#whether that's replaying it or getting into fandom

[aparticularbandit]

If I like a game enough, I will end up pouring thousands of hours into it anyway. (Looking at you, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and Banjo-Kazooie (and Banjo-Tooie), all of which are comfort games.)

...even if those thousands of hours aren't necessarily game play. (Looking at you, Doki Doki Literature Club, and the hours of theories and other people's let's plays and headcanoning and writing.)

Reviews of soulslike-type games can be tricky to interpret because a big chunk of the soulslike fandom can't seem to distinguish between "difficult" and "time-consuming", so you basically have to guess whether "the bosses are too easy" means they actually pose no execution challenges, or whether it just means it doesn't take twenty fucking minutes to wear down their health bars.

[limielle]

idk i feel like so much discourse could be easily minimized if people learned to say "i think" instead of "it is"

[tora-the-cat]

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character(s)?

oh. oh we could be here for DAYS. okay. I'll do the first five characters that come to mind, and ONE thing for each character I'm thinking about lol

Sakura- because who else would I start with? I think the biggest pet-peeve I have with general characterization of her is she's just. too normal. Whether you're writing her as a lovesick teenager or a terrifying baby badass, so many people tend to overlook that she does NOT have typical responses to situations. She has moodswings. She's impulse. Her empathy is abysmally low. her capacity for self confidence should be studied. she's an annoying know-it-all. her priorities are FUCKED. The problem is that she THINKS she's the most normal person in any given room, and too many viewers have fallen for her act. she felt accountability for 5 seconds and proceeded to poison all of her friends to try and go kill sasuke without stopping to ask herself if that's even something she's emotionally capable of trying (it isn't).

Minato- honestly, my main complain about him is similar in principle- people ALSO write him as a Normal Cool Guy, because that's how he presents and thinks of himself. He's the Ideal Shinobi, almost perfect, almost a messiah, given how people- in and out of universe- talk about him. But the thing is...he is the Ideal Shinobi. And, by nature of that, there is something deeply wrong with him. He killed an entire army's worth of people in a day and is remembered as a peace-maker. Kishimoto thinks this is normal, so the narrative thinks Minato is a good guy, so he's remembered fondly in the story and most of the fandom. Kishimoto is wrong. Minato was suited for the life and glory of an S-Rank shinobi in the sort of way we only see otherwise presented in heartless nuke-nin for the rest of the show.

Sasuke- Everything that Sasuke has ever, ever done has been for love. He doesn't move a muscle without thinking about the people he loves. His heart doesn't beat unless it can do so for someone else. People miss this because of his obsession with revenge or whatever, but he was doing that out of love for his clan. for his family. for, even, his brother, who he somehow devestatingly loved even before he knew Itachi wasn't to blame. Itachi set his entire world on fire when he was seven and then put him in a torture hallucination replaying it for days, and Sasuke still loved him. After everything he heard Danzo did, he still gave that bastard the chance to plea his case before killing him. Sasuke doesn't have a single cruel bone in his body.

Hinata- Hinata is a fighter. She loves, and she watches, and she's never met a fight she won't pick given half a chance. She put herself between her father's wrath and her sister. She fought Neji because Naruto was cheering on the sidelines. She only managed to confess her love when she jumped in to an impossible fight against Pein for Naruto. I don't think she ever wins a fight in Naruto (which is bullshit), but that's never hindered her undying fighting spirit.

Obito- Obito's tricky cause his characterization is contradictory and murky by nature so it's hard to argue the details of it, but you will never get me on board with a canon interpretation of him that isn't literally chronically dissociated for his entire adult life. I don't think he knows his name. I don't think he's looked in a mirror in years. I don't think he can tell you the date. I don't think he's felt anything but conviction since he held Rin's body in his arms.

IM STOPPING THERE. I CAN DO THIS FOREVER BUT I'M STOPPING THERE.

[sugar-grigri]

I loved Salty Grigri! You know, agreeing with everything you said, it seems to me also that the pacing is bizarrely slow but rushed - in just a few chapters we went from the alley to Nayuta's severed head. And I'm here questioning if we shouldn't have addressed some little things along the way? This loss of pacing has turned it believable that some scenes were added for shock value instead of storytelling

I'm glad you like my alter ego... And again he was kind in terms of reviews, I still want to be consensual lol 

Why does Part 2 sometimes seem... hard to follow? 

To answer what you say, and without making a bad psychological analysis, I think Fujimoto is sometimes a prisoner of CSM. Let me explain, I have the feeling that in part 1, we're dealing with an author who writes HIS own work. CSM's identity was in the making, the tone, the characters, the references that would become fandom classics. This allowed him to work on a neutral ground, free of all expectations. Part 2 is incredibly difficult, because I think (and I blame) Fujimoto can't free himself from Part 1. To the point, where I have a theory that links the two enormously. 

But this isn't just reflected from a narrative point of view, it's also reflected in an author's psychology. Sometimes I get the impression that Fujimoto isn't writing HIS work, but CSM.

I understand Fujimoto that we just have to listen to the song, but aren't you yourself a prisoner of it?

"Of course Fujimoto writes CSM, it's his work". That's right. It's his work. In progress. We know what CSM was, it remains to be seen how the work will turn out. The identity of a work is in the process of evolving until the end of the story. Not before.

What has made CSM so popular are the extremely striking scenes, whether absurd, shocking or tragic. Sometimes more moments than characters or the story as a whole. So when I read CSM, I get the impression that Fujimoto, while having a clear plot for the story as a whole, thinks and writes from moment to moment, scene to scene. I'm sure people will say: at what point does an author do anything other than lead one scene to another? 

It's quite subtle, but instead of thinking about how the story is going to connect the scenes, Fujimoto seems to have thought out the scenes in advance, and the transitions are more improvised. or even secondary, which makes it rather difficult to understand the evolution of the work, as the highlights seem to be more scattered than connected per se. 

And that's what detracts from Part 2, the story doesn't flow, it's choppy and confusing at times. Especially the interludes, the transitions are a time for the characters to come to terms with what's happened. Instead of shifting from one narrative rhythm to another in the form of a cursor, the rhythm is switched on or off by a button, which accentuates the acceleration or loss of rhythm felt by fans. 

Part 1 took this care as the beginning of Part 2.

Our current arcs don't. They debrief in the same chapters that will lead to shocking scenes.

Chapter 168 is an exemple. Fujimoto closes an important scene, while debriefing the characters extremely quickly, as with Denji, and redoing an important scene with Asa hitting herself, instead of taking more time to deal with all these elements. Still in the same chapter, the characters board the train to the next important scene in the next chapter.

Several narrative functions (closing action, character debriefing, transition) are superimposed in a single chapter (or a maximum of two/three chapters). This not only makes the story unpredictable, it also makes it difficult to understand. 

Thinking like this shows that Fujimoto thinks more about what CSM is - scenes replayed by the networks with fans losing their minds - than he does about his own work. Fujimoto is sometimes stuck in the reception of his work. And don't get me wrong, no scene is there just to get people talking and to be edgy. CSM is always brilliantly written, and the meaning often lies in the absurdity. But the lack of transition, or at least work on that, makes the work seem like a compilation of highlights. Which again reduces their impact. 

It's essential for a work of art to be forgotten, to put the balm on extremely memorable scenes so as to make future ones more unpredictable.

[archonfurina]

why do you ship neuvifuri? /g this ship is just lost on me because i didn’t read any of their interactions as romantic — i just wanna understand why it’s such a popular ship 😭😭😭

Hii okay so I don't usually like 'defending' my otp but because you seem to genuinely want to know I'll answer. But I'm also curious if you ship anyone in Fontaine because none of them had any romantic interactions. Least of all Neuvillette. But anyway, the following are my own opinions and I can't say if everyone else sees them the same way.

I put off doing Fontaine questline for months, because I had lost interest in Genshin so I missed all fandom reactions etc, I don't know how popular whatever ships are. When I finally played it, I was neutral about things until the final archon quest. When that Focalors cutscene happened with Neuvillette, my eyes kinda opened. I shipped them first before Neuvifuri. His openly shocked/upset/devastated reactions to her were something new, since he hardly emoted before and we hadn't really seen his feelings. And the way he talked about Furina to Focalors, with so much concern and care for her because she's only human with such a huge burden. So then I went on my other account and replayed the whole questline to record it for gifs, because I'd fallen in love with Furina and her story.

They ruled Fontaine together for 400 years. Furina called Neuvillette to serve as the Iudex (though it was Focalors' idea), and Furina taught him to love humanity and open himself up to people. He's like her familiar the way Dvalin is Venti's and Yae Miko is Ei's. Whether it's platonic or romantic, they're each other's most important person and they love and care for each other. In the AQ, Neuvillette becomes increasingly frustrated with Furina because she isn't letting him in and is being secretive. Yet he keeps closing his eyes (literally, in some cases) to Furina's pain, like he's done for hundreds of years.

Neuvillette is enchanted by Furina's performances on stage, and wanted her to return there in Furina's story quest, and said his appreciation of her was always genuine and he wishes she knew that. Even in his voice line about her he says if she were to return to the stage, he would attend the performance and give her his heartfelt applause.

He gave her a special vision, possibly the first vision since he gained his full powers. If you look closer, it has dragon claws on it.

In the AQ, Furina fooling the heavenly principles wouldn't have worked without Neuvillette. He forgave the people of Fontaine and together they prevented the prophecy. Even though it was all Focalor's plan, and Furina did the hardest part, if Furina hadn't made Neuvillette care for the people it wouldn't have worked.

Immediately after the AQ when Furina had to leave Palais Mermonia, he got her a new apartment, and he said he will provide her with food, clothing, travel, whatever she wants. Meanwhile Furina's voice lines say it's been a while since she went to the Palais and that she thinks it's better for the both of them. Ouch. She's even avoiding him in Liyue.

There's insane angst and potential for a tragic ship. Furina lied to him for centuries, and now thinks it's better if they don't meet. She was incredibly lonely yet she couldn't confide in him, her closest friend. She's now mortal as well, whereas Neuvillette is a dragon. So she can actually get hurt, and die.

Plus they're beautiful together. They have matching color schemes, height difference, they have amazing synergy in combat. Their in-game abilities complement each other. Like they were made for each other.

[em-writes-stuff-sometimes]

I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but genuinely, the things I’ve seen said about Aemond these last few days disgust me. The bodyshaming is fucking insane. I’ve seen people say that it was more of a jumpscare/more traumatising to see Aemond naked than to see Jahaerys’ head reattached to his body. I’ve seen people say that he looked like Voldemort’s fetus when curling up against the madam. The fucking hatred against Aemond is in-FUCKING-sane. Hate Aemond all you want, I could not care less. But speaking about his body? Especially with so much hate?? Aemond does not exist, he’s not hurt about what you’re saying. But Ewan? The ACTOR PORTRAYING Aemond?? He is REAL and CAN be hurt by your words. I find these people disgusting. Hating the personality of someone, a bad or good person, gives you no fucking right to hate on their body. Whether they be fat, skinny, conventionally ugly or pretty, I do not care. As someone who was hurt because of such comments before, it’s infuriating to see. These people should be ashamed of themselves.

Anyway, sorry for ranting, I just really needed to get this off my chest. Love you <3

Heeeeey, nonnie!

Sorry for the delayed replay - to clarify, all, this is in relation to Episodes 2 and 4 (I think?) of the recent season, specifically with Aemond's nudie scenes.

I pretty much instablocked everyone either saying the gross things or the people making constant posts complaining about the gross things being said, so I didn't cop a lot of it on my feed. But I do think it's so very typical of just The Worst People TM congregating in the ASOIAF fandom to do this kind of stuff. Bodyshaming, slutshaming, shaming in general - it's what these arseholes do at this point, honestly. And it isn't okay. I found it all amusing too, in a weird way, because it just goes to show how insanely wrong people were about the direction of Aemond's character. Some of the fandom allowed themselves to forget the difference between headcanon and the actual story being told (and regardless of whether or not you enjoyed it, it is show canon now) and are now upset that they've raced ahead and filled in the gaps in a manner that is now wrong. Instead of going "oh, personally not a fan, oh well, will write fanfic differently" they jumped STRAIGHT to "I must be a terrible human being in my tantrum". It's gross, but so very typical at this point.

My advice, after having done the exact opposite of this in the past? Don't engage. You aren't going to change their minds. They've posted it on the internet because they are either so confident they're right or they're determined to stick to their guns regardless. Block. Bar them access. Eventually, their grossness will take itself out to the trash, where they belong.

Thank you for sharing this, nonnie. I hope splooting it in my inbox made you feel better! I enjoyed reading your thoughts!

[1960z]

so back when dual destinies came out a huge point of debate I’d often see was about whether or not athena was a “mary sue.” since then I think a lot of people have just moved away from that term generally because it’s a way of viewing character writing that is reductive at best and misogynistic at worst but replaying dd now I feel pretty salty that people were putting that label onto athena to begin with.

the crux of these people’s claims were that because she is a defense attorney at 18 and had also studied psychology she is unrealistically perfect and special and not well written because of that. which is kind of absurd because the prodigy genius lawyer has been an established trope in ace attorney since the first game. even phoenix and apollo, compared to real life at least, are quite young to be the positions they’re in when they first start. athena was just the latest in a long line of characters very typical of ace attorney writing.

and I get the distinction that the more “overtly unrealistic” prodigies are usually rivals and thus them being these geniuses serve as a challenge for the protagonist meanwhile athena is one of the protagonists but I think this distinction only becomes a significant issue with the writing if athena fails to be significantly challenged. and I would say that blackquill is absolutely a significant challenge for athena. he feels reasonably difficult to beat and it feels satisfying when she does, or anyone from the main trio does for that matter.

honestly, I think people just have a hard time with female characters who are both brilliant and that they’re expected to identify with. franziska’s often a polarising figure in the broader fandom, but I’ve never seen the specific “mary sue” accusation be directed at her and I think that’s because she’s the rival. people get to beat her, “take her down a peg,” and don’t feel like they’re expected to sympathise with her (even though I think the narrative DOES treat franziska sympathetically, it’s just easier for a player to have a purely antagonistic relationship with her if they’re committed to that which quite a few people are.) I’ve also never seen any of these criticisms of edgeworth and he’s been both a rival and a protagonist at different points.

but because the player is meant to on some level identify with athena or at least root for her while she’s portrayed to be extremely competent at what she does, that immediate premise is when the accusations of mary sue start flying. they don’t care about her personality, her character arc, what her relationships with other characters bring to the story. the mere idea of her character off-putting to a lot of people

[spicyicetea]

[I’ve decided to make this more of an introduction to me and my work]

Good morning or Good evening depending on your time zone

My name is Lilliana but you may call me any variation of that name or my username, Tea is my most common nickname. Here I share my writing and sometimes will also share my artwork. My requests are always open but I may take time to get to them.

REQUESTS ARE OPEN

Currently I am open to writing for:

Legend of Zelda

Pokemon

Phoenix Wright

Persona 5

Danganronpa

Jujutsu kaisen

Jojo’s bizarre adventure

Weewoo new fandom alert (depending on the reception depends on whether I accept these requests permanently)

Obey me! (Both the original and Nightbringer, I’m currently replaying both at the same time so I decided to do requests now)

But you are welcome to request stuff not on the list, as I’m open to exploring fandoms I’m not used to writing for.

I'm open to writing most things like,

Fluff, Angst, Smut, Yandere stuff

There are only a few things I won't write like, R@pe, extreme age gaps.

I will write consensual non-con and things of a similar nature, but never straight up non-con.

My Masterlist

Legend of Zelda

Milf Y/N pt 1, pt 2 (coming soon)

My Forest Spirit[all next parts are linked on the previous part]

Yandere various playing with Y/N’s hair

Y/N that can control Malice

I can’t let you leave [Skyward sword link x spirit reader]

My dearest soulmate [ganon x Y/N]

Fi reader scenario

Link X cuddly reader

Jujutsu Kaisen

Something feels off [I am re-writing currently]

Persona 5

To change a thief’s heart

Pokemon

Various yandere headcannons

Eldritch Submas au [all posts in order]

Depot Agent Y/N ART

Oh Arceus [start of the story]

Elesa intro

Phoenix Wright/Ace attorney

Nothing so far, but feel free to request

Danganronpa

Nothing so far, but feel free to request

Obey me

Yandere obey me x MC from another world

JJBA

Nothing so far, but feel free to request

[umbral-stigmata-unbound]

A-Z Ask Meme | Open

@dezimaton asked: A-Z ask meme: O(adapted) because I'd like to hand you the song: [Gone Angels, Library of Ruina], U, X please!

Thank you! Also, I love that song you suggested, it's got an interesting vibe!

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of? This may be too obvious, but just listening to that song and reading over the lyrics, my vibe was just...Sephiroth, and then specifically Sephesis. Like, it felt like a flavor of Sephesis during their separation, during the defection--it's like they're in the middle of a dance, dealing with the loss, the betrayal, the separation, the confusion, the devastation of information, and then just the reality of the dark lies crashing down on them. It's as if they want to go back, yet they know they're stumbling forward. They want to hold close, yet they want to just toss each other away. Just, their dance.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites. Not sure if this was three period, one from each fandom OR three each, three from one fandom each, so I'm going with the first lol. With FF7, it's always been Vincent Valentine. It started superficially because of just, aesthetics and primarily because his english VA in AC being a VA I was following somewhat at the time. But the love for him has just grown heavier and heavier through the years. Dirge was the first FF game I ever got, and ever beat, too. And it's the one I've replayed the most. I just adore his character, in ways that it'd take me too long to list out lol. Best way to summarize is just...his vibe from the inside in, the tragedy, the spooky intelligent badass vibes, his heart, his pain, his dark humor, just, all of it. Uuummm...trying to decide other fandoms to choose, though. I'll be honest, the top two other fandoms that have circled the back of my mind while my focus has been on FF7, feel free to judge, have been Marvel and BNHA/MHA. Though, Marvel I'm fairly disconnected from most new media and really only care for my choice of its classic MCU days. But, with Marvel, Loki was my top favorite. I was obsessed, he was my first character muse I RP'd as, and my time writing as him and investing in the content made of him was very impactful (I don't really follow anything made from Ragnarok on, that's just me, no judgment to those that do enjoy). But his story is fucked up, too, and though it may go over some peoples heads, he did try, he was something more than just a petty, mischievous jerk (he really wasn't petty or jealous to the degree people make him out to be, he was the more balanced 'Odinson' before he went too far doing something that NEEDED to be done, and it led to a devastating truth). I could go on way too long about Loki, so, I'll just leave it there XD With MHA, it's Bakugo. Again, feel free to judge. I'm aware he is an asshole and was very much a bully and needs to be held accountable for that, and I will never excuse his roof-dive comment towards Deku. But I'm of the mind that, for one he's a teenager than can learn and has learned and is still learning from his faults. For two, he can be an ass but that is technically how he's learned to communicate and if people get to know them they realize it's just him being loud and rough to express his critiques, advice, compliments, etc. But most of all, it's his character complexity and growth. I adore him, and I'm not going to apologize for that.

X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom. Soulmate trope, I suppose! I'm not super versed enough to have a list to pick from, but I feel like this comes through a lot, and it's not always just romantic, though that can be appealing! Just the idea that there is someone out there that matches a character, whether it's to counter them, or to meet their energy. It could be enemies to allies, it could be best friends, it could be lovers, it could be a mix! But the idea of them being tied to one another, for better or worse, it just gets me!!

[flares-of-arcadia]

Some messy thoughts on RE7 (with mentions of 8)

just beat RE7. I wish I had paid more attention when it first came out and I watched my brother go through it, because holy shit I fucking loved it

Under a read-more for length

After playing through 7 on my own, it's hard to believe that I didn't really get into the fandom until Village. Or, well, it does track that I saw scary women in 8 and started paying attention... I am nothing if not predictable

And honestly, a big part of why Village sunk it's claws into me is because it's flawed, or at the very least felt like it had a lot of missed potential. All of the antagonists were so interesting, and I felt like they didn't get as much attention as the Bakers did (there are so many things to look at, storytelling in the environment, AND we learned more about them in the DLC). Wanting to fill in those gaps for the 4 Lords and Miranda is what made me so invested in the fandom

(also because I'm really gay)

If you're familiar with my main blog, you might know that my biggest gripe with Village is that we don't get anything between Mia and Miranda. Having now played through 7 (and read literally every file), I feel even more strongly about what was missing. Or, at the very least, what I wanted from it.

Annnnd that's just in terms of story, gameplay is a whole other thing, but I'd want to replay 8 before getting too much into it.

But back to just talking about 7 for a tiny bit longer, as chaotic as my thoughts are:

Loved the soundtrack. Also hated it because, as a horror soundtrack goes, it was Very Effective. Didn't appreciate one of the tracks having some monster noises, tho. That was already a tense section and I hated getting false alarms about whether or not there was a Molded around the corner. And!!! Honestly the version of Go Tell Aunt Rhody didn't need to slap as hard as it does. I'd listen to that shit in my free time

Ethan is an interesting protagonist? I love him, don't get me wrong, but there are a couple kind of quirks that make it hard to interpret him. Most of the time he feels like a silent protagonist, but in cutscenes he's very vocal. It gets weird once the cutscene ends with something dramatic and he immediately shuts up.

Like, after we first reunite with Mia, we reach a dead end, Ethan goes to check another room, and while our back is turned we hear Mia scream. Ethan yells her name, we rush back to the room she was in, and then Ethan just doesn't say anything else. Doesn't call out to her, doesn't say anything about the new pathway, nothing. There are more examples but this was supposed to be quick

I love Mia. She's a badass, she's a liar with temporary amnesia, and she's a Fucking Badass. Seriously wish we had a chance to play as her again in Village. I do kinda wish we got more glimpses into her relationship with Ethan, but hey that's what fanfiction is for

I feel so bad for Eveline. I get that she was beyond the point of saving, but fucking hell, you read the files and you look at the photos (and you think about what we know from 8 about Miranda's role) and she's suddenly very understandable. It's tragic, everything that happened to her, even if she went on to inflict tragedies on others.

Okay I have more thoughts but my thumbs are tired from gaming + immediately typing on my phone. Love y'all byeeeeee

[dalishious]

The Pros and Cons of the Codex

Good roleplaying games tend to have a lot of lore packed into the world; it’s one of the most appealing aspects to players like myself, who enjoy spending countless hours studying these creations. But how do you fit all that lore into a game that is already very large? For many franchises, this is where collectible extra bits of reading come in. Assassin’s Creed has its database, The Elder Scrolls has its many books and letters, and Dragon Age has its codex. But there are both pros and cons to this function in a game.

Dragon Age codex entries are written in the perspective of people living in the world. For example, many take the form of excerpts from books written by the Chantry scholar, Brother Genitivi. Or they might be little notes left behind by a person, then found by the player. Or they might be letters written between two people who may never even actually, physically appear in the game, but leave their presence through the codex.

The great thing about this is, the flavour added is extra spicy when it feels like it is coming from an actual person. Someone took the time to write something down, that your character then comes across, without breaking immersion. It gives you the player more information about the world, while at the same time gives the character you’re roleplaying as more information about the world. It feels much more real than if you, the player had knowledge that your character wouldn’t realistically ever be able to know.

But there is trouble with in-universe written codex entries as well: The biggest being, this perspective can be biased. If you’re reading something about the Qunari written by a Chantry scholar, chances are it will refer to them in a very poor light, compared to how the Qunari would refer to themselves. Why? Because within universe, the Chantry is full of racist zealots. So when your character comes across something like this in Dragon Age Inquisition:

Scrawled Note You've heard how the Dalish would hang trespassers. Hung them from trees, is what they say! Would you believe you can still see them? I swear on the Maker's beard, when I saw that face in the tree, I just about pissed myself. The screaming face of a murdered bastard, right in front of me. I was afraid if I stayed long, I would hear it howling. I hadn't even been drinking. Don't believe me? Go see for yourself! Brien.

There is nothing to dispute what this person has written. A naïve player may take it at face value, without accounting for in-universe biases against the Dalish. Now, if you’re thinking that’s too far-fetched to believe anyone would do so, then I must say I am very jealous of your fandom experience being so different from mine. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who lack critical thinking skills, whether it be for real life or engaging with media. Hell, I will fully admit to falling for real life propaganda myself, so I certainly would not say I’m above it either.

Dragon Age Origins had a great way of getting around this: Depending on your character’s origin, you unlocked different versions of the same codex entry. For example, the codex entry on city elves has three different variations: One written by a human Chantry sister that any non-elf character unlocks, one written by a city elf that a city elf character unlocks, and one written by a Dalish elf that a Dalish character unlocks. Each version paints the city elves and history in a different light. Not only does this cover different bases and makes it crystal clear that the writing is founded on an in-universe bias, but it also adds to replay value, because you are collecting something different each time you play. Unfortunately, Dragon Age II and Dragon Age Inquisition did away with this.

Another struggle with codex entries is the fact that they are collectibles, and therefore only unlocked if the player happens to come across them. While this can add a secondary goal for the player to find all the codex entries possible when playing, it also leads to any missed codex entries meaning missed information about the world. In some cases, that’s not that big a deal; in the grand scheme of things, who cares if we know the story behind the wyvern head mounted on the wall of a café in Val Royeaux? But in some cases, rather informative writing on a hot in-universe topic is tucked in a note found behind a locked door somewhere. Such is the case with the following codex entry in Dragon Age Inquisition, for example:

The Annulment at Dairsmuid When we heard of the injustices against our fellow mages at the White Spire, the Circle of Magi in Val Royeaux, I feared what was to come. Our Circle at Dairsmuid is small and isolated; it exists largely as a façade to appease the Chantry. When the other Circles rose up, the Chantry sent Seekers across the bay from Ayesleigh to investigate. They found us mixing freely with our families, training female mages in the traditions of the seers, and denounced us as apostates. Perhaps they thought we were spineless robes who could be intimidated with a little bloodshed. Before I was first enchanter, I was the daughter of Captain Revaud, of the Felicisima Armada. I know how to plan a battle. They brought with them a small army of templars. We fought. And we might have won. But they invoked the Right of Annulment, with all the unrelenting brutality that allowed. It is their right to put screaming apprentices to the sword, burn our "tainted" libraries, crush irreplaceable artifacts under their heels, tear down the very walls of our home. No mage has the right to disagree. We of the Dairsmuid Circle wait now, behind barricades. I have sent word to our brother and sister mages of this outrage. When they break through, we will not die alone. —Final journal entry of First Enchanter Rivella, slain in Dairsmuid, 9:40 Dragon

This codex entry is the last words of a dead woman, murdered in what is, in my opinion, a hate crime based on her being a Rivaini mage practising culturally traditional magic. Veteran players of the world of Dragon Age are already familiar with the viciousness and cruelty of the Chantry, but new players are not. And with Dragon Age Inquisition already so Chantry-focused, it is exceptionally rare in this game to hear of any disputes from sources not painted as an antagonist. So if you, the player, never unlock this codex entry, you, the player, may never read one of the few examples of the Chantry’s corruption.

Fortunately, thanks to fandom archiving efforts, all codex entries can easily be found online. But that is only because of fans who lovingly record all the content of the game, not because of anything from the actual game developers.

I believe that codex entries have a proper place in the world of Dragon Age. At this point they are a staple feature of the franchise, and I enjoy reading them. But I do not enjoy having to collect them in order to do so, and I do wish that there was a function that perhaps after you beat the game, you automatically unlock all codex entries, or if BioWare themselves were to publish all the codex entries online instead of fans having to do the work ourselves.

—–

Like these kinds of meta pieces? Please consider supporting me on Patreon, where you could have viewed it a few weeks earlier!

[stormyrainyday]

🍎🫐🍑 if it's not too much at once <3

omg hi !!

🍎 Is there anything you straight-up won’t write?

Kind of basic but I'm not really one to write smut like it's fine I enjoy consuming it from time to time. Honestly, it's not even a matter of being uncomfortable I just don't like to write it. If I think about it, I wonder if it'd be fun to use sexual intimacy to discover more about how I think two characters would interact but I'd be so far out of my depth that I'd have to leave it for a long while down the road.

🍑 If you could make a connection between your favorite character and another work you care about (whether a crossover/fusion or a wonderfully “pretentious” literary reference) what would it be? How would it work?

I've had an Alhaitham/Kaveh and Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch crossover rotting in my brain for ages and just haven't had the time to replay the game to flesh it out. But I imagine it as broken-hearted Alhaitham and pure-hearted Kaveh. A silly, sweet AU. Then they become companions and explore the world together it'd be cute as fuck.

If you've never heard of Ni No Kuni you should look into it it's so fun and gorgeous if a little childish and it's animated by Studio Ghibli it's so cool. I love the real time turn-based combat it was my first time playing a game like that.

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

Oh man, can I make a list.

Shenhe and Baizhu as characters are so underappreciated. Shenhe is part of a major story quest (the first Interlude quest) but so rarely makes appearances after that. On top of that, she's a pretty niche unit that's only rerun once so I feel like people don't give her enough attention which is a damn shame because her backstory is so cool to pick apart. She's also canonically the most powerful human in the game? The only rival to her in strength is Childe and even then between you and me I think she could beat him. Childe is my favorite but Shenhe is stupid powerful in her lore. So yes. I wish more people talked about her characterization and lore but unfortunately half of her tag is rope bondage smut.

Baizhu keeps getting fucked over by Hoyo and gets a lot of hatred from the fandom for being gay-sounding (which, I don't love his English voice acting but homophobia from the Genshin Impact fanbase is fucking rich). It's actually kind of shocking how much hate he gets when he is literally just existing. I think there isn't enough work dissecting the utter tragedy of his situation and the way he values selflessness to the extreme-- even the game seems to treat his contract and his pursuit of immortality as something to be celebrated, when in reality he is dooming himself to an eternity of suffering should he succeed. Most of the works about him are shipping him with Pantalone or are just your standard run-of-the-mill sickfics (nothing wrong with that, I just think that he is open to much more dissecting and prodding and that there should be more works cutting him open to show his heart).

Also I haven't written about it yet but I am absolutely batshit insane about Childe x Lyney rarepairing, when I have more time I will compile my incoherent google doc about them into a fic or at the very least an extensive Tumblr post. Before I get shot I would like to gently remind you guys that Childe in canon is in his early 20s and Lyney is not a kid he's just short please read the character stories thanks <3

Not Genshin related but I also feel very strongly about certain Stardew Valley NPCs and feel like we don't talk enough about how nuanced their characters are despite having relatively straightforward cutscenes and dialogue but that's a post for another time

[ciaossu-imagines]

Hello, hello, my gorgeous lovelies! I'm put a bunch of posts in queue earlier and I'm working on adding a couple more before I log off for the night! For any who might have noticed, I'm making the official announcements that the ask box is closed to new requests at the moment and there have been changes made to the fandom list. Not only is this allowing me to queue up the event posts and spend time on my own writing, but I'm really moving quickly through the rereads and watches of some media I've either wanted to revisit or finally get around to watching, which is something I want to keep focusing on, so that when I do write, I'm giving you guys the best that I can, the most in character and authentic posts that I can. For those curious, I've finished

Reading Katekyo Hitman Reborn, plus the Secret Bullet novels and the anime filler arcs for that.

I'm caught up to Chapter 135 of Servamp (that's all they have translated to English on the source I use)

Reading Dogs: Bullets & Carnage up to Chapter 101

Watched all 3 seasons of Iruma-kun and caught up to Chapter 339 of the manga

Read Eyeshield 21

Watched Ronin Warriors, including the OVAs...I took this one off the fandom list and won't be writing officially for it on the blog beyond the posts already queued because honestly, I get very little interaction with those posts and it makes them less fun for me to write and share

Watched both seasons of The Vampire Dies in No Time and am caught up to Chapter 71 of the manga, as that's where my source stopped

Replayed the Mystic Messenger routes

Currently alternating between watching Yu Yu Hakusho and Haikyuu!!

Currently alternating between reading Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece

The fandom list is a work in progress, because I do have sources to watch/read all the fandoms I was writing for, and will decide on whether to continue writing them after rereads/watches and seeing reader engagement with the queued posts :)

I'll be reopening the ask box once I've finished up a few more rereads and done some other stuff I want to do (like getting commissions back up and running here soon - I have some new ideas for that as well regarding pricing and services offered)! I promise - for now though, I'm making things as easy as possible on myself as I can, my dears!!

[doom-dreaming]

Okay before I get too Noticed by the Halo fandom(tm), here's my PSA. I first got into it back in...like 2015? Somewhere around there. Definitely before I had a Tumblr account. Cycled through a few of my other fandoms until I landed here again.

I am slowly working my way through a replay of the games. I own three (3) Halo novels. I don't know too much about the deeper lore, especially the recent stuff, but I find it very interesting. I have not played Infinite. Yet.

I do think John and Cortana are in some kind of relationship, but whether it's platonic or romantic?? Depends on the day. I think Halo 5 was a shitstorm and I mostly ignore it. I have not watched the Paramount show and likely never will. I'm here to experience emotions about supersoldiers.

[gl1tched-r4bb1t]

I noticed your interest growing involving Undertale, so allow me to give some fun advice!

Nobody has to die in Undertale, you can decide everyone’s fate! Play God to your heart’s desire with mostly no consequences! Doesn’t everyone love playing God?

The game has a lot of dialog and events based off your actions and gameplay, so there’s a lot you can discover when replaying!

You will never leave our cult community once you’re hooked. Let me be the prime example of such proof! Get out while you still can.

Done playing but crave more Undertale? Say hello to one of the largest fandoms a game series ever had ever since FNAF and Homestuck! We grow each passing day. You will be consumed.

People like Sans, and others LIKE Sans.

The Multiverse is vast and infinite. It has no clear start or end. If you really wish for more, then proceed with caution once you really sink into this fandom.

Hope this helps! See you soon!

I don’t know whether to be afraid or not…

Like JOIN OR NOT THEN?!-!-

(This actually helped tysm!!)

Best advice I’ve ever received

[ennabear]

hiya ennabear!! peep the theme :33 absolute loveeee omgg >0<

dyou take nsfw requests? If so, can i ask for loser!abby, whos like, a soft sub (she doesnt really press titles, since she isnt too obedient, but she cannot dominate for the life of her), being very shy and awk with reader since its her first time and she doesnt wanna screw up and do something wrong 😭 ooh im sick shes so precious look at heerrrr

(We are ignoring the boat scene. Owen does not exist. I refuse to acknowledge that tweeg 😡😡)

i genuinly forgot what her short hair era was called .. yaknow, when we find her tied to like, a tree (?? I dont remembed whether or not it was a tree) .. but make it so that the stories set after that 🫂🫂 apologies for not being able to tell you when that was im just very decaffeinated rn and havent had a chance to replay since like last year :P

also, can u make it so that reader is geniuinly js very fluffy and caring and allat?? No demeaning or anything, i want it teeth-rottingly sweet 🥳

thanks in advance! Now back to my deep dark lesbianism-cave-of-shame i go (ФωФ)

--🃏🌀⭐️

HIII NONNIE!!!! i’m posting this separately from the actual fic because when i was writing the authors notes/content warnings i couldn’t stop yapping… i definitely wrote wayyyyy too much for this oops… opened tumblr and my thumbs just couldn’t stop 😭 BUT AWYAOAAOOWYW THANK YEWWW i had to do a bear theme at some point because… well… ennabear……

i do take nsfw reqs!!!!! i’ll write for most nsfw things but if you’re ever too unsure check out my rules!!! I’M SO HAPPY YOU ASKED FOR LOSER!ABBY!!!! i actually love her so much but my loser!abby posts always flop astronomically hard… loser!abby fandom so small we could all fit on a bus…. 🤦🤦

also yes owen slander is 100% allowed here!!! i hate that bitch for not only screwing over abby BUT MEL TOO???? ughhh he gets on my nerves… I CAN’T STAND MENNNNN

i believe the abby era you’re talking about is pillars/santa barbara/catalina abby???? (i hope so because that’s who i wrote it about 😭) i had to do some of my own world building for this because tlou3 isn’t out yet (idek if it was confirmed… but we’ll pretend abby and reader have a happy ending!!!!) so i completely just made up shit about the island, people, environment, etc. (i’ve never even been to california bruhhhh)

writing fluffy smut is my PASSION i gotchu anon 🤝 hope u get some caffeine in your system and a chance to play again!! and if you ever wanna come back out of your dark lesbianism cave of shame, COME BACK INTO MY INBOX!!!!! i love yapping (if you can’t tell)!!!!! TJANK YOU FOR THE REQUEST!!! HAPPY READING!!!!!!