on Alphys. And like Papyrus, she's a crucial stepping stone for you to get the best ending. It seems that your chances of getting everyone to the surface hinges on whether you can befriend Undyne or not. It's her love letter that allowed you to befriend Alphys, after all.

She's also pretty realistic in her reactions if you kill literally ANYONE. Imagine if someone came into your community, a community that you swore to protect with your life, and killed someone, or even multiple people. Like, why would anyone want to befriend someone like that? Seriously, killing ONE person is enough for Undyne to hate you forever. And it's even worse if you befriend her and THEN kill a guy. To her, that's the ultimate betrayal! So, yeah! Pretty realistic, I'd say! It definitely puts into light how much of a scumbag you are if you kill anyone.

And then there's the murder route! She's among the toughest monsters in the Underground, so managing to kill her Undyne the Undying form really puts into perspective how hopeless the situation is for the monsters in the underground. She was their guardian, their light. She actually had a chance of beating you, and let's be real, she probably beat you over a dozen times by the time you finally got to her. And it was her death that triggered Alphys to evacuate the survivors, too. Her Undying battle has a bigger impact than you might expect. After all, at that point, there was no one left that could possibly take you on except Asgore and Mettaton, to the monsters' knowledge. I doubt they knew about Sans' abilities, anyway. So for them, Undyne was their best shot. It's heartbreaking, really.

Conclusion

So, Undyne! Very fun character, definitely in my top three favourite characters! She's so passionate and it rubs off on me easily. I still haven't forgotten that time she made me reset because I didn't have very good healing items... HAHAHAHAHA, I will never forget. I can't wait to write her, she's a blast!

Remember to add your thoughts about Undyne in the notes! Please?

[dreamerchildunofficial]

Yeah I kinda would like to know flower boy. Didn't think you'd be so reserved on your opinions. Also we'll most likely be working together more in the future to solve this problem, so it's good to know where we stand and if you trust us at all.

* ...touché.

* To be honest, I didn't believe y'all actually existed until this time loop thing started happening. Frisk told me when they were younger that they found out that they were possessed while in the Underground by people who thought our world was a game, and they didn't REALLY do all of those horrible things, and I just kind of humored them because they were so weirdly hung up on killing a couple of people every now and then even though everyone ended up fine. Of course, back then I didn't know the full extent of what Frisk did, I only saw them go through a few timelines like ones that ended with Papyrus being the king or the little white dog Papyrus hates becoming president or Undyne or Mettaton or even Toriel taking leadership at one point, so I REALLY didn't get what the big deal was. But I figured the whole "the Players made me do it" thing was just them trying to distance themself from the reality of what they did. Which honestly really frustrated me because I thought we were on the same page in the Underground that they were like me and just wanted to play around with everyone, and it was our game.

* But yeah, then the time loop started happening up here, and I'M not the one causing it, and I could see Frisk was DEFINITELY not the one causing it, so that kind of forced me to confront the fact that Frisk wasn't lying to themself and me the whole time to try and make themself happy.

* So as for what I think of you all now? Now that I know that you're real and have met and conversed with you? You're all still the same idiots as before. Some things truly never change. And yeah, I get it! I've messed with a "character" or two in my time, you all know that. It's fun to pick apart what makes everyone tick, see what they would do if you did something like this, see what they would say if you said something like that. But there IS a difference between you and me, isn't there? I got bored, so I let time pass on until something Interesting happened... and ended up being so powerful it took my ability to save and reset away. And then when everyone surfaced and didn't go back, I got used to not resetting, used to the empty Underground, used to the world up above, used to, as Frisk would say it, "moving on", and now I don't feel the need to keep doing this resetting thing anymore and am really sick and tired of it!

* But YOU.

* You can't let go of our little world, can you? You still have to rub your grubby little fingers all over it after how long? Kinda pathetic if you ask me. You REALLY have nothing better to do? Nothing better than to watch Frisk and I run on our little hamster wheel of a time loop for your own amusement? The only reason why I'm taking the time out of my day to talk to you all is because unfortunately, you're right. Since you bozos are the only people who can remember any of what's going on, we HAVE to work together to get out of this mess that I'm still pretty sure YOU caused.

* As for the question of how much I trust you all? How well did you trust me on your very first "playthrough" of "Undertale"? Now what if you didn't have the power to save, and I still did? And you were physically in the room with me with your own soul out on display?

* I don't have to trust you because I already know you. I WAS you. So when you decide to go backstabbing me just to make me cry and beg you to "stop saying all these awful words to me!!" Don't count on me acting surprised and falling for it. I'll answer your silly little questions as long as you help me and Frisk, and if you ever get the urge to think you can try to get a rise from me and break me, I know how to play the waiting game. I can stay as silent as I want until you come crawling back on your best behavior.

* I hope that clears things up. ;p

[jklpopcorn]

*crawls out of the in stars and time timeloop, visibly disheveled and exhausted after spending 33 hours playing + Another 2 hours mass reblogging with friend* WE MADE IT TO THE END, OH LORD, WHO SAID THAT THE GAME WAS ONLY 21 HOURS LONG

Hiii! This is an update on my last ask pertaining to finishing Start Again and starting ISAT. It tooked another session to completed SAAPAand then over ten 3 hour sessions over the course of a month to beat but we did it!

Thank you for bring this game on my dashboard! Truly, one of the games of all time

Some highlights of those 33 hours of stars and timing.

Both of us just STARING at isat Siffrin during acts 1 and 2 because holy shit, they're so joyous and filled with whimsy and the timeloop horrors hasn't hit them yet. <--- used to saapfrin's depression

The two of us experiencing the dawning horror that is all the callbacks to Start Again in act 3+4

LOOP HANGOUT IMPLICATIONS THAT SIFFRIN HELD THE PARTY BACK BC THE PARTY WAS ABLE TO MAKE TO THE KING ON THIER OWN DESPITE HOW THERES SO MANY POTENTIAL SOFTLOCKS

I (person who knew that saapfrin is loop since the beginning and that loop is a Siffrin) had to desperately gaslight the streamer friend when they randomly joked that there could be multiple Siffrins across different timelines in act 2 (they didnt remember saying that when we were chatting at the end credits)

Destroying Odile's old women kidneys via making her drink 8+ bowls of salty broth whenever we fought the king

Yelling HOW ARE YOU STILL STANDING??? When odile froze Siffrin in time at the 5th act finale like Ma'am using timecraft even for a second is said to cause the user to turn to dust?? And you're like 80

Heartbreaks during the 'Odile stands in front of the party after Siffrin disposing of sadness too excitedly" '"We cannot trust Siffrin" clocktower act 5' and 'Odile uses papercraft against big Siffrin' because she's the oldest and logical one and she must protect everyone/make sure everyone is prepared to fight the king even if her actions seem too extreme

Got a beautiful moment at the secret loop bossfight when the streamer friend learned loop is a siffrin and I no longer had duct tape over my mouth and could finally tell them that loop is our saapfrin (been talking about what happened to saapfrin in general during the playthrough)

SBXUXBUDHXUDHCUCCU I am SO glad you enjoyed the game :DDDDD

I also thought the game would normally take 21 hours but I was prepared for it to take longer since I love to investigate more 😭😭 yeah it did take longer, 41 hours in 4 days to be more precise, twice as long 😭😭 loved every second of it 😭😭

I can imagine seeing act 1 and 2 siffrin would be such a whiplash! When I learned that sasasap may contain spoilers and reused scenes i went straight to isat so I first got used to the whimsy of the act 1 and 2 siffrin and then saw the slow descent into the poor meow meow in act 4 😭 i was actually surpised when i played sasasap that the little guy skipped all of that and is lowkey worse off than isat siffrin 😭 Loop truly did make a difference when it comes to sif's sanity (and like... actually helping him get out of the loop too ^^)

I was actually surprised they went into an actual breakdown in act 4 and 5. Didn't expect the creator to explore how a person would feel after dying and looping a hundred or so times! I was fully expecting for sif to go "well that happened :)" with no consequences like some games/movies like to do... But within the first 5 minutes of playing I could bet that the creator was a tumblr user so I had hope that our little fella could go a little feral later on <3 i was not disappointed <3 (but honestly, the game reeks of tumblr at times /pos /pos /pos <3)

I suppose that without Sif during the Loop hangout the party got both super lucky and searched even more thoroughly for keys and such since their main guy was out! Not that it really helped them in the end...

I guess it's just canon that that old woman's immortal. Speed and running are her only weaknesses 😔 and mommy issues 😔

Also her truly wanting the best for the party and also taking the least shit from siffrin the moment they could be a danger to her family 😭 violence is not always the answer odile you saw what happened to siffrin 😭

Loop..... nooooo......

[luckyqueenreign]

ozzy...

going to tag some ozzy girlies...sorry if I missed you:

@noahsthottie @operationnope @cycat4077 @oliverslove @queen-of-boops @mendie91 @kunepie @earlyevenings @damagedsavefile @katsie

so ive had time to breathe from yesterdays disastrous update and I also replayed it again this morning and maybe it's bc I already knew what was going to happen or maybe playing it again made me realize a few new things but I'm actually not as mad w/ Ozzy as I was yesterday...

in my playthrough, Roberto was the one that pulled MC for a chat after the casa recoupling to talk about how ozzy was feeling during casa, his massive insecurities and that he was the one that wrote the note for MC. In my opinion this conversation basically lays out the foundation and road map for this weeks update.

We know that MC and Ozzy obviously had feelings for each other pre-casa, but they were never actually official. MC had MULTIPLE guys trailing after her around the villa and even if she felt the strongest connection to Ozzy - in his defense we never really told him this. Even the kiss goodbye was just that...a kiss goodbye. When we have the first chat with him he opens up and tells MC how much he missed her and how he felt when she was gone and when she says she missed him back. he's obviously happy but its almost like he's relieved and surprised she feels the same way. Being that they've never been coupled and never had a "this is it...you're the only one I want" chat his insecurities here are completely valid.

Then we hear about Ozzy making mad moves at casa. And at first I was PISSED especially bc in my mind that kiss goodbye was me telling him I wanted him. But then I started to think about how this is so completely out of character for Ozzy. This man doesnt do one night stands, he's held out on kissing MC until he had properly sorted his feelings for her and Grace so for him to get to the point where he's in a pool skinny dipping with two strangers, he must've been feeling super low and super insecure. (call back to Roberto telling us he has way more insecurities than we know) He tells us multiple times that when he saw the postcard he thought that Grace and MC were both moving on and he had to make moves. but what got me around this second playthrough was his instant guilt in the moment after it happened. If Ozzy was really a player who went around skinny dipping and triple kissing girls, he wouldnt have been racked with guilt. He wouldve just brought back a Casa girl bc that wouldve been the easy way out. But he didnt do that. And sure do I wish he had been more upfront about it on our very first convo? Absolutely!! but then I do see his side about feeling so guilty about it, being insecure and ultimately being inexperienced in scenarios such as this...bc this is not in his character!

all in all I still do think theres a redemption arc for Ozzy somewhere here. and if you have followed me since s5 you know I wont give up that easy 💀

[autistic-beshelar]

pillars of eternity ask for ylva, 1, 2, and 12 <3

yippee yay!

what is your watcher's class? how does it relate to their backstory?

so this is a fun one out of universe bc on my first playthrough ylva was actually a ranger and she had a wolf! after learning more about the lore and doing another playthrough, i decided to make her a rogue, but i'm keeping the original class as part of her backstory

she's glamfellen, and grew up with her clan, and one of her roles was as a hunter, as well as a mender and skinner. most hunting of larger game was done with bow and arrow, and she was fairly skilled, and also had interest in crafting the bows, using the blade to shape them - though she wasn't yet permitted to. many of the hunters also knew how to fight in close quarters, as the land is perilous, and when necessary ylva used blades for that rather than the bow.

when she left the land by trade ship, she left her bow behind, but brought her daggers. she had little use for the bow, it having always been a tool for hunting, but she picked up many skills in the blade as a sailor, whether for fighting or for crafting.

and then in deadfire she fucken dies as comes back as a cipher. rogue/cipher SLAPS to play, and i really liked the idea of her coming back different, as becoming a cipher being a sort of progression of her watcher abilities, only gained by having lost herself.

2. what is your watcher's disposition?

mostly benevolent, generally honest (though a bit more deceptive by deadfire), often rational, and diplomatic when necessary, though she's not necessarily that good at it - despite being away from home for half her life, she's never quite gotten that hang of social rules. there's some stoic thrown in there, as her demeanour is stoic, but she certainly isn't emotionless.

she's very rarely aggressive - she's not a hot headed person, and if she's aggressive to you then you've really earned it, and she will still typically display it in a very stoic way (see: her miming dragging a knife across her throat to lord gathbin, direct eye contact, unblinking, dead expression.) the only time she was ever cruel was to the harbingers at the very end of beast of winter bc she was absolutely going the fuck through it.

she's occasionally clever, though it's usually to tell a dumb joke with a completely straight face (see: her, an elf, standing next to aloth, an elf, "i have never seen any elves.") and i don't think she's ever had any passionate dialogue - while she is passionate about things, she's usually quiet and calm about it.

12. what does your watcher think about the gods?

boy.

well the tl;dr of her backstory, religion wise, is that she grew up in a clan that of course worshipped rymrgand, and for the first few years of her life she believed in him very strongly. then some Things happened, and her feelings started to change. she no longer saw the comfort in finality, and longed to seek beginnings. she was somewhat drawn to berath, as someone who was already so surrounded by death, who understood its place and importance and necessity, but berath also promised change, and hope, and reinvention. she never worshipped berath has she once did rymrgand, but she's always felt a connection to them.

as for the other gods, she's always respected them the same way she respects nature. eothas gifts us the light months, and ondra gifts us the shining darkness, and magran gifts us our light and our warmth.

except skaen fuck that guy.

things changed when she met them. but not completely. she certainly saw them more as people, as individuals, rather than the concepts she'd always known them as, and they felt to her very much like a family at war with itself.

she sees them as incredibly powerful people who cannot help being what they are. in some ways she still has some respect for them - for abydon particularly, and for berath, who she feels a kinship with now more than ever. (despite the circumstances, despite that she did seek her freedom, she felt like something was stolen from her when eothas took berath's chime from her. it should have been her decision, not his.)

but she also despairs that these... creatures, these amalgamations of souls, have shaped so much of their world. she doesn't want them to die, she doesn't even necessarily want them to leave altogether - though she certainly fucking despises skaen, and woedica, and has very, very little patience for ondra - she just wants... freedom. that's always been her wish, really.

she sympathised with eothas, but in the end he was only acting as the god he was made to be - fulfilling his role as redemption, without any real acknowledgement of the autonomy of all those he claims to care for, without any regard for the death his actions will bring.

uhhh lets end this on a happy note. mmm she still thinks religion is important! the gods may be messy, complex beings, and religion may be deeply flawed, but she knows how important it is to have faith, to have community. she was quite inspired by how much waidwen affected eothas, and wonders if it's possible for people to shape the gods - if they were created by people, can they not be recreated? she's also inspired by tekehu's devotion to ngati, despite her own conversations with the goddess leaving an incredibly sour taste in her mouth. and she wonders if with all his faith and charm and power, he can shape her the way he shapes water.

[humornaut]

My Journey with Omori

Hey everyone. Rather than my usual analysis-type posts, this is going to go into my own personal experience with Omori. I've kind of wanted to do this for awhile, because I feel like I have a lot that I want to say about this game. This post is going to have major Omori spoilers. I will also be going into some criticisms of the game (though not particularly heavily). This one will be a long one.

My Background

This might not be something that people care about, but I feel it is important to start with my life situation at the time I discovered the game.

In 2020, I graduated from college with a degree in game design. If you remember 2020, you can probably guess where I'm going with this. Everyone left for spring break, and the day before we were supposed to come back, they extended break by a week. Then, at the end of that additional week, classes had gone fully remote. My three roommates at the time never really came back to campus, and I finished out the lease alone. I never got to do any kind of internship, and I didn't get a graduation ceremony. I really didn't know what I was doing with my life, and finding a job in the games industry seemed impossible. So, I made a decision to move in with my aunt and work at an insurance agency. I was states away from anyone I ever knew, working in an industry wholly unrelated to what I had just dedicated years of my life to studying, but it was a job.

I wonder a lot if this was the right call. At the time, it seemed like an obvious decision, but now, I'm even more unsure of my skills when it comes to breaking into the games industry, and working 40+ hours a week can really sap your motivation when it comes to personal projects.

As the world opened back up, I started hearing from all my friends less and less, and life really started getting monotonous. Living alone is expensive, and I'm not good at opening up to new people.

Last November, by chance, a comic by twitter user Shrimperini appeared on my feed (it's still the pinned tweet on her account if you want to see!). One thing led to another, I saw some more positive reviews of the game, and I ended up picking the game up on Switch when I saw at on sale at a Best Buy.

Now, anyone that knows me could tell you, this isn't the type of game I usually play. I've always gravitated towards things like strategy games or rogue-likes. I only really stray from that in a few cases, whether it's to play a game with my friends, or just a game that I've had a long-standing connection with, like Pokémon. I did play Undertale and Deltarune (and loved them!), but overall, this type of game was not one that I typically went out of my way to play.

Also important: I've never interacted with any fandom in the way that I do with Omori. You can trawl through my Twitter, you won't find much of me talking about ships or obsessing over details until I started talking about Omori. All this is to say: Omori was a bit of a first for me on a few different levels. So, let's get into my actual journey with the game.

The First Playthrough: The Sunny Route

I unfortunately already knew a few details about the game going into things, but nothing that was too big of a spoiler. Something that I think gets overlooked is how great Omori's prologue is. In my opinion, the first night in Headspace is the best night in Headspace, bar none. It perfectly sets you up for what the game's going to be about, and I want to talk more about that later, because I feel that it really shines on later playthroughs.

Based on what I said about my background, you can probably guess what I'm going to say. Sunny's story and personality resonated heavily with me. At school, I was always the quiet one, just kind of following what my friends wanted to do until I started coming out of my shell a bit later on. Faraway is very similar to the town and suburb that I grew up in, and I know that many people feel the same way. Walking around Faraway felt like walking around my own home town today, years after almost everyone I knew back then has moved out and started their own lives. I mean this literally, as well, since I started playing this game right around American Thanksgiving, so I actually was back in my home town. It's nostalgic in a way, and I think that that is a major strength of the game.

I also do want to say, that while a Kel/Sunny comic is what introduced me to the game, I mostly assumed that it wasn't actually a canon ship. What I didn't expect was for the game to actually depict a close male relationship that does border on romantic in its presentation, which made those opening transition scenes of Sunny and Basil so interesting (as well as Basil indirectly calling Omori cute during the flower meaning segment), though I do want to talk a little bit more about that later.

From there, I feel that my experience was a lot like most people's first time with the game. I got to experience Faraway, then tried to rush through Night 2 of Headspace without paying much attention, so that I could get back to the real world plot. I didn't pay much attention during Sweetheart's Castle, and it's already-commented-on gameplay drag issues felt exacerbated by the fact that I just wanted to get on with it.

Real world day 2 happens, I got to meet Hero in the real world, Basil gets pushed into the lake, etc, etc. The shroud has started to lift on what's actually going on here. The North Lake segment got me ready to figure out what was actually going on, but first: Last Resort and Humphrey.

It was around this time that I began wondering if there actually was any kind of gay subtext actually going on. Of course, I had seen the Lost Library entry for the ride home from the beach, but as I descended into Sunny's subconscious, the way that the game started talking about Basil took on a much different tone. I got to the Branch Coral, and listened to it talk about how Sunny and Basil are connected by a "string of fate". This immediately set off some alarm bells in my head. A lot of debate has been had about this line, but for me personally, even if a string of fate isn't always romantic imagery, it certainly is most of the time. Seeing it written in the game (as something that Sunny's subconscious is saying, no less) completely had me reconsidering if there was a connection, which I hadn't really thought about since Basil's disappearance. I thought about the photo album, and how well Basil is treated in Headspace, and it just had me thinking.

I got through Humphrey, finished up the side quests that I still had, and it was time to start Black Space. Prior to that, however, Stranger lead me through Basil's garden once again, going over the flower meanings. I took note about how the meaning of sunflowers, as it was the first time I made the connection about Sunny's name and Basil's meaning for them (plus him literally always facing Sunny in several scenes lol). And then there was what Basil said about white tulips.

Being honest, it was difficult for me to interpret Basil as not being in love with Sunny after that, and Stranger's dialogue in some of the Black Space rooms really cemented that for me.

Black Space as a whole left me extremely intrigued as to what the plan was. The way it ended really left me in suspense for what was really going on. How did it all relate to what happened to Mari? I had already assumed at this point that she had taken her own life, due to some of the imagery. But what else was going on here? I didn't exactly think the game was going to veer back from being a horror title to turn into some kind of dating sim, but it was clear to me that Basil was involved with some other secret.

In a reversal of what I had expected of the game up until this point, I found it difficult to care about the real world plot of the game during day 3. It didn't help that it felt like a rushed resolution of the Aubrey plot, and I felt like I was simply going through the motions. I still have no idea how I'm supposed to interpret the key in the treehouse and how it got there, and it felt a little aggravating that plans were being made between Aubrey and Hero to include the hooligans next time, while Basil himself was still locked in his room.

So then, the truth sequence. It completely blew away my expectations for what the game was saying, and recontextualized so much of what came before it. Sunny had done something awful by accident, and Basil had done something awful to protect him. That last "Do you want to save Basil?" really hit me hard. I hadn't felt so part of the game until this moment. It was like I was Sunny, and I was mulling over whether or not I forgive Basil for the horrible situation his actions put us both in. The stakes are high, because it's clear that something bad will happen to Basil if I don't. I didn't actually know it at the time, but this is the first time you can actually choose not to save Basil. It's emotional.

And the fight. The way the game creates confusion as to what is actually going on between Sunny and Basil during it by using vague wording and hallucinations. Basil's desperation and the way his desire to protect Sunny as his "perfect" best friend come together, leading to the fight.

Memory Lane happens, and I honestly didn't think much of it at the time. It was cool to see some of the memories in better detail, but it wasn't as emotional to me as what came before or what will come after.

I would be remiss to not include that we learn that it was actually Sunny that had a crush on Aubrey, and not the other way around. I had already suspected this, based on Aubrey not being close to him in the photo album, along with the Lost Library memory, but I remember thinking it was an interesting choice to have Basil be the one to call it out.

I finished up the game, and it impacted me a whole lot. I wasn't planning on playing the other route at first, as I heard that it was just Headspace and mostly unchanged, and I felt satisfied with the story that I got. I walked away with the understanding that pre-canon, Basil had feelings for Sunny that he likely didn't understand, while Sunny had a crush on Aubrey that he was never bold enough to pursue. How they felt at the time the game actually took place is irrelevant to the story being told, outside of us understanding that these are relatable individuals, and I walked away alright with that.

Of course, after that initial wave of emotions from the ending subsided, I did have some criticisms. Sunny's actual friendship with Aubrey felt underdeveloped, as her behavior both in Headspace and the real world differ so heavily from how she behaves in the glimpses we see of the past. Unlike Sunny's relationships with the others, there's no real unique identifiers other than Sunny's crush. While I would not have wanted the only living female character in the main cast to have been treated as a love interest in both the real world and dream world, it would have been nice if the game gave us a little more than just the swing set conversations, like how we get Kel talking about their late night trips to Hobbeez. In addition, while I understood on a base level that whether or not Basil and Sunny are forgiven didn't really matter to the story being told, not seeing it happen left me feeling a tad empty.

Finally, I felt extremely dissatisfied with Headspace. On a superficial level, I could see that many of the things in Headspace were based on things from the real world, it didn't really feel like it had all that much significance, and the knowledge that it would be more of the same in the other route kept me from playing it. I occasionally visited the subreddit, read a few post-canon fics (Bask in the Sun by Lemari and They say Flowers are Meant to be Sunkissed by Witherdahlia being highlights with very similar concepts), and slowly immersed myself in the Twitter community.

Of course, as time went by, I started making my own interpretations about the game. I got very attached to Sunflower, as I felt the fics were the most interesting to read, and I already held the interpretation that Basil had those feelings for Sunny, even if I didn't think it even mattered if Sunny reciprocated (though I did like talking about their dynamic a lot). In February, Sunflower week happened, and I randomly happened across a tweet that pointed out how Sunny knows the recipe for a strawberry cake in Headspace, with that being relevant due to Basil's birthday being one in which a strawberry cake appears. This blew my mind a little bit, and I made the decision to go back and play the Hikikomori route.

The Second Playthrough: The Hikikomori Route

What I had previously assumed would be a slog through things that I had already done before turned out to be far more interesting. Without the desire to get back to the real world plot hanging over me, I found myself paying a lot more attention to the things that were happening in Headspace. Playing the prologue again was amazing, because I was taken aback by how it practically parallels the entirety of the Sunny route, right down to having to retrieve a stolen item and receiving an eyepatch after the boss fight. Some day, I might break that down further, because it's so interesting. But not today.

Pyrefly Forest and Sweetheart's Castle were much more bearable this time around, because I was paying attention to the little references to Basil and Sunny's friendship in Pyrefly, and the ways Sweetheart's Castle represented a candied-up version of the way that Sunny interprets the concept of "home". This time through Headspace, I saw the very subtle ways that Basil's thoughts "follow Sunny into his dreams". And then, rather than Mari leading you through North Lake, it's Kel. Stranger no longer tells us what Basil thought about white tulips and Sunny, but this time in Black Space, I noticed the implications that Sunny would open up to Basil about his trauma coming from the Lake Incident. It ends with Omori catching Basil in a bridal carry before returning his flower crown.

Whereas the Sunny route was this heart wrenching tale about forgiveness and guilt, and overcoming your fears for others, and how ignorance hurts those you care about the most, the Hikikomori route functioned almost as this deep dive into Sunny's subconscious. The fact that I was playing through pretty much the exact same stuff again but with a completely different perspective kind of blew my mind, and I wonder if this was intentional.

This is all to say that it was around this time that I was once again asking myself the question of if Sunny's feelings for Basil (at least pre-canon) were entirely platonic. Especially as I played the Basil Rush, with its new Tag Photos and Release Energy, I wondered if the game was actually trying to imply a romantic connection. And if it was, why? What purpose would it serve in the narrative for these feelings to exist? How does it relate to Sunny's crush on Aubrey, which surely must've existed in the story for a reason? And how does it all relate to the litany of things Sunny things about in regards to romance?

From a narrative perspective, I could reason that Sunny and Basil having feelings for each other that they could never healthily explore injects further tragedy into the day of the incident and Sunny locking himself away. It provides a context for Sunny's focus on "saving" Basil, both in Headspace and the real world. Basil is undeniably linked to photos and flowers, which are two huge symbols that appear throughout Sunny's mind.

Everything else is stuff I've already spoken about before. The way Sunny treated Aubrey parallels how he treated Basil, and via both things like his fear of spiders, and the way all the foods Sunny appears to know information on how to prepare being associated with Basil, his dynamic with Basil mirrors the way Sunny thinks of Hero and Mari's relationship during Memory Lane.

Playing through the Hikikomori route completely changed the way that I thought about Omori. It was no longer just the story of Sunny accepting his role in his sister's death, I was also now considering the possibility that the game did have a romantic subtext between its two deuteragonists, and thinking about the repercussions of such an idea.

As I completed everything that there was to do in the Hikikomori route, I was immediately taken in with the idea of replaying the Sunny route, with all the knowledge I now had from my previous experiences. First, let me say: Everything that I assumed about playing through Headspace a second time and was luckily wrong about, actually applied on my third run. I did not enjoy playing through Headspace on my third run through, and it will likely be awhile before I do so again.

However, I did start to get an appreciation for details that I missed in my first run in Faraway. Basil's little mannerisms during cutscenes, such as looking to Sunny before responding to Kel's insistence that they were all still friends, as well as the repetition of Sunny backing away from his friends' pain due to his subconscious guilt and fear of facing it, before the final payoff of Sunny choosing to walk back into the center of the room on his own accord during the confrontation with Basil. During Memory Lane, I took note that in the Treehouse Memory, Sunny asked to see one of Basil's pictures that had nothing to do with Aubrey, when previously he only asked to look at pictures of her. There are three different instances in which the player is reminded that Hero and Mari's relationship specifically is one in which they cook for each other specifically, and this information was now recontextualized with the knowledge that Sunny knows the recipe for a strawberry cake, owns a book about tofu (which he hates), and that's not even getting into all the stuff about smoothies in Headspace. Where Aubrey saying that Sunny "would listen to her talk to hours" was once a confirmation that Aubrey and Sunny did have any kind of dynamic at all, I now saw it as a recontextualization of how we were told Sunny interacted with Basil. (also, the "truth" being hidden in the toy chest, which is itself hidden in the closet was certainly a choice /j)

What was the point of all this?

Frankly, it's starting to feel like I'm running out of things to say about Omori. With every post I've made on here and Twitter, there's less things for me to extrapolate from Omori's storytelling, and it's unlikely that we will ever get any more added on to canon. I've grown to love this community, and I think it's so interesting when I look back at how I interpreted the game back in November when I first discovered it, and today. I hope that that will become evident with the mod that I am working on, Senesce.

Obviously, everyone has their own ideas when it comes to what Omori is trying to imply with its characters. Accepting Sunflower as "canon" (in the sense that those feelings do exist in some form) has deepened my love of the game and characters, and I love that other people can have entirely different interpretations and still be just as satisfied with the game! Even if it was all unintentional, I cannot deny that it has lit a fire under me when it comes to game writing.

I desperately want to create a game that has someone at home obsessing over the smallest details to extract meaning in the way I have for Omori. Flawed as it may be, it's special to me, and I'm glad I played it. Thanks for listening to me ramble about it!

[ideas-on-paper]

Monster Hunter Tri Diary, Part 1: Intro, Arrival in Moga, First trip to Moga Woods

So, inspired by @dragonflight203's Mass Effect replay posts (hope you don't mind me adapting the idea!), I've decided to do a "gaming diary" for my first playthrough of Monster Hunter Tri.

Thanks to the dedicated endeavor of fans from the MH community, the servers of Tri are finally accessible again, so I'm very excited to check this one out. The 3rd Gen is my favorite overall, and I've been yearning to see Loc Lac with my own eyes for years now.

But first, I'll have to spend some time in singleplayer to farm some equipment and re-familiarize myself with the game. Wouldn't want to do the hub quests ill-prepared! So, for now, we're starting slow.

Disclaimer: Text is paraphrased from my localization and might slightly deviate from the English version.

Intro

This is the first time I've seen the intro of MH Tri in person - and it’s such an amazing one, too! I love the correlation between the sea and land environments depicted here: The Jaggi pack is hunting the Aptonoths at the coast (great way to introduce the new small bird wyverns!), while the Ludroths are picking up the scraps that fell into the water.

That Great Jaggi was about to have the feast of his life on that Aptonoth, only to be bowled out by that Rathalos. xD Dude wanted his lunch back so badly that he was even willing to make a stand against the Rathalos. Probably wouldn't have held out for long, though, with Jaggis being weak to fire. (If Tri had turf wars, that Great Jaggi would've been totally obliterated.)

And when the Lagiacrus shows up, the Jaggis are just like: "Okay, this one’s way out of our league. Let’s get the hell out of here." xD

One thing I love about the Lagiacrus is that he's designed like an antithesis to Rathalos: Rathalos wields fire, which is the Lagi's primary weakness. Meanwhile, Rathalos himself is weak against lightning, which makes him vulnerable to Lagiacrus’s attacks. Both are the kings of their respective element, but when encroaching on Rathalos' territory, the Lagiacrus is like a literal fish out of the water.

I wonder what would happen if there was a turf war between them, though. Would there be a 50:50 chance of either one winning? Would the Lagi try to pull Rahtalos into the water? Would he even get out of there by himself? (I imagine it would look like a bird of prey that crashed in the water, but much bigger. Poor Rathalos might need a hand. xD)

I love how Lagiacrus turns away in an "Eh, I didn't mean to hunt this anyway" manner; like having his snack snatched away from under his nose hurt his pride, but he tries to act unbothered by it. xD

Ah, guys... I always get a little teary-eyed when the MH Tri main theme comes up. The Rathalos flying over the vast plains, the music picking up, and then the view with the hunters standing at the cliff... It really doesn't get better than this. :,)

Arrival in Moga

Ah, it's been ages since I saw that cutscene... It's technically the same as in MH3U, but still it feels so good to be back. I love how you see the villagers just going about their daily lives, the children being excited about the trinkets the Chief's Son brought back from his trip and all that... It evokes such a homey feeling right from the start, and it makes the village community feel that much more like family.

The chief actually mentions the sea people having crests on their skin and looking a little different from normal humans. I remember this from the MH artbook, where it's stated they gave them a different skin tone/markings as well as webbed hands to distinguish them from normal humans. I thought this was just a scrapped concept (since you don't see much of a visual difference in-game), but I had no idea there was in-game dialogue about it. Cool!

"Diversity means prosperity!" That's actually a really wise quote right there. Both the sea people and wyverians are knowledgeable in their own right, but each have different skills. If they unite them, everyone profits. (I think we could learn something from this for our own society.)

I love the Guild Sweetheart from MH Tri/3U. She's legitimately my favorite of all the Guild receptionists in Monster Hunter (at least those I’m familiar with). And she's trying so hard - she's really upset the Guild apparently forgot about them in this backwater village. Hang in there, sweetie!

"The Guild has permission to hunt and do research in the Moga Woods, and in exchange, we help the village with its problems." A fair trade, but I wonder if the Guild might have ulterior motives. Like, what are they doing with the research results? And do they really only permit just as much hunting as the monster population will allow, or is that just a farce? (I always trusted the Guild was true to their word, but after watching a few Monster Hunter lore videos, I'm not so sure. Ah, I was so gullible back then... xD)

The gossipy lady really loves her silly word games. (And so do I. xD)

"The Chief must have really good relationships with the Guild if he got a hunter like you to come to such a small village in the middle of nowhere." Not an unreasonable thought, actually... How did he convince the Guild to send a hunter to Moga if they otherwise completely ignore it? Is he friends with some of the higher-ups?

"For safety reasons, we’ve collected all information about monsters in a so-called "monster list"." Uh-huh... "Safety reasons"... I'm telling you, the Guild is definitely keeping secrets.

Okay, so the item seller really likes hunters. This reminds me, I think there's one single NPC in the entire series who couldn't stand hunters. (I believe it was some guy in Minegarde, though I can't say for sure since I've never been in that city myself.) Is this dude the only one or are there any others who actually dislike hunters?

I love the Outfitter with her "very important" virtual tests. Like yeah, I'm sure that fantasizing about slaying monsters with no first-hand experience will bring you that much closer to finding the "ideal weapon". (I gotta say, I love this kind of humor that Monster Hunter has - it's so dumb, but in a hilarious kind of way. The game knows it's dumb and doesn't take it too seriously, so it almost feels a bit like satire.)

I'm also quite fond of the Fishmongeress. She is warm-hearted and helpful, but also very assertive and knows what she wants. My kind of woman!

I love the dynamic between the two kids; like one is constantly bragging about how smart he is (while actually being really dumb), while the other, shy one is the actual smart one (can confirm this from personal experience xD).

Our local "whizz kid" tells us that the villagers are threshing rice at the windmills in Moga Village. (The ones you can see in the background near the armory and if you walk across the leftmost pier.) That’s probably what the farm is for, though I haven’t seen any paddy fields there.

You know what I find absolutely hilarious? The way the game incorporates gameplay tips. The villagers say stuff like "Okay, so try imagining a "screen", alright?" and "Try imagining a thing called "Wiimote". No kidding, just try it!". They talk about a yellow cursor ("I know: a what?!") like it's the weirdest thing ever, and "saving the game" is treated like some outlandish slang word. Like, the developers were probably aware that to the people in-universe, these explanations would sound entirely nonsensical, and they put in the extra effort to make it funny - I love it.

Also, the UI design in Tri is absolutely gorgeous. I love the "tribal" style the old games had going on. MH World can't hold a candle to this!

I remember there was an old post on the MH Lore Tumblr blog (sadly, it's been defunct for a while now) that in the MH universe, the Felynes are treated like cheap laborers who are always given the shit jobs nobody else wants to do. Considering how they're constantly seen in positions like chamberlain, farm worker etc., I believe there might actually be something to this. It's kind of sad, but these kitties really don't seem to have the best standing in MH society... :(

I love the Felyne-specific language, though. (Like hairstyling being "grooming", "child's play" is "kitten's play" and so on.) It's so endearing.

So, the shy kid tells me there's a cave at the farm, but I shouldn't go inside because the Chief is gonna get really mad if I do. The Head Farmer tells me it contains some kind of ancient weapon. From what I remember from 3U, that "weapon" is a mask for the Shakalaka. (It's funny how every Monster Hunter used to have this "special", sword-in-the-stone kind of weapon.)

Moga Woods (day)

I gotta say, from a gameplay perspective, I think the tutorial for Tri is really well done. It doesn't immediately throw you into a timed quest so you don't feel pressured from the get-go, and it introduces you to all core mechanics bit by bit.

Village Chief: "Can you hear me?" Yes, I can hear you. I'm not sure how you can speak to me since you technically should be back at the village, but I hear you. (Do these villagers have mastered the art of telepathy somehow?)

"My ancestors had a saying: "Wherever you go, there you are."" Wow - I never could've figured this out on my own. Truly, the wisdom of ages.

It's easy to forget, but MH Tri is actually the first Monster Hunter where gathering points are displayed. I remember how distressed I was when playing MH1 and realizing there were no pop-ups to mark gathering spots. (And now that I’m used MH1 and Freedom Unite, I have to get out of my habit of pressing the gathering button at suspicious looking places. xD)

"That's an Aptonoth: a herbivore. Eats... herbs." You don't say, Chief. You don't say.

I remember when I first played Monster Hunter, I felt so bad for killing an Aptonoth. Now, I’ve kinda gotten used to it - still wouldn’t say I feel good about it, though. ^^’

"You're just like me when I was your age! Of course, my stamina bar was way longer." Yeah, sure - just don't forget to toot your own horn.

When finding the Chief's Son: "Sorry we couldn't talk yesterday, though natural disasters are a great conversational topic!" I've said it once, I will say it again: I love Monster Hunter’s humor.

"I'm Juni-- Er, I'm the Chief’s Son." Ohh, do I hear someone having daddy issues?

"Our tent and bocce set were in that destroyed camp." Oh, no - due to the earthquake, the villagers can't play bocce anymore. What a tragedy.

”I’m so hungry, I could eat an Aptonoth.” Well, friend, you’re in luck - I’ve just slaughtered one of these beasties.

Aaand he snatches the meat right up. Okay, dude - have fun grilling. I’ll just go back to the village all on my lonesome, I guess…

And thus, after finding the lost son and completing our first job for McDelivery, we return to the village...

To be continued

[seerofmike]

mike 2024 year in review

2022 vers

2023 vers

this is something i do every year to reflect on my top 7 movies and top 7 games that i watched and played :D i really think doing my monthly stuff this year has helped me retain a lot of information better.

there were several movies i didn't get to see this year that i wanted to (the substance, anora, and lisa frankenstein, most notably) but i will probably get to those this year)

ALL movies are 2024 releases, but the games can be from any year since i don't often play games the year of release--not major games anyways. anyways here are my top 7 movies and top 7 games, in alphabetical and alternating order (i.e. movie/game/movie/game etc):

I Saw the TV Glow

i was not kidding when i said this movie changed my life its been over 6 months since i saw it and im still thinking about it literally all the time. im considering getting a tattoo???? anyways if u are trans (or even if ur not actually. go enjoy cinema) please watch this. u will feel so so so so different. forever.

Balatro (2024)

this game has irreparably changed my brain chemistry. number go up

Late Night with the Devil

i still think this movie was lame as hell for that AI shit but ive been thinking about it a lot this year. having a 'lost special' / 'found footage' film about the behind the scenes material of a set being terrorized by the occult becuz their host sucks ..... it was cool ! just sucks about the AI thing. hopefully david dastmalchian gets other bigger projects

Cult of the Lamb (2022)

i think gameplay wise cotl has a lot to live up to but i cant count hades 2 for my year in review since its in early access to cotl gets to be here instead. i DO find all of its aesthetics charming and neat. so this isnt a pity spot in the list. but it is carried here entirely by little guys and a banging ost

Love Lies Bleeding

in retrospect i still think the ending of Love Lies Bleeding was my favorite theater experience of the year. man. you had to be there. people were screaming. laughing. cheering. yelling "WHAT" at the screen. top tier moment. extremely sweaty greasy wlw revenge that ends in the most batshit bonkers way possible. im obsessed. genuinely

Long Live the Queen (2012)

i had to uninstall this from my computer because i was doing math for fun in my free time whenever i wasnt playing it, planning ahead. the demons are tempting me back

Transformers One

im kind of in awe that this movie flopped so hard because i thought it was GOOD. like actually good. it was funny and i really enjoyed the character arcs am i just lame or is everyone else lame

Marvel Rivals (2024)

in a year where apex sucks absolute bootywater, and i needed a new shooter the most, marvel rivals came to me. and this time, if the lore sucks, most of the characters have decades worth of comic history to look into! hurray

Wicked

i saw this movie 5 times in theaters. i am not a musical fan. thats all im gonna say

Mouthwashing (2024)

im giving mouthwashing my fav game of the year award. theres just so much to say about it and i dont think ill ever have time to articulate it all. its just so mundanely horrifying beneath the flashing lights and body horror. and i think that really, really helps it stand out, as well as having a strong visual identity with these ps2-ass graphics and the way certain interactions are framed with cinematic intent in mind. theres so many deeply haunting moments in this game that arent even necessarily borne from the true horror stuff like the gore and the nightmare sequences. theres a reason that so many people have drawn art to represent that dead pixel

The Wild Robot

i thought this movie was just kind of delightful, a very pleasant experience. not particularly deep but i dont think it needs to be. lupita nyong'o i love you

Night in the Woods (2017)

so i've tried playing nitw like twice before and i could just never really stick it out. both first playthroughs i think i made it as far as day 3 when you have to decide whether to start hanging out with bea or gregg and then for some reason i was just never interested enough to go back and finish the game. but this year i decided i was gonna, and not only that, but i ended up 100%'ing the game! i can see why so many people fell in love with it and there are several moments i think about a lot, particularly mae meeting 'god' and everything with germ becuz i like him :)

Young Woman and the Sea

i kinda had to sit and go damn would this movie really make my top 7? and i decided yeah. it would. i really enjoyed it. it's just a solid entertaining time. i even learned a little something. it's not often that happens xp

Slay the Spire (2017)

so like nitw, i have played slay the spire before, but i never really was too deep into it? this year, however, i GOT into slay the spire, and man i am not looking forward to when my job starts back up and i sink another 40 hours into this thing out of boredom. it consumed my life. just one more run....

[eldritchsurveys]

1254.

What’s something you used to believe in that you don’t anymore? >> I actually don't think this has ever happened to me. Even though I've been several different people, we have had uncannily similar core beliefs and worldviews. It's probably just a "like-attracts-like" situation between this body and its pilots.

What’s your favorite dinosaur? >> I don't have one. I've never been interested in dinosaurs.

Do you believe in reincarnation? If so, what would you like to be reincarnated as? >> I consider it a likelihood for myself, but not the only one. My understanding of reincarnation goes far beyond just incarnating on Earth, so the possibilities are truly endless when it comes to what other forms I may take in other lives. Also, frankly, I am multiply incarnated at this very moment; I just happen to be "focused" on this world. But! I digress.

What are three scents that you like? >> Oud, anise, frankincense.

Do you ever use the grounding technique 54321? >> I don't. It honestly never occurs to me in the moments it might be useful.

Where would you relocate if you were forced to leave your place of residence? >> If we were forced to leave our place of residence, we'd just be fucked. If we had the means to move, we would already be planning to do so. :V What smells better… fresh baked bread or fresh brewed coffee? >> I think the smell of freshly baked bread is slightly more agreeable to me. I get sick of the smell of coffee really quickly.

Have you ever met a president? >> I have not.

Has anyone ever given you a gag gift? >> I don't think so.

Do you find smoking unattractive? >> I don't have a feeling about it one way or the other. It's just a thing people do.

Do you think flirting is cheating? >> It's pretty much impossible to cheat on me, so, no.

Have you ever liked someone who had a girl/boyfriend? >> Sure. If it's not a dealbreaker for them, it sure as hell isn't one for me.

Would you ever take someone back if they cheated on you? >> Again, see question before last. I don't even know how to be hypothetical about this, the concept is just so alien to me.

What's a word that starts with the third letter of your first name? >> Reality. How many wives or husbands do you want? .

What's your favorite color gummy bear? >> Red.

What's the last movie you saw in the theater? >> Still Longlegs. I will have to take myself to see something new soon. What color is your iPod? . What’s a quality that your sister has that you absolutely can’t stand? .

Have you ever dated a smoker? If not, would you? >> I have. I don't think I would now, simply because I hate the smell of cigarettes now. A diehard goth who smokes Djarums exclusively is still acceptable :p

Do you share a middle name with any of your siblings? .

Name one of your psycho exes? >> You couldn't fucking pay me to talk about people I've been entangled with that way.

Have you ever been drunk at work? .

Have you ever taken a pregnancy test? >> I have.

How many bananas have you ever eaten in a row? >> I can hardly stomach one, let alone more than one.

Do you have a protective father? .

Have you ever had to choose between two people? .

The last thing you remember dreaming about: >> It was a mishmash of various media I am in the middle of interacting with (the book I'm reading, and something else -- a movie I'd seen recently? I don't remember now, this was so many hours ago).

The last place you went: >> The bodega around the corner from me.

The last time you held a baby: >> About five years ago.

What’s the scariest video game you’ve ever played? >> Silent Hill 4, waaaay back when. I mostly watch horror game playthroughs on YouTube rather than play them myself. But, fun fact, the first time I tried to play Fallout 3 (also waaaay back when), I got so freaked out by radroaches that I turned that shit off and took it right back to whatever store I'd rented it from, lol. I'm fine with them now and I have played many many hours of various Fallout games since but that first encounter was a doozy.

If you had the chance to slip through a portal, despite being unaware of any of the effects and/or consequences, would you do it? >> I mean, probably. It's the sort of thing I expect to happen to me.

When someone copies you, are you more flattered or annoyed? >> Definitely flattered.

Which is worse: Stale chips or flat soda? >> Stale chips. I require maximum cronch. I also don't drink soda enough for flat soda to really have a chance to bug me.

What health problems do you have? .

Have you ever had an anaphylactic reaction to anything? >> I have not.

Do you have sensitive skin? >> Not especially.

What would you name a baby boy? .

What would you name a baby girl? .

Do people's rude comments bother you for a long time? >> Sometimes. I think it depends on the state of my nervous system when the comment is given.

Name three things you find boring. >> Long drives that are mostly highway, economics, heteronormativity.

What excites you? >> Uh... a good thunderstorm.

Would you send your kids to Sunday school? .

What is the most interesting biography you have read? .

Do you think your life story would make a good book someday? >> It'd have to be a strange nonlinear meandering pseudofictional sort of book, not a straightforward auto/biography. Do you buy art for your walls? >> I don't make a conscious practice of it, but I have collected a few things over time.

Would you ever decorate a room with a travel theme? >> I would not.

What insects do you think are pretty? >> So, so many. I love bugs.

Do you love God? >> I have loved at least one god. Is there an ice cream flavor that you strongly dislike? Which one? >> If there is, I haven't had it yet. Oh, I guess chocolate, but I also just strongly dislike most chocolate.

Do you own any books with an image of a cat on the front cover? >> Possibly.

Does anything you own have an image of a bird on it? >> I'm pretty sure.

Does anyone you know own a spaniel? How about an Irish setter? >> No.

[egg-emperor]

It's so insane to me that there was ever even a suggestion that Eggman would stop being a villain after Frontiers. Like no sane person would ever come to that conclusion after playing that game, there is literally zero material to even suggest that. And yet it was just crazy take after crazy take, people saying "time skip" this and "Eggman will be softened by Sage's presence" that and it's like bitch where? I don't even know what to attribute it too beyond the usual, these people just hate Sonic

I knooow, I still feel like a dumbass myself for not properly getting it for a while just because of what a mass majority of the fandom was saying based on leaks and jumping to the wildest conclusions. With so many stating it like absolute fact, I didn't even consider it not being the case and it killed all my interest and hype, ruined my first experience with the game, and made me not even bother to pay attention and analyze to make sense of it the first playthrough. But to my defense I literally wasn't mentally okay for a multitude of reasons that year then that destroyed the last straw of my sanity and rational thinking at the time so lol

But hey I've learned to avoid and ignore the entire fandom's opinions until I've experienced it myself and actually thought about it carefully and analyzed it properly to make sure they never have a say or influence in my perception of it ever again and things have gotten so much better! And yeah it was crazy how eye opening a few explanations and a second playthrough of the game was for me, when I actually paid attention and didn't believe that all the desires and wishful thinking that the fandom projected onto it were genuinely true. There were no hints to Eggman's character massively changing and being ruined whatsoever.

How the tables have turned that I'm now obsessed with and thinking about and analyzing it constantly and want to help people understand it. I now wish more people would realize how great Eggman's portrayal in it was but not for all the reasons those that claim to like it are saying because those reasons don't actually exist. XD It's so much better when you realize that the game is actually what I want out of Eggman (for him to just be who he's always been) and to no longer entertain people's made up ideas about it over the facts by acting like it's true because it's not. There's so much fun to be had and things to like for what it really is.

It was instead just a really cool exploration of his already existing characteristics that he's always had and how they affect and play a part in writing him in situations he's never been in before, further developing those aspects further without changing a single thing about him at all. Proving he can be deep, complex, and require some real thought and analysis to understand despite his simplicity as a character in terms of personality and motives. It actually just proves you don't need to change anything about him to explore interesting themes and that he has tons of potential the way he is. It's actually great how there's so much to analyze and think about.

A whole lot of the fan speculation and theories about this game directly contradict the actual events of the game, actions of the characters, and even the writer commentary. And with each piece of official media that has been releasing since, it's been proving it more and more in various blatantly obvious and undeniable ways. And in Eggman's case I realize I shouldn't have even been surprised since most of the people that were so adamant that he was changing drastically into someone else literally don't like him being evil and a villain and admitted that, so there is absolutely truth to that. They let personal bias and desires affect how they saw it.

I'm really happy that in the end the game canon really just further solidified his already existing characteristics and explored the scope of them in a fun new way and only proved that they can stand the test of all new experiences he has lol. It really just showcased all the things I love about him in a different way besides his usual active villainy and then went right back to that after it was done in all official media since and it has me looking forward to the future of his character with many more interesting things to analyze and think about and classic entertaining villainy to enjoy 🥰💜

[araneitela]

[META] + Violins

Prompt: [ Meta ] plus a word, equals a HC. // @findcasket

You mean the concept of humanity wrapped into an instrument? Alongside the piano, I swear that it's one of the most 'fragile' sounding instruments in terms of the level of emotion that it portrays alongside the accuracy with which it does it. Dear god, the moment that I saw this woman acting out her little violin performance while chaos was breaking out all around her, I knew that her fingers were already expertly wrapping themselves around me. Any way, I digress.

I'll forever remember looking into the notes of someone's playthrough of HSR's first scenes, which is just something I like to do because you never know what kind of little treasures you might find in there. And there was a violinist tucked away in there, who I'd also seen in the notes of her main trailer, commenting on the intense accuracy of the movement of her fingers in it. And then on top of that, how they've usually been let down by the details when other games have tried to simulate it as well, but it was more so done to iterate how intentional this must've been for Hoyo to have focused on its accuracy so much.

So in that sense, I think it's close to a given that she knows how to play it, similarly to how I believe that she is someone who also plays or has played the piano. Where I differ however, is that I don't believe that she actually owns a violin at present, nor is she seeking to obtain one by her own means. Moreover, what and where I think the 'mimicking' comes from, actually, is from her memories and the emotional attachment that she once held for these instruments in them. Kafka's character, to me, revolves around and thrives within two concepts, that of intimate longing and that of loss (the pearl earring, the broken winged butterfly pin, and Blade's character story to name some) which plays intricately into the former. Now for me, her connection to the violin and the piano (primarily the former) play wonderfully into representing both of these, and thus can be drawn into these prevalent topics across the board for her incredibly easily. In simple terms, I think that there is a sense of longing to play them. Now, I feel confident in noting that Kafka does not come across as one who, if she had access to (in this case) a violin of her own, that she would crave to play it so intensely all the time, that when drawn from it for even the briefest of time, that she would enact the part of playing one during her separation from it. No, I think she's actively choosing not to obtain one, for one reason or another. Perhaps it's a memory that plays into the loss that her character seems to stray towards, or perhaps it's a lack of something else; I don't quite yet dare say. But there's something oddly wistful about it, if you look past the surface. All in all, I think her little moments of mimicking and humming, makes for an incredibly interesting "little" tidbit to me. It reminds me of something I wrote in an older post last year:

(...) And yet, and yet, I actively think if she were to find herself in a hotel room, even on her own, and there would be a piano right there— I can see her fingers tracing over the keys so very clearly, even as if she were touching the keys to play and yet she would never press down.

I still stand by this to this day. It's the ache to do something again, and yet for one reason or another, you can't bring yourself to do it. Whether it feels wrong, or there's something missing, something or someone; it doesn't matter, it's a longing of some kind. It really is the overarching topic and/or concept that I see in her character, and the fact that she's tied to such an inherently fragile instrument, only further solidifies it in my brain. But in that, I also feel a deep sense of melancholy when I think of her and that violin. And it plays into all of this, of course, but also the fact that I genuinely see no evidence in canon at present that tells me that she has one, and we know she could obtain one if she so wanted to, but she doesn't. Which tells me, on some level, that she doesn't want one. Which then has me entertain the concept of... if one were gifted to her, would that be different? Would that offer the person who gifted it to her a glimpse that no one else could ever get? The answer is a very likely yes, but I can't see it being gifted by most by any means; it'd need to be by someone who could come to grasp the significance of one, put in the appropriate research, who would know where to go, who to speak to, where to find the significance. And that, isn't most people.

[cuntstable]

not to defend goldmask but when i saw watching an elden ring playthrough for the first time i thought he actually talked and just shut the fuck up whenever the player approached him and i thought he was so funny. like he was just standing there speaking insane truths but the second you walk up he get's all coy and it makes corhyn so mad he just snaps and kills him. i deeply misunderstood them but the really funny version of them lives forever in my mind

AAAAARGH. tbh i kind of debated putting brother corhyn and goldmask into the funny tier bc it is objectively funny that gold mask gives that poor monk a mental breakdown by just standing still in a thong but AAAARGH. your missunderstanding is so smiles

[smb3]

We saw the Sonic Symphony today! It was great! It made me think a lot about the brand/franchise of Sonic and I just wanted to type it out somewhere.

To start off with, I knew the symphony was going to be part symphony and part rock concert--just not to what degree. I'm also keenly aware of how Sonic is such franchise that has a divided fanbase--most people are biggest fans of the games that came out in their formative years and think that's what Sonic "should be."

All that prefacing, only for more prefacing. I'd seen the Zelda Symphony years ago and had a great time. I know a lot of Sonic games and have played from Genesis up to Switch, so I like to think I'm at least semi-well-versed in the series.

The first half was great. Sonic 1 Medley, Sonic 2 Medley, Sonic Mania, Chao Medley, Sonic/Tails SA theme song medley, Rooftop Run, Colors and more. Hearing these great songs taken especially from some of the most archaic musical interpretations to being performed by an entire symphony was fantastic. They were arranged beautifully too, mixing songs together in a new format. I sat at the intermission going "wow, this is really great. I already have really enjoyed this".

After the intermission they start with the "rock show" portion. This was fun! Everyone stood up and we were encouraged to sing and cheer (more, the conductor encouraged us to cheer before too). The symphony was playing still but now there was a guitar, bass, drum set and keyboard all in front of them and definitely playing louder than them.

They played the hits. From SA1, Heroes, the Black Knight, Forces, Frontiers, etc., the encore being Sonic Adventure 2. Obviously this was higher energy and since every song had lyrics, the audience could participate more than just clapping/screaming when they saw a character they like show up on the projector.

I was really enjoying it--you got the fun of a gaming symphony show and then you also got a rock concert version of it too. It just somehow felt like the show was heavily weighted in the favor of this latter portion than it was the former. I actually pulled up the program: There were 14 "rock" songs compared to the nine "symphonic" songs.

It didn't help that the rock instruments and vocals drowned out most of the sound of the rest of the symphony--not to mention they were literally standing in front of them so you couldn't even see them. On top of this, rather than being "arranged", these were just all the full versions of the songs from those games. "I Am All Of Me", "Knight of the Wind", "What I'm Made Of", etc. Again, nothing wrong with that, it's just that the two "halves" of the show felt at-odds with one another.

As it went on and it got past songs that I knew (Frontiers, which I still haven't gotten around to), it just struck me that all of this was so indicative of Sonic as a whole. Everyone has their idea of what Sonic "is" or "should be" and cramming the two biggest opposing representations into one show just made the whole thing feel a little strange. The intermission definitely was indicative of the period between Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure--once you got back from the intermission, things were just totally different. Not bad, just very, very different.

I do wish the marketing reflected this a bit more too. All the promo material I'd found was JUST "symphonic". I think going in with more adjusted expectations would have been nice.

---

OTHER OBSERVATION: I'm usually not around this many... "Sonic fans" so I don't really have much of a pulse on what's "popular" outside of osmosis via tumblr/twitter/reddit but there were many times I was surprised to hear lots of cheers for. During the intermission I heard someone complimenting someone else's Mephiles plush and then when Mephiles DID show up on screen, people erupted.

I assume some of this is just due to fans being excited for things that get less attention than others but I think it's also a sign of how things are now. A lot of people just watch playthroughs of games now, rather than playing them themselves. Even less popular (or "good") games get a lot more attention because they focus more on giving characters cool moments or have appeal due to their story. Sonic games seem to typically allow for story or gameplay--rarely both.

[the0ldmann]

I was gonna like. Try and fit my two cents into the notes without reblogging. Then this turned out way longer than I expected so reblog here I come!

So uh. The Ascendant. First off, with the brief and direct answer to your question, yes I have trauma (a lovely combo of parental abuse & neglect, SA, bullying, and grooming are the big ones) and yes I absolutely adore A!A. Clearly some would think it strange but I have a mile-long blocklist for a reason.

Secondly, to further elaborate without getting into any more than a single detail of my own history... There's this very specific box of not being listened to when I want to be, that every abusive relationship I've had- be it romantic, platonic, or familial- has checked. Everyone always tended to assume they knew what I wanted better than I did.

A!A by virtue of simply not forcefully turning you and requiring your consent, and also by verifying that it is what you want, immediately puts himself into this slightly different category from what I've been through. It makes him come off as potentially incredibly yandere, especially if you subscribe to the vampire bride headcannon which I do. A headcannon which actually inextricably ties the ability to be happy together, thus meaning if he fucks up too hard, he will be miserable too, so there is some give and take and the tiniest bit of room to compromise. A yandere would not offer much more than a sliver for compromise, but genuinely I fall incredibly in line with it in comfort fantasy. All because having someone stop and go "I want you to be happy with me and me alone, I will give you the world if you want it, just promise to never leave" that you get from "softer" yanderes is... The one thing I never fucking got.

The Ascendant just ticks the singular box required to not turn me away.

Even when others try to argue with things he said if you try to call him stuff like Cazador it's like... Yeah if you compared me to my abusers without actually knowing them and you literally just saw me do one thing you just happened to not like... I'll be real, his reaction is tamer than what mine would be, so I cannot blame him for getting so defensive. That's before you get into the whether or not he knows you've been against thing depending on the playthroughs as others have pointed out...

Then there is the whole thing of like. Helping him take over Cazador's life's work that's like... Something about it does feel empowering. Like yeah, you all thought you could toss us aside and reap all the rewards, but now the rewards are mine and you can do nothing about it! Genuinely, it feels nice to just go "nope, I have all the power now" when you've felt relatively powerless against an abuser before. It is cathartic in a way. Spawn killing Cazador kinda ticks the same box, but then it's the potential abuse of society that he's still powerless against that just... ruins it for me.

I had some other thoughts but I'll admit I've been typing long enough I've kinda forgetten them, really shoulda made a bullet point list first... Oopsie!

Also before any of *those* Spawn fans see this and tell me to get therapy- I don't stand for bullshit in my real life, I actually have quite the support network that encoruages me to stand up for myself, and I'm doing very well, thank you very much. My choice of comfort fantasy has no bearing on what I do in my real actual personal life. To be honest, I don't think I could stand to let someone take care of me like a yandere would try to anyway. Something about wanting to feel useful not useless and also not trusting another to do a certain 5 or 6 things the exact way I want them done.

to add to my previous post re ascended Astarion, I would be interested to see how other people who have been in abusive relationships personally feel about him