#I do love dev questions

[minaa-munch]

So, Minato Sama. You've just been given the Hokage position. What's the first 5 things on your official hokage agenda?

Sama? Cue a sheepish grin. What makes you think he has an agenda?

He has a list. In categorical order.

ANBU ANBU assignments - members, as well as missions - are assigned directly by the Hokage. In the Hokage's absence, the defacto lead is assigned to a trusted aide. During Minato's term, that is Nara Shikaku. There should be no interference from any of the councils unless the Hokage specifically requests it. Also there's this matter of the ROOT division he's looking into. It's a redundant idea. Who the heck came up with it, again? 🤔

Konoha Ninja Academy The Konoha Ninja Academy has been following the same structure since the Nindaime's reign. The times - and frankly, demographics - have changed since then. They need an updated entrance test and assessment methods, as well as a streamlined curriculum that includes introduction to fuuinjutsu.

Hokage Guard Platoon An elite platoon comprised of shinobi handpicked by the Hokage. The purpose of the platoon is to act as an escort unit whenever the Hokage has to travel beyond the village's perimeters i.e., to another village or to the Daimyo's palace. The 'kage' is seen as the strongest shinobi of a hidden village. However, that does not make them infallible. The guard platoon exists to ensure that there is a statistically significant chance of the kage returning to the helm, irrespective of the scenario.

Civilian protection reforms Reforms aimed specifically to protect civilian rights to trade and collaborate with other civilians from friendly villages. Konoha, although a representation of Hi no Kuni's militia, has a sizeable civilian population. Said civilian population dabbles in trade and farming which, if utilized and fostered, will decrease the village's dependence on its shinobi for bringing in funds.

Village Ambassador Program (pending external approval) In the wake of the third shinobi war, the need of the hour is to form better bonds with the victors (as well as the losers). One way of doing that is through Chunin ambassadors who can periodically act as a means of cultural exchange. If this works well enough with Chunin, the program can be extended to include civilian entrepreneurs (in conjunction with #4).

[valleymyristica]

what would hazel and dev's favorite pokémon be? i highly doubt peri, cosmo and wanda know what a pokémon is, but you can say theirs too!

Hazel

_ Chespin _

Her first ever Pokémon game she played was X and Y, she played with Anthony on his 3DS. He let her make all the fun decisions and said Chespin reminder him of her. It's so cute! It made her so happy!

So, in their first game the player was Hazel, and the starter was the Chespin named Nut. That way, they together made, "Hazelnut"!

She really likes the normal colors of it, but she's always wanted to find a shiny one. It looks so cool! Especially when fully evolved. Though, she's unsure over if she would actually ever want to evolve such a special Chespin.

Oh, so many hard decisions

Dev

_ Umbreon _

The first Pokémon game he played was Pokemon shield, when that was new.

He was happy for it.

He got to route 4 and wanted to catch a Pikachu, but when he ran towards it, an Eevee popped up right in front. Making him loose the Pikachu.

At first he wanted to kill- faint it. Like revenge, but then when it was in the red, he thought, why not? If it was though enough to survive his attack, them maybe it could be a valuable member of his team?

So he made it a part of his team, named it "Survivor", not the most creative, but it fit.

It fit really well actually.

At one point he had sent it out like fodder, just spam sand attack until so he could prolong the inevitable. But, the moves, they kept missing, like they couldn't even touch his Eevee. It was pretty cool actually.

So, he actually tried to attack, he needed two more hits. Survivor was in the red, but so was the other party. If the attacks missed, he'd win, if they didn't, he'd lose.

He won.

He actually won.

He was so happy!!

It had been such a hard fight. He hadn't been prepared at all.

So, of course he was happy he won.

He was so happy he almost missed that Survivor was evolving.

It was pretty late.

When he saw it.

It was perfect.

Survivor looked so cool!

After that, Umbreon became his favorite and the more he learns about Umbreon the more he likes it. Just the simple fact that the yellow rings on it glows, it makes him happy. He likes to imagine having Survivor light up the room and helping him through the night.

Like his own special little night light.

Not- Not that he'd need a night light.

He's a big boy. He's strong.

It's just- It would be cool to have a real Umbreon by his side. Like, who wouldn't want a cool Pokemon by their side?

Winn

Is a hard one, feels like they would like most that one may consider "cool". Though, if there was a choice to be made, Archeops is a pretty good contender, along with Gigalith.

I imagine that their favorite generation would be gen 5.

Jasmine

_ Skitty _

I imagine she might have gotten an GBA or DS from a cousin or similar, with Pokemon dungeon, were she got skitty as her main. She can be a bit hasty at times after all. Her second favorite is Pikachu, as that was her partner

Peri

Well, Dev choose Umbreon, so it would only be fitting for Peri to choose Espeon. Plus, it's pretty purple, just like him. (No, it's not pink, you're blind)

Though, if he had seen the movie, then

Cosmo and Wanda

Well, nither of them really know too much, but they've seen some images of the creatures and they have pointed out some that they like.

For Cosmo, Politoed

It's just- Hard to say for sure, but it just called to him when he saw it and he decided right then and there that Politoed was his favorite. He has not relented yet, though, he does agree with Wanda that her's is pretty cool too.

Speaking of

For Wanda, Lurantis

It looked intimidating and when Hazel explained how hard it was for her to beat. She couldn't help but feel like it was a good one. Always nice to be able to give the kids a nice challenge.

░░░░░

_ Jirachi _ It's so cute! And it is indeed important to think of wishes made For one day, they can't make any more And you just have to hope they're better than before

[bi-panic-at-the-disco]

I like how whenever I watch AstralSpiff or Backseat play a new Poppy Chapter it’s pretty clear what game that they devs had been playing before hand lmao,, Chapter 4 being very clearly referencing to the Resident Evil 4 underground factory insect fights with how it was framed

[kylominis]

weasley wednesday? more like wet weasley 💦 [♡]

[numberoneanika]

Honestly the roleplay blogs are stronger than I am because if I saw a post where people were saying my blog was annoying and calling me corny I would jump in a large pit and rot away

[souenkun]

Can't believe after the amount of shit talk that I did after this announcement, my dad pulled og steven from the ticket scout for me... the coincidence is insane lmao 😭

[damsels-n-dice]

the star and/or the fool

The Star — Talk about a game you’re working on and what excites you about it.

with the extremely chaotic way i write (which i'll talk about in a bit) it's hard to say which of my projects are games i'm "working on" so i'm going for "unreleased game that you're currently writing". that being said, my answer is definitely WRETCHED TRANSFORMATIONS! a solo journaling ttrpg about being cursed to transform into a monster, forgotten by your loved ones.

it's a wretched & alone game, which is already super cool because some of my favourite games use that system (like BLOOM). the most exciting thing for me, though, is getting to write a proper horror game. i love body horror, especially as a queer metaphor, and i love writing horror! but the only game i've written with any body horror potential in it ('til it kills us) doesn't at all focus on that element, even though is inspiration does. i had so many other themes going on that it just didn't fit. but hopefully with WRETCHED TRANSFORMATIONS i can focus more on the slightly hopeless horror feel, since that's what the system i'm using is designed to do

The Fool – What do the earliest stages of work on a game look like for you? OR How did you get into game design?

how i got into game design is... a very boring story, but my game writing process is extremely disorganized so that's somewhat more interesting! i tend to get my ideas at the worst possible times, when i'm sick or working or ill or actively moving house, so i make a doc with some descriptive name like "wizard game idk" and write whatever random thoughts in a rambling paragraph like this one:

for WRETCHED TRANSFORMATIONS i happened to already have a system in mind, but for most games i then have to frantically google "solo game systems" or "game systems with cards" or whatever until i find a system that works.

then i leave the game to rot in my documents folder for somewhere between a week and a year, to figure out if i want to continue it. and to ramble at my friends/partner about all my ideas for the game.

if i decide to continue, i'll copy relevant parts of the SRD i chose over into my document, and combine those into my rambling summary to make a first draft! things are more boring and standard from there :)

[jessamine-rose]

/obey me! vent/

[kjzx]

https://www.cheatengine.org/faq.php

I'm a big fan of this FAQ's tone

Don't threaten me with a good time

[cntrft]

rue's big on letting beanie follow whatever dream of the week she has. kid's not spoiled ( not from her side at least ) but rue will occasionally buy things, mostly children books, to further nurture her curiosity. dan on the other hand is awful - beanie likes his scooter? next weekend he randomly shows up outside rue's apartment complex with a mini scooter because "gotta start them young with the wheelies". beanie watched him play games on the ps5 once so now she's got a psp and an old ass nintendo ds "the one with nintendogs obviously". beanie likes dinosaurs? her 3rd birthday is dinosaur themed. now she's into space so of course dan had to get her a telescope and matching nasa hoodies because "it's stylish".

[valleymyristica]

I WISH I knew if Dev had a mother.

We, just as Peri, are glad to grant any wish that comes our way ᵔᵜᵔ

So, to give you the knowledge that you do seek, I'll tell it simple, he indeed had a mom. Though, I do think there is more that you do seek

For such, let us expand, and tell of the past. For that mother of his, she didn't really last. She might have been caring, she might have not. Regardless, she lays in Dev's mind, as though he's forgot.

Then again, she was never there, so what is it one could forget?

Hmm... Then again, what is there was someone before the O-Pairs? Someone simple, who had a job to do? A simple nanny, who did all that she could, to ensure that he's well.

He does have memories, of a past unsure, for he knows his mother was no more, when he took his first breath. So, who is the one who haunts him in his mind? And why does she seem so very kind?

He knows his mother has never been there, so the question remains, who was?

[felassan]

David Gaider: "If I really dig into my empathy, I can kinda see the thinking here. Like, let's say you don't actually know much about games. You're in a big office with a bunch of other execs who also don't know much about games. What are they all saying? "Live games do big numbers!" "Action games are hot!" Your natural response? "We should make more action games, and all our games should have live service!" Cha-ching, right? Then some uppity devs spoil your buzz by saying "that doesn't apply equally to all games" or "we have an established IP with an audience that has certain expectations". You frown. You go look at their sales. Good, sure, but not as spectacular as live service and action games! Profit's great, but what's the point if you're not #1 in the charts? If you're not making headlines? If the devs can't make it work, this is THEIR failure. This, after all, is the future of gaming! Eventually, you're going to ask yourself why we (the company) even bother with those other games. Like single player games. It's a question you've asked aloud before. The fans bristle, but you're not here to supply every audience what they want. You're here to make money and increase share value. Maybe I'm being unkind. There are certainly all sorts of lessons a company could learn from a game like Veilguard (I still haven't played it, so I'm going off what other people have said), but "maybe it should have been live service" being the takeaway seems a bit short-sighted and self-serving. Not that there's any shortage of that, when it comes to deciding why a game doesn't do well. For the anti-woke crowd, for instance, there are woke games that do well and woke games that do poorly and only the ones that did poorly did so *because* they were woke. Says more about them than the game. My advice to EA (not that they care): you have an IP that a lot of people love. Deeply. At its height, it sold well enough to make you happy, right? Look at what it did best at the point where it sold the most. Follow Larian's lead and double down on that. The audience is still there. And waiting. ❤️" [source thread]

--

User: "Maybe they can sell the IP to Larian. Or someone else who would treat it respectfully." David Gaider: "I suspect Larian is, smartly, done with working on third-party IP. You do all that work, and the IP overlords do little more than dictate the minutiae and make your life difficult and then you have to cut them a huge slice of the proceeds too? Not a lot of studios are going to bite THAT hook. [source] I know you said SELL the IP, but there's no way EA will relinquish its hold on an IP that could potentially do big numbers. In their ideal world, a studio takes it on, does all the work, and they rake in the cash. Giving up that kind of potential would require BIG money... and who would buy it?" [source]

[deerspherestudios]

Hello hello! I'm Cheea, also known as DeersphereStudios; if you're here for content related to my games on itch.io, you're in the right place! You can expect lore snippets and doodles, behind-the-scenes and other stuff that players might be interested in!

My current ongoing project is Mushroom Oasis, initially submitted for a Yandere Game Jam in 2023. While that's the main focus of this blog, I also occasionally talk about my other one-shot games: Astronought and Lift Your Spirits!

Enjoy your stay! ☕🐰

🔗 LINKS 🔗:

🎮 itch.io ▏ 🎨 Patreon ▏ 🦋 Fan-MO Discord

📖 FAQs 📖:

[PLEASE READ BEFORE SENDING AN ASK!]

🔍 MUSHROOM OASIS QnA MASTERLIST 🔎:

❥ [PART 1] Mychael's abilities, romantic/yandere traits and his opinion on kids.

❥ [PART 2] Mychael’s anatomy.

❥ [PART 3] Mychael’s reactions to different MCs.

❥ [PART 4] Mychael's general lore.

❥ [PART 5] Mychael’s favorite things, experience with holidays and MR!Mychael.

🔍 LIFT YOUR SPIRITS QnA MASTERLIST 🔎

🔍 ASTRONOUGHT QnA MASTERLIST 🔎

// EXTRAS BELOW:

// TAGS:

✿ mushroom oasis vn/lift your spirits vn/astronought vn = official game tag.

✿ mychael ask/alma ask/atom ask = questions about each character!

✿ fanart, fanfic = (submitted or reblogged) fanworks.

✿ doodles = silly scenarios in sketch form.

✿ light spoilers = posts that imply future updates.

✿ bts = behind the scenes for any current or past projects.

✿ how tos = renpy or drawing tutos on how i do stuff!

✿ cheea chatter = dev posts, bit random.

✿ jar of fireflies = lovely messages from players that make my day!

✿ happy birthday mychael/alma/atom = special fanart for their special day(s)!

✿ mushroom musings = theories for the Mushroom Oasis game!

✿ poll time = silly and sometimes plot-relevant polls!

✿ patreon post-its = posts shared from my patreon!

// MY GAMES:

beware of toxic fungi. a slow burn yandere vn : itch.io

🍄 Questions about Mychael (ask tag) 🍄 Mychael's character sheet 🍄 Firefly's character sheet 🍄 of mushrooms and men ║ a mychael playlist (Spotify)

trapped in space with a stranger too keen on getting to know you. a short sci-fi horror/romance(??) vn : itch.io

👽 Questions about Atom (ask tag) 👽 Astronought QnA masterlist 👽 Atom's character sheet (coming soon) 👽 Luna's character sheet (coming soon)

are the campus rumors true? short horror/light romance vn : itch.io

👻 Questions about Alma/Vida (ask tag) 👻 Lift Your Spirits QnA masterlist 👻 Alma/Vida's character sheet (coming soon) 👻 MC's character sheet (coming soon)

✩ Thank you to @/thecutestgrotto and @/plum98 for their lovely dividers!

✩ For my own personal use: the old pinned post.

[apostaterevolutionary]

Okay can I be a bitter Anders fan for like. Just 2 minutes here lmao

Cause bioware released some game stats for veilguard and apparently 72% of players redeemed Solas which is like. Okay yeah the game kinda pushes you towards that. But when I think of all the shit I used to have to put up with just for enjoying Anders like at all and…

(This is not me being anti-Solas, I do not care if you love or hate him, but I am gonna say what he’s done is like. Objectively worse than literally every other companion so lmao. And that’s fine! You can still enjoy him! I’m not saying you can’t and it’s important to me that people understand that! I’m just saying he did in fact do objectively morally worse things in game than Anders did and I don’t think that’s really debatable. And I can’t really make my point here without saying that but I do want to make it clear this is not some moral condemnation of Solas enjoyers cause it’s not)

Getting anon hate on the regular, being told “oh you’re allowed to like Anders as long as you regularly talk about how much he sucks”, people gleefully describing how much fun they have killing him ON your posts about the fact that you like him, the devs making jokes about shitty fates for him when fans asked innocent questions about him, the absolute audacity of his writer to say half the shit she did in interviews (about bisexuality and mental illness, most critically), and then being beaten over the head again in inquisition about how Anders is the worst character to ever exist and there’s no redemption for terrorists who lie to you one time in the entire game and he deserves death or worse and that’s it

And now… 72% of people are down to redeem the guy who lies to you for 2 games straight and who did a lot of questionable things that includes creating the fucking blight and. Like. I guess I’m glad that Solas fans can live in a world where they aren’t constantly harassed and can give their ship like. A pretty damn good ending all things considered. And that the devs love Solas and actually give the option for that happy ending and have characters go to bat for Solas throughout the game and the most annoying thing they have to see are people making scrambled egg memes. I would not wish anyone to have to deal with the shit Anders fans had to put up with back then cause it sucked. It really sucked. And I’m glad it’s not being repeated with a different character, if nothing else

But like. Man there really is a difference when the writers actually like the character who does the thing, huh

[woesoftheirwretched-if]

death, life, is there a life after death?

WOES OF THEIR WRETCHED.

| “You will be getting your revenge, no matter what the cost is and whom you have to use..”

Main blog : @pearldvs || other if blogs : none....

LINKS :

DEV-LOGS || FAQ || WARNINGS || SECRET ROS & FLINGS || MASTERLIST || BUG REPORT || THE SEED verse 9:80

PLOT: a recommended 18+ interactive fiction (that contains disturbing/dark subject matter that is not for everyone)that takes place in a mix and alternate universe of ancient medieval times. Nothing in this story will be historically accurate. Woes of their wretched (wotw-if) is where you play as a consort of a cruel king, Leif. You are going to get your revenge for yourself and possibly for other reasons but you will play as a consort and a parent.

| 18+ themes such as described nudity, graphic depictions of blood and gore, depression, rape, abuse, forced Marriage, morally questionable behavior, toxic and unhealthy relationships, child abuse, and more(you can check out the full warnings down above)

note | you will not be able to pick the gender of your child, you will have a son. the main character will start off as a bad parent towards their son and later on the game, you can still be a bad parent or try to be a great, how you choose will affect your life, other characters, and your son's life.

| mc will get pregnant regardless of gender due to magic (if amab)

FEATURES

=Choose the person you wish to be, customize your name, gender, sex, sexual orientation and appearance, you can also choose what kind of parent you want to be; loving and caring or unloving and uncaring as well with choosing what kind of lover you wish to be; loving, lying, manipulative, toxic, healthy…

=Choose your endings and life : There are bad and happy endings for anyone. Yourself, Your Son. It's all up to you, what you can get.

=Build or break your relationship with characters such as ros(romance options) and your son. Even though you can help them, there is no way to make everyone happy but it’s your choice to pick who can be or not.

=Romance anyone of the eight romance interests and 6 secret romance interests(and a few that would be seen as conversational)…but some are not really romance options, a few might die, betray or reject you… will you pick the right ones and be possibly happy? ( 14 ros in total and 4 flings )

DEMO: Prologue 0.5 —on itch io [40k words] : has beem uploaded.

| currently : working on the rest of the prologue part one...

Note: as of currently, I cannot use butlers on Itch io due to my chromebook being messy, if you want. You can download save files or export it.

NOTE; EVERYONE IS THE GAME IS MESSED UP, SICK AND THEY'RE AWARE, DO NOT BABY ANY CHARACTERS (-the kids ofc)

ALL 8 ROMANCE OPTIONS[ros] & OTHER NON-DATEABLE CHARACTERS BELOW

All romance in this story is optional and can be skipped all together if preferred. Still, the platonic relationships will be rewarding and deep on a different level. There are currently no options for poly relationships but I will think about it..

[MAIN CAST]

THE VOICE [unknown] , ?? - ◇

??? : the voice is something or someone that has been with you ever since your mother had died when you were ten years old.

?? : your mother had the voice inside of her mind for a long time when her father was killed, this voice seems to be from your mother's side and it says it is a demon.

| the voice and mc will have a complex relationship and throughout the game, the voice will be a bastard and judge you throughout the game and later on you can have a nickname for it.

#wretched : voice

MC 'DOVE' AUGUSTKINGS (ALCOTT) [genderselectable] , 21 - ☆

Backstory: You are a outcast as people would say, just in the shadows with the title of 'one of Leif's many consorts' as people would say...

📎 A person, with gold eyes and customize-able to your likings.

#wretched : mc

| customized-able looks except for eyes (gold)

° | mc will originally be a bad parent towards Emil(your child) due to trauma, its up to if you want to be a bad parent or a great parent... your child's faith will lay on your hands.

EMIL AUGUSTKINGS [male] , 7 - ♧

Backstory: your child, you had no interest in him, born out of force and no love for him, but you realize that you can take your revenge - a possible heir of the throne, your ticket to revenge.

📎 An young boy, he has light brown skin, he has gold eyes. He is short in height (4'0). His hair is dark green and short that reaches to his ears and it is neatly combed. His body is skinny and petitle.

#wretched : emil

| you are unable to name him but you can give him a nickname later on, if you wish so.

MIRSELL CONSTAN [female] , 57 - ◇

Backstory: A old woman that takes care of consorts' children, a nanny but she seems to take care of your child more. - A elderly woman, a nanny people would say. She calls herself, Emil's Mother. Not around you, obviously.

📎 An older woman, she has brown skin tone, she has black deep eyes, she is short in height (5'4) and her hair color is fully grey and white and it is shoulder length and tied in a bun. Her body is leaning towards chubby.

#wretched : mirsell

| you can choose her faith later on the game, she can die or live also she can hate or love you later on.

ARTHUR IOVMISE [male] , 47 - ○

Backstory: A man, he is an assistant of the king, he also helps the consorts - He is a strong man that is also seen scolding the consorts, his daughter was also a consort of the king but rumors say that he helped her flee.

📎 An man, he has a tan skin tone and he had dark blue eyes along with his height being tall(6'1) and his hair being dark green with some grey hairs(he has facial hair), it is short and reaches to his ears, his body type is lanky and tall.

#wretched : arthur

| depending on your choices, he can hate or love you as his own.

SONA(SOPHIA) BELLWON [male] , 25 - ☆

Backstory: A servant, he is having an affair with one of the consorts, a young woman named Emilia - He is a servant that is related to Lady Mirsell, his grandma, well not really but he says he is.

📎 An man with fair skin, he has hazel eyes and he is average in height(5'11) and he has a color that mixes of grey and blue, his hair is shoulder length and is tied in a low ponytail. His body type is lean and average.

#wretched : sona

| sona will either help you or betray you depending on a very important choice you will make and he will be important as well.

LEIF AUGUSTKINGS [male] , 56 - ♧

Backstory: He is a man that was raised by a cold mother and a ill father, he is cold as well - He is your husband, he wants a heir, a strong one. A son. Every daughter is ignored, you're lucky.

📎 An man who has two different colored green eyes with dark blue and brown skin, he is tall(6'4) and his hair color is dark green and it is ear length along with his beard which is a stubble and his body is quite muscular.

#wretched : leif

| he will die in a lot of endings except the bad endings and he is one of the main problems with your life and trauma.

ESME DAWN-BALDASSARE [male] , 18 - ☆

Backstory: your brother, despite being younger, has taken care of you, he is your sweet brother and he love you and Emil. - your his only family left and he is yours, he doesn't do much but stays at king Leif's castle at your request.

📎 An man with olive skin that is your younger half brother, his eye color is ruby red, and his height is short(5'4) his hair color is purple but with natural highlights of ash blonde and it reaches up to his shoulder and often tied in a small pigtail. His body is lean.

#wretched : esme

| no matter what you do, esme will always be there for you.

MOTHER ALCOTT [female] , 29 - ☆

Backstory: your mother, none hardly used her name in the castle, she was like a curse - she had died when you were younger, around 8. Just taken away by your father and his guards.

📎 An woman whom you called your mother, she has gold eyes like yours, she is quite tall(5'12) and her hair color is black and unevenly cut, and it is left loose. Her body is thin and bony.

#wretched : mother

| no matter what you do, she will always hate you.

+ more *on codex in the game, more characters will appear on there once more chapters are released... i will make a separate codex for more characters since putting all of them in one would be too much. (Important characters only will show or who have more appearance than others)

[ROs] 8 known ros, 6 secret ros and 4 flings

(ros : 14 in total w/ 4 flings)

| one or more of those romance options(ros) can die, betray your or your child or even reject you. you can be healthy or toxic towards characters, romance options, and even your son.

| most ros will start with slow burn, flings, and towards you can confess your feelings where some might reject or accept you but some ros are not really ros, dont trust anyone. (some ros might not like your child and will try to convince you to get rid of him, everyone is a red flag including mc)

| note. one of the ros is legally your step-son but none of the consorts(leif's consorts) feel like family and one the flings is your cousin. again, its up to you, if you want to romance the ro or sleep with the fling. One of the ros is older and does know mc when they were younger(not really but they do know and see mc when they were a child meanwhile they were an adult) and it might be seen as uncomfortable, one fling is married just uses mc for pleasure. (Again, everyone is toxic and might not show their true colors)

×

MICELA LENN [female] , 25 - ☆ [she/her]

Backstory: a young woman who was hired to be a nanny for the children like Mirsell but just younger - she takes care of children, she seems fond of your son, Emil. She also takes care of you, when she can. Maybe she admires you.

📎 An woman with brown skin and dark green eyes. She is short in height (5’4). Her hair is a deep shade of black, short and tied in a short messy bun. She has a lean body type . She has a gap between her two front teeth along with a small scar on her nose. Maria is seen mostly wearing her nanny’s outfit–a black dress with puffy sleeves and a white apron– but when she isn’t working, it would be a dress–a cool shade of blue dress, long that covers her knees and her arms, like an sundress– that her mother brought her before she left her home.

#wretched : micela

| she can be in-love with you or hate you in the first part of the game, depends on you.

LUCEYDELL RICHNESS [male] , 20 - ☆ [he/they]

Backstory: another consort of Leif, he is closer to you than any other consort, he seems fond of you. he is seen as feminine and often is dressed and he was originally a consort of a deity called "wraith". there are some rumors that he is the favorite.

📎 A male with light brown skin and pink eyes. He is around average in height (5’7). His hair is a very light shade of white, long that reaches his chest and tied in drill ringlets. He is average but leaning towards thin, he has beauty marks about everywhere on his face and a birthmark of something that seems like a fingerprint. Luce is seen mostly wearing his robes; it's completely white with gold undertones and has ribbons and many ties on it.

#wretched : luceydell

| he will be kind of a cock block during other routes and also toxic (more on the yandere side)

FAYETTE IRVINE [female] , 34 - ☆ [she/her]

Backstory: a dancer, a woman who has born and brought into a work of dancing and more, she is often brought by the king to perform - she often dances and has her own personal room despite her work, she is seen with kids. She cannot give birth to her own, she once said.

📎 A woman with light brown skin and dark green eyes. She is short in height (5’2). Her hair is auburn brown, long and tied in a low ponytail. She is thin in size and weight. She has a beauty mark under her eye and mouth. She mostly wears a long blue gown that is tied with many laces and noble french-wear; when not working as a dancer but is seen wearing a small dancer's wear.

#wretched : fayette

| this is the ro who knows and seen mc when they were a child but fayette never payed attention to young mc until present day(chapter one) and fayette doesn't remember them but can still be see as uncomfortable.

PANDORA AUGUSTKINGS [male] , 25 - ☆ [he/him]

Backstory: one of the king's children, they hate their father and is wanting to get the throne to avenge their mother - They are technically your step-child since marriage to the king but not really, none feels like family, they seem rude and often bothers you.

📎 A man with warm ochre skin and deep black eyes. He is tall in height (6’1). His hair is a deep shade of black like jet-black along with natural purple highlights, short that reaches up to his chin and left well-combed and slightly slicked-back with some strands in his face. He has an average built. He has two scars, one across his cheek to his other cheek, that goes across his nose and the second one on his neck. He is seen mostly wearing a royal suit–that is white and has blue undertones.

#wretched : pandora

| he is the stepson (legally by marriage) soo... also hates you but hey, hate-fuck/j

SALLY FIORISE [male] , 24 - ☆ [he/him]

Backstory: a baker and florist, he is a young parent like you - he is working at the castle since he is the town's delight and gets paid well!

📎 An man with peach skin and black-hole eyes. He is average in height (5'9). His hair is dirty blonde that reaches his ears and it is messy but yet noble looking. He has a lean; body type. He has one beauty mark under his eye. He has scars on his hands and fingers due to his job. He wears a white undershirt with a black apron with a white bandanna on his head, with black trousers and brown shoes.

#wretched : sally

| he has a daughter that is overprotective of him, depending on your choices, you can be happy or mad with sally.

EMMY GREENBRIAR [f/m] , 25 - ☆ [depending on choice]

Backstory: a knight, your personal knight ever since an attempted murder, the king has brought you a knight. - they are always near you. Visible or not. They will stand by your side.

📎 An person with tan skin and dark green eyes. They are very tall in height (6'2). Their hair is short black hair that reaches chin but bit above and is tied up in a small low ponytail. They have a musclar build and a strong body. They have more scars on their body that is scattered every where, face, neck, legs, back. They wear a knight's amour at all times and without it, is just wearing a loose black shirt with brown trousers.

#wretched : emmy

| regardless of gender, emmy will still be very tall and very strong since some people might like a strong woman with muscles!

ADEN BASTARD [f/m] , 23- ☆ [depends on choice]

Backstory: ironically by the last name, They are a bastard. Born out of incest, their parents both siblings, surprisingly no birth deflects well they were born with an illness - They are a noble and stays close to you after their castle was burnt down, they are soon to be betrothed to an other.

📎 An person with a fair skin tone with red eyes. They are around short and average in height(5'6). Their hair is a natural blue, it reaches their shoulders and it's tied in a low ponytail that lays across their shoulder. They have a skinny body type due to the illness. They easily bruise and often is seen with bruises on their skin. They wear a mix of a nightgown and that still scream nobility instead of sleepwear, it's completely white with some red undertones.

#wretched : aden

| you can help them from the unwanted marriage or not but depending on your choices, they will no longer be a ro if they do get taken away.

MARRYJOY WHITEFIELD [nonbinary] , 22 - ☆ [they/them]

Backstory: not much is known but they are quiet and mysterious, weirdly the king is very interested in marryjoy - they are a mage but a fortune teller, the king seems happy around marryjoy, they have a secret.

📎 An person with a brown skintone and has hazel eyes. They are average in height (5'8). Their hair is white and long that reaches their past their shoulder that is left loose. They have a average build; a mix of skinny yet some chubby-iness on them. They have eye bags on their face along with a circle birthmark on their forehead. They wear a mages robe almost all the times.

#wretched : marryjoy

| marryjoy will be a problem at the start and will be seen at chapter one but rarely.

woes of their wretched.

@interact-if | @pearldvs

[meglosthegreat]

So... everyone pretty much hated Veilguard's "secret ending", right? Beyond speculation about the Executors themselves, I haven't exactly seen anyone excited about its presence, and for that matter, haven't seen many people talking about it at all.

The closest way I can describe my initial reaction to it was an immediate, visceral disgust. I think I remember uttering at my screen something along the lines of "Fuck off! What the fuck?! Are you fucking kidding me???" and ever since then I've wanted to put into words exactly why it made me feel that way.

For the 88% of you (according to Steam achievement statistics) who didn't see this ending due to not picking up three very specific codex entries by complete chance, you can watch it here. In short, the clip depicts a mysterious voice who sounds suspiciously like Matt Mercer talking about how a group of shadowy figures has "balanced, guided, and whispered" over scenes of villains from the previous DA games, implying that these shadowy figures have been at least partially responsible for all of the bad things happening in Thedas, towards some unknown nefarious purpose.

Now obviously, this sucks. This is hamfisted, unimaginative writing that simultaneously retcons and re-contextualizes elements from DA's past that absolutely no one thought needed further explanation, as well as being exactly the kind of irritating sequel-bait tactics that people have largely grown tired of these days. But why does it suck so much? Why did I feel such palpable distaste for this scene?

For starters, it simply reeks of entitlement, and a lack of respect towards Bioware's own past games. Remember those villains you loved and thought were compelling? Well, their own personal, very complex and thought-out motivations were really just the Executors whispering in their ears the whole time! Loghain making a difficult and calculated decision at great personal cost for a greater good he truly believed in? Executors. Bartrand succumbing to his own greed to the point that he betrays his only family and devolves into a tragic husk of himself? Executors. Corypheus and the Magisters breaching the Golden fucking City??? Executors.

Ignore the infuriating lore ramifications for a second and consider: what do all of these things have in common? They're all instances of complex character motivation; of people in this world doing things for their own reasons that ended up having massive ramifications. In short, they're not events that can be explained easily in terms of black and white morality. And from what we've seen in Veilguard, the current dev team has a serious inability to work with any story elements that do not have absolute moral clarity: the Venatori and the Antaam are Evil. The Shadow Dragons and the Crows are Good. Any nuance; any potential questioning of this duality is quickly explained away or snuffed out.

And that's exactly what they're trying to do, retroactively, with the rest of the series. Having a hard time deciding whether Loghain was right or wrong? Well, worry not, the Executors are Evil and if they were guiding him the whole time, then what he did must have been Evil too! Grappling with how the plot of DA2 was about the inevitable tragedy of a series of oppressive systems reaching their natural breaking point? Well, wrestle no further, for if the Executors were involved then Meredith and Bartrand must've been Evil, no question! What the Magisters did was definitely Not Great, and what do you know, there were consequences for it that they and the whole world very much did pay for. But if the Executors were behind it all, then it was someone else's fault, some Evil power reaching in and making them do what they did, rather than their actions being the result of a horrific series of power abuses done by actual people.

Which leads me to where my initial disgust comes in. Because in a world which has always had core themes of power and its many abuses, actions that have consequences, and the idea that there are no true higher beings; every horrible thing that has ever been done was done by people, the simple act of putting shadowy figures behind key moments in history completely debases and neuters all of those themes. The whole point of Dragon Age as a series up until this point has been to illustrate the complex relationships people and societies have with power, choice, and morality. To remove that link - to place an external force between those characters and their choices - is to rob the series of any meaning whatsoever.

There is a staggering difference between the messaging of a game that tells you ordinary people are to blame for society's wrongs and a game that tells you a secret shadowy faction of evil forces are to blame for them. The former invites thought about one's own society; it has the potential to be uncomfortable and difficult to reconcile with. The latter assures its audience of the fantasy it is couched in. It gives the audience a boogeyman to be angry at, and in so doing deflects any potential for introspection. And that, I think, is the real point of the scene in question.

In a time where our media has become inundated with bland, unchallenging liberal politics, the idea of "cozy" stories have become a growing trend. These types of stories often sport a broad rejection of complicated themes, painful emotions, and nuance, preferring instead to provide a "safe" place to escape to. And with that "safe" space comes a directive not to engage in critical thinking about a work, and not to draw any message from that work and apply it to the real world. Yet this is exactly where Bioware seems to be heading nowadays.

Veilguard has already been faced with heavy criticism about playing things overly safe; removing anything that might be potentially uncomfortable for the player. And the end credits scene is no different. Don't think about things too hard, it whispers to you seductively, in Matt Mercer's soothingly Evil voice. See? The Bad Guys were behind everything, all along.