#and catarina's big hat

[skrunksthatwunk]

he looks like he went to yugioh seminary

[guillotined-cinema]

Dark Souls NPCs

[literally-1894]

Frampt can't stand Seath, Shira and Priscilla are both descended from Seath, Shira has some family resemblance to Gwynevere, Yorshka looks quite a bit like Shira and has physical features indicating her to be descended from Seath, "maiden of Gwynevere" might actually mean "female descendent" (not sure on this one, haven't read the original Japanese), Lothric was produced by "unspeakable means" through Oceiros' identification with Seath, Gwyndolin, despite having very easy access to Seath's sorceries and using Logan sorceries quite proficiently, never touched Crystal Sorcery in his life, Seath spent an inordinate amount of time torturing the Maidens of Gwynevere, the "Power of the Moon" might actually refer to the Moonlight Greatsword, thus being related to dragons, snakes are imperfect dragons, a massive taboo around Seath and Seath Worship is maintained through the series, the only named characters Seath abducts (Reah, Dusk, and Sieglinde) are women, the Queen of Lothric left Oceiros after giving birth to Ocelotte (a "child of dragons, who looks a bit like Priscilla"), we still don't know how Yorshka is descended from both Gwyn and Seath, and Yorshka seems to have relied on similar invisible bridges to guide people to her tower to what you find in the Crystal Cave.

I feel like I am going insane.

[go-go-devil]

okay the ask of all time: how do you think various dark souls characters stim? could be relevant to your fic or not, up to you! [if you want to introduce modern stimming to them (like how daniil dankovsky now has ye olde snake tangle) that's also groovy]

🖤🔥EXCELLENT QUESTION🔥🖤

I've got a good amount of stim headcanons for certain characters! Some of them may end up getting highlighted in To The Accursed, but this answer won't spoil anything for the fic per say so don't worry.

(I should also specify that this will only focus on DS1 characters since I'm not finished with 2 and haven't played 3 yet)

Well to get the obvious out of the way I know Siegmeyer is a major vocal stimmer. All those “Mmmmmmm, hmmmmm’s” he does whenever he’s deep in thought comes across like he’s trying to keep himself calm so he doesn’t get frustrated in each of his predicaments. I can’t blame him, and I’ve even found myself parroting his hums after first hearing his dialogue since it helps me out too!

Though we sadly don’t see much of Sieglinde, I imagine she too has a similar vocal stim as her father. We just don’t get to hear it because we never run into her experiencing the same bouts of indecision as he does.

Big Hat Logan I imagine is very tactile. He’ll rub the ends of his sleeves or his robe’s collar when he’s feeling anxious, and would especially love the textures of a book’s spine and pages (only the GOOD books though, he refuses to read any in bad condition unless they’re the only source of the knowledge he’s seeking). Logan’s also invented his own stim sorceries: complex but intentionally weak little glowing patterns with satisfying sounds he casts simply because the act of casting them feels so good!

We already know the Undead Merchant Woman hyperfixates on moss, so it wouldn't be a surprise if her major stim come from peeling the plants and kneading her fingers deep into each of the clumps. I can even see her talking to herself while she does it too. Her voice does kinda work for an ASMR lol.

Solaire... I'm actually not entirely dead set on his stims at the moment. If the npc models weren't so stiff I could definitely see him flapping his hands a lot, especially when he's allowed to infodump. Hell, his Praise the Sun gesture could be a stim for all we know!

Patches I can totally see as a nail-biter. He also used to pick at his hair often back when he still had any, and even after shaving it all off the muscle memory occasionally causes him to reach up and scratch his head. Though of course we mustn't forget his absolute favorite form of stimming: kicking people off of cliffs >:-)

And a bonus! My oc, Leiurus, often self-soothes by rocking back and forth while sitting down. She also particularly likes grabbing things, whether it be her own clothing or any nice looking trinkets she finds, most especially ones that have a good texture like fine robes or scales.

[meazalykov]

shooters shoot

catarina macario x f!uswnt!reader with features of platonic!trinity rodman x f!uswnt!reader

your team at chelsea does not know that you're bold, so you take your confession to a crush to the next level

you’re sprawled across your couch in your london flat, the early morning light filtering through the blinds. it’s 6am, and your phone is propped up on a cushion, trinity’s face filling the screen.

your bestfriend's pink braids are loose, swinging as she moves around her dc apartment. it’s 11pm for her, and she’s buzzing, her energy practically vibrating through the facetime call.

you’re in a yankees hat, the brim pulled low, and a chelsea blue hoodie that’s a size too big, your go-to for these morning chats.

“y/n, i’m freaking out!” trinity says, her voice a mix of glee and disbelief. she’s pacing her living room, holding her phone so close you can see the glitter of her earrings.

“did you see that ben posted his own tiktok too? is that a hard launch? oh my god, the comments are wild and everyone won't stop blowing me up about it.”

you grin, sipping coffee from a chipped mug.

“girl, we were on call when you posted it... remember? you and ben are just out here breaking the internet.. I mean a tennis star and an espresso shot from the us women's team? of course the fans are eating it up... they love anything that involves being nosey.”

trinity laughs, flopping onto her couch.

“i didn’t think he’d go that big, you know? like, we talked about it, but then he posted that photo and then that tiktok??? i screamed, y/n. I fucking screamed!!”

you laugh, nearly spilling your coffee.

“it’s so extra but you two are cute, though. the washington spirit girls must be losing it.”

“oh, they are,” trinity says, rolling her eyes.

“croix already joked about planning a team dinner to ‘celebrate my glow-up.’ like, chill.” she pauses, then leans closer to the screen, her voice dropping.

“but, like… what do you think? about the whole public thing?”

you tilt your head, catching the shift in her tone.

“it’s bold. i mean, you and ben are solid, so it works. why? you regretting it?”

“no, no,” she says quickly, waving a hand.

“i love it. it’s just… i don’t know. it’s a lot but it feels good, you know? like, we’re out here, no hiding.” she starts pulling her braids into a ponytail, her fingers moving fast, “you ever think about doing something like that?”

you freeze with your mug halfway to your lips, “me? like, a hard launch? trin, i’d need someone to launch with first.”

trinity raises an eyebrow, tying off her ponytail.

“don’t play dumb with me, y/n. you’ve been acting all weird each camp since we came back from our injuries after the olympics... who’s got you smiling at your phone?”

your stomach flips. you set your mug down, tugging at the strings of your hoodie, “i don’t smile at my phone.”

“liar,” she says, smirking.

“spill. who is it? I know its someone we play with.”

you hesitate, glancing at the ceiling like it’ll give you an out but it’s trinity aka your best friend since you were kids, the one who knows every embarrassing story from your first uswnt camp. you sigh, leaning back into the couch.

“fine. it’s… catarina.”

trinity’s jaw drops, then she bursts out laughing, clapping her hands.

“catarina? as in catarina macario, HUHHHHH???? our teammate? your chelsea teammate? oh, that’s so obvious!”

she says that in the most sarcastic voice imaginable^

you scoff, crossing your arms.

“shut the hell up, trin.”

she’s still laughing, her head thrown back.

“im joking but no, no, it’s perfect. that shit was clearly obvious but you’re just out here crushing on cat, and it’s written all over your face. I'm fucking dying.”

“you’re the worst,” you mutter, but you’re smiling.

“it’s not that serious though. i just… like her. a lot.”

trinity wipes her eyes, calming down.

“okay, but real talk? you should do what me and ben did. post something cute, tag her, make it official.”

you shake your head, your heart racing at the thought.

“trin, you and ben were already together when you did that. i can’t just… shoot my shot like that. what if it freaks her out?”

trinity leans forward, her face serious now.

“can i tell you something, you have to promise to not tell anyone?”

you narrow your eyes.

“sure.”

she takes a deep breath, like she’s about to drop a bomb.

“last camp catarina was talking to lily, alyssa, lindsey, and sonnet and… she admitted she likes you.”

your brain short-circuits.

“what?”

“yep,” trinity says, nodding.

“she was all shy about it, but she told them she’s into you after lily questioned her about it... like, for real.”

you sit up, your hat nearly falling off.

“trin, if you’re lying, I'm booking a flight to dulles airport and killing you.”

“i’m not lying!” she says, holding up her hands.

“I swear on my spirit contract.”

you stare at her, your mind spinning. catarina likes you? catarina, with her quiet confidence and her laugh that makes your chest feel tight?

you swallow hard, trying to process, “okay… fine. maybe i’ll do it.”

trinity’s eyes light up, “the tiktok trend I did? the ‘shooters shoot’ one?”

you nod, already feeling the nerves.

“yeah. it’s funny, and… i don’t know. it’s less scary since you know I fuck with humor.”

“i can’t wait,” trinity says, grinning.

“you’re gonna shock everyone with that shit!”

later that day, you’re back on your couch, your phone in hand. you’ve got the tiktok app open, the audio already picked: “they say shooters shoot… ah huh… duke dennis, what’s up with you?”

it’s a vibe, catchy and bold, perfect for what you’re about to do. you’re still in your yankees hat and chelsea hoodie, the outfit feeling like armor.

you take a deep breath, hit record, and let the audio play.

on the screen, you keep it simple. just text and no full name that shows you're talking about your chelsea teammate.

“-------- -------, what’s up with you?”

you count the dashes carefully with catarina’s first and last name, without actually typing it. you post it before you can overthink, your heart pounding as the video goes live.

within minutes, your notifications explode.

your tiktok is no stranger to attention since you post a lot, from training clips to goofy dances with trinity or other teammates like alyssa back home and mille from chelsea.

however, you see that fans are losing it, speculating in the comments.

“who’s the mystery girl?”

“y/n’s shooting her shot what the hell???!”

"trinity got her to do ts I bet"

“those dashes… wait a minute!”

you scroll through, your cheeks burning. some uswnt teammates are in on it too.

tara comments, “oh, we know 👀.”

giselle drops a fire emoji and even some chelsea girls are chiming in.

you’re equal parts thrilled and terrified.

the next country over from you in england... lily, chilling in the netherlands, sees the tiktok and immediately sends it to catarina with a single smirk emoji.

catarina watches it, her lips curling into a smile. she laughs, her cheeks flushing.

“wha-what? that is crazy,”

she mutters to herself, but she can’t stop watching it.

the next day, you’re at chelsea’s training facility, and the locker room is a minefield.

you walk in, head down, knowing exactly what’s coming.

catarina’s already there, sitting on the bench next to your spot, lacing up her boots. you glance at her, and she smiles...soft, but with a spark that makes your stomach flip.

“well, well, well,” sam says, striding in with a grin.

“look at tiktok star y/n, shooting her shot.”

you groan, tossing your bag into your locker.

“can you not?”

“nope,” sam says, popping the ‘p.’

“you’re famous now. that video already reached nearly 200 thousand likes and everybody is dropping every athletes name in the book to figure out who you're talking about... iconic.”

lucy joins in, leaning against the lockers.

“ona sent me the video and i’m just saying, y/n, those dashes were very specific.”

you roll your eyes, but you’re smiling.

“y’all are annoying.”

catarina’s quiet, but you catch her glancing at you, her smile growing and you smile back at her with a sparkler in your eyes.

sam notices and gags dramatically, “oh my god, you two are so gay.”

you turn to sam raising an eyebrow, “says the woman whose american fiancé is pregnant with your kid. who’s also my godson, by the way. maybe we’re all just gay in here!”

the room erupts in laughter.

millie, ever the straight ally, shakes her head, “not me.”

you smirk, “you look gay, though.”

millie cackles pointing at you, “fair, but don’t change the subject. that tiktok was about catarina, wasn’t it?”

you don’t deny it, just shrug, your cheeks burning.

catarina’s still next to you, and you feel her shoulder brush yours.

it’s enough to make your heart skip.

after training, you’re walking to the parking lot when catarina catches up to you.

“hey,” she says, her voice soft but teasing.

“can i get a ride?”

“yeah, of course,” you say, trying to play it cool despite the butterflies in your chest. you unlock your car, and she slides into the passenger seat.

as you drive, the silence is comfortable, but you can feel her watching you. finally, she speaks.

“so… that tiktok. was it really about me?”

you grip the steering wheel, your face hot.

“yeah. i mean… i didn’t want to, like, freak you out but yeah. trinity thought it would be funny and I know humor is kinda like our thing so...”

she laughs, and it’s the best sound you’ve ever heard.

“damn you pulled a trinity and ben on me. i can’t believe it.”

you glance at her catching the way her eyes sparkle back at you, “too much?”

“no,” she says, shaking her head.

“it was cute... very cute.”

you pull up to her apartment, and before you can say anything, she turns to you.

"y/n, i… i like you. like, a lot. i didn’t know how to say it before without any of our teammates getting in the way but… yeah.”

your heart stops, then starts again, faster.

“i like you too, cat. a lot.”

she smiles, and it’s like the sun coming out.

“so…”

you take a deep breath, feeling bold.

“how about a date? do you remember that one rooftop restaurant you and mia took me to back in san diego last year. it was a beautiful place that overlooked the beaches. we could have our first date here but we’ve got national break in a few days so... are you in?”

“i’m in,” she says, leaning over to kiss you.

it was a quick peck, but it causes a smile to break through you anyways.

“it’s a date.” you mumbled against her lips.

you watch her walk into her building, your heart bursting.

when you get home, you text trinity.

y/n:

i did it. date with cat. you were right.

trinity four seconds later:

TOLD YOU.

shooters shoot, y/n.

i’m proud.

you laugh, sinking into your couch, already counting down the days until you are in san diego.

[phoenixremix69]

Theory based on the 1154 spoilers!!!

we learn that Rocks was at a previous Reverie BEFORE becoming a pirate.

And why was he there?

because he was a former king/rogue celestial dragon and Fullalead was his kingdom! That's why it had two former Rocks guarding it, and why Blackbeard took it over considering(super spoilers!!!) THAT'S HIS DAD!!!. Fullalead is his by birthright! And now Blackbeard wants to officially reinstate Fullalead back into a kingdom of the WG!

And why is that?

Well, we know that being domi Reversi'd is linked to being a king, maybe he just wants a powerup. Or maybe being a king means he can get up to Mari joi, and Catarina Devon has access to an abyss tattoo which probably unlocks smth important, a certain big hat maybe

[yamat0]

one piece elbaf and final war theories

i'll keep adding to this as the story goes on to keep everything in one place easier

- 1138 mural

- 1138 mural text

- imu's power won't work on will of D people

More on this

- not sure how i feel about this now since it seems vegapunk is dead dead but bonney potentially being able to reverse his age to a time before he got hurt (like eri from mha)

- saturn death and catarina devon

- garling wolf yokai

-man with/of burn scar

- grim reaper zoro saw

- loki bounty

- loki nika model destruction

- loki, harald, jarul… loki innocent

- world destroyed three times

- Loki destroying the red line

- kids crew

- gods knights being deployed to other oceans

- gunkos dad

- theories from 1149

- law joins the cross guild

- norse mythology and sun god lore maybe a dune situation where the older giants believe in nika but the younger ones don’t (loki could go either way depending on age)

- introduction of a moon god parallel to sun god (maybe kid 👀 with his magnetism)

- luffy weak to darkness

- shanks won’t be on elbaf

- shanks/evil shanks/whoever it is is actually bonneys dad

- all blue on elbaf

- giant straw hat explained (i believe the last road poneglyph is in mariejois along with joy boys body in that storage freezer imu was in) regarding this:

could all of joyboys crew have had straw hats and the giant straw hat imu has in storage is actually emets hat and when emet attacked those hundreds of years ago imu kept it and maybe it also has some sort of haki imbued in it

- loki devil fruit possibilities

lunarian devil fruit

- loki, kid and kalgara tattoo similarities if you squint

updated tattoo post

- kid IS ALIVE AND NOT in jail maybe allied with loki before ragnarok or he’s a new loki. he’s already been imprisoned once so i don’t really see him getting imprisoned again so i think he could be safe on land after washing ashore/one of his crew saving him/or the spirit of his ship saving him (i will defend my man to the death)

- learning more about kid and his devil fruit especially if he will be revealed as an elbaf moon god to parallel luffys sun god. kid could possibly turn his devil fruit awakening into something like gojo's red and blue ability and effectively have his own form of limitless where no one can touch him

- kid’s devil fruit could demagnetize islands and blow them up (he destroys the red line perhaps)

- kid uses big sword in elbaf

- saul is the man marked by flames + we get info on the ohara books

- void century reveal this arc

- regarding the mother flame

brooks crew killed by rocks and god valley getting wiped from the face of the world was one of the first tests of the mother flame and that’s what the hole under enies lobby is and possibly where the one piece is

mother flame doesn’t destroy islands it sinks them

luffy gear 5 flames

lunarians and joyboy

gear 5 siphoning out the mother flame

- giant beasts of elbaf reveal zunesha is from elbaf along with joyboy (could be that all humans originally came from elbaf and they just kept shrinking or something lol)

- the adam and/or eve tree on elbaf similar to yggdrasil

- nine realms… maybe the five elders and imu come from another realm (actual devils/demons) my other posts about this:

if devil fruits indeed exist because of dreams maybe the devil fruits imu and the gorosei have are made from nightmares

raven and i discussing it

sabo translation

five elders are genetically engineered to be demons or are actual demons who possibly along with imu came from another world

five elders made of ropes of haki created by imu similar to vegapunk satellites

- i think enel could return in elbaf and he has uranus

- what the world government has could just be a weapon powered by the mother flame not uranus exactly but it’ll lead to a power struggle for uranus once they realize uranus is back on “earth” (using earth for lack of a better name for the planet one piece takes place on)

- rematch between enel the moon god and luffy the sun god

- no way enel can come close to luffy in terms of power so potentially an awakened enel vs kid fight 👀👀 magnets vs electricity

- enel is from birka (a sky island) also the name of an ancient city on the moon

- birka was a viking trade post and elbaf is based heavily in norse mythology

- urouge return to get revenge on enel for destroying birka

- while we don’t know which sky island urouge is from he has birkan wings

- this rematch leads to ragnarok aka the final war and ties to the destruction of fishman island and mariejois

—end of elbaf leading into the final war arc—

- this is mostly for my oc but the blood blood fruit will be real

- mentioning blood: buccaneer blood and blood types

- fujitora blinding himself reason he survives/retires or joins revolutionary army?

- here’s a list of gimme theories everyone has said that i think can or could be possible during this arc:

robin haki, joyboy has the eyepatch, will of d explanation, dragon devil fruit reveal (probably wind or weather related), blackbeard and rocks explained, yamato new beast pirates to join straw hat grand fleet including members of flying six, the grand fleet big reveal of what they do that changes the world, revolutionary army (including all the pirates [not blackbeard] and cross guild) vs marines/world government, dragon and shanks vs garling, sabo vs akainu, ancient weapons are chekhovs gun they will be used, complete void century reveal and flashback, crocodile secret revealed, major cross guild marine death, law using the immortality surgery another chekhovs gun, shanks and red hair pirates death and sacrifice including yasopp dying to save usopp and shanks dying at blackbeards hand before luffy can return the straw hat

- balls to the walls theories: brook riding laboon into battle at the final war, davy back fight with luffy and shanks, shanks evil twin✅, buggy becomes king of the world on imus throne lol another failing up instance, perona and the cross guild

- reveal that a brain wiping tool was used before

- akainu and dragon past

- shakky could be silver axe from rocks crew

- luffys mom

- impel down breakout 2 electric boogaloo doffy is back baybee

- shalria being an ally

- bonney joining revolutionary army and taking her moms post

- regarding seraphim:

hancock (this one is already confirmed but i think she’ll be back for the final war)

potential ace seraphim

luffy seraphim

- luffys gear 5 flames power tech from the void century and maybe reveal something at mariejois

- sanji fighting warcury (flames) brook fighting nusjuro (ice)

- power of imagination

luffy drinking the 200M of water

- what if nefertari lily was the original op op fruit user and did the perpetual youth surgery on imu (they were in a relationship and Something Soured aka imu wanted power or something) and that's why she mysteriously vanished and why imu keeps a giant portrait of her in the butterfly garden

- operating under the assumption the immortality surgery works like boa hancocks devil fruit (new users can’t undo statues she’s made) law can’t undo imus immortality but he can use it for someone else and maybe that’s what causes imus to immortality to go away. something like only one immortal can exist at the same time

- imu in lili’s body

- world government is done with only a few marines left coby to lead them as a “better and good” marines (no such thing but 🙄 it’s fiction i guess)

- final road poneglyph is found in mariejois

- poneglyphs mention a dream hence why robin looked shocked at luffys dream

- luffy, buggy and blackbeard are the 3 racing for laugh tale and the one piece

- blackbeard will force pudding to reveal information about rocks crew from memories of someone who knows the rock pirates

- luffy vs buggy at first then luffy vs blackbeard, zoro vs mihawk, sanji or robin vs crocodile, nami vs buggy or laffitte or catarina devon, robin vs catarina devon or laffitte, chopper vs doc q, usopp vs van augur after van augur killed yasopp, franky or jinbe vs burgess, brook vs vasco shot

- laugh tale is the last arc with the one piece reveal then ending

- luffy final bounty 5.6 billion

- luffy’s dream

- no epilogue or time skip for straw hat deaths i don’t want to see them die so i’m pretending it doesn’t exist

- arcs i’d like to see: lodestar being a wild west themed island and emerald city being a wizard of oz themed island

I think the final shot will be a recreation of this volume cover :')

[alfiereot]

Maybe Dark Souls isn’t for me anymore

Dark Souls

The feeling of immersing oneself in the lands of Dark Souls is unequivocal, knowing danger lurks in every corner and respite is few and far between, that every step taken is not to be taken for granted, and that victory could be down to the last hit. It is truly special. Back in 2011, this was one of my favourite feelings in the world, as a lad with a newly acquired PS3 I immediately latched to both the exceptional holiday releases of Dark Souls and, its competitor, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. However, of the two, the first one had the most lingering impact. The eeriness of the environment and the brutal gameplay enticed me to immersive myself into its world and learn all its secrets. It quickly became my favourite game of all time, and the first game I ever Platinumed on the console.

Slowly and steadily, I’ve been playing the rest of FromSoftware’s catalogue whenever I have gotten the chance, and Demon’s Souls was soon to follow. I remembering adoring the game. As a player, you can clearly envision the foundations it lay for the rest of the series. A diamond in the rough if you may, you see of how the combat would eventually be a tinnier bit quicker, the level design would evolve into an interconnected world, and the omission of some of the most controversial mechanics (I for one love the world tendency mechanic). This made Demon’s Souls an exceptional game and prepared me to be a fan of FromSoftware for life. And I would be incredibly excited when the reveal of Dark Souls II took to stage at the Game Awards 2012.

Dark Souls II

However, my time to play Dark Souls II wouldn’t come until 2019, when I finally bought a PS4. From what I could remember, the game was myriad with controversy when it first released. The surrounding discourse was on how it was a departure from what made Dark Souls great, and the fact that Hidetaka Miyazaki was not the game’s director was not loss to the masses. He had been rumoured to be working alongside a small team on a special project, specifically designed for the PS4, one which we should talk about shortly.

Nonetheless, in 2019, the consensus turned for the better, as Dark Souls II was recognized as a good game by its own merits and, little did we knew, it would be a main source of inspiration for a future FromSoftware game. For me, personally, I had a decent experience with the game. It would be hard for it to measure to the heights of the original, and I did not expect it to.

There are two specific points of contention I have against the title. The first one, I remember feeling it had some terrible pacing between save points and boss battles. Running through crowded corridors and traps before returning to the fog gates felt eternal. The second one was, in my opinion, the lack of memorable side characters.

I had grown deeply attached to the cast of the original Dark Souls, on Siegmeyer of Catarina and Andre of Astora, on Quelana the Witch of Izalith and Big Hat Logan. However small their story was, their role in my playthrough help me appreciate the tightly crafted world of OG Dark Souls. In retrospective, I do think my exposure was probably enriched by watching channels like EpicNameBro and VaatiVidya, which elucidated the details of their lives to a much greater degree that I could ever do by myself.

From Dark Souls II, the only name which comes to mind is that of Lucatiel of Mirrah, whom I followed their descent to madness until their eventual downfall. Since my first playthrough in these games is usually blind, I ended up not completing most of the quests available on the game. To this day, I do not know if there is a way to save Lucatiel, and I don’t have much to say about the other characters.

When I finished my playthrough, I placed down my controller and said goodbye to Majula. I recognized Dark Souls II as a game of its time, a game which had everything against it as it was tasked to be the successor of one of the best games of the 360/PS3 era, and it had little development time to do so (Dark Souls Artorias of the Abyss would have just released a year and a half prior to Dark Souls II). I failed to notice that my leniency towards Dark Souls II was a symptom of a changing trend within myself and the commencement of my disconnection to how FromSoftware develops games.

Bloodborne

Bloodborne was the game I choose to play next. By happenstance, I was following the chronological order of release and knew from second-hand experience that the land of Yharnam boosted the most hardcore fanbase to be seen in a FromSoftware game (is either this or Elden Ring). So, for the first time, I awoke within the dream to fulfil my duties as a hunter of the night.

Disappointedly, I have little to note about my experience with Bloodborne. Given I embarked on this journey on my base PS4, my playthrough was plagued by the well documented hiccups the game suffers from. I’ve been a console gamer all my life, I can attest that bad performance is not something I’m harsh on games, but the nauseating feeling of Bloodborne’s low-dim environments and it’s 10 to 15 fps performance in certain areas made me unable to push through.

Technical performance aside, I was able to muster 10 to 15 hours of playtime, in which I enjoyed the varied gameplay and new environment FromSoftware brought to the table. The multiple stances for weapons felt exciting, as it varied the combat even furthered than I expected. However, I cannot for the life of me tell you what the game is about. I know some from online discussions, but my limited exposure to the characters and events gave me nothing to hold on to.

I will return to Bloodborne, as I do feel I owe it to myself to see this game through and hopefully, on a better experience in the PlayStation 5. However, I will not lie to myself in thinking the game will magically present me the story the way I want it to. This has evidently become a gripe on how I engage with FromSoftware��s games and, probably, gaming in large. I appreciate VaatiVidya and the number of hours they poured into researching each and every lore tibbit of these games, but I no longer derive enjoyment in looking up videos on the story the game occluded from me. And I honestly wished I had realized this before playing Dark Souls 3.  

Dark Souls 3

It’s been a couple of months since I played Dark Souls III. The third and final sequel of what was at a time my favourite game had eluded me for a long time. I have no data to back me up, but I feel the game has not a received a deep discount since the release of Elden Ring. Now, this is not a discussion on how games should be priced, and Bandai Namco has every right to price their games at whatever they want, but it just feels bad they won’t ever discount their games like they used to. So, I bought a physical copy of Dark Souls III Fires Fade Edition, and I returned once more to Firelink Shrine.

My main build on Souls’ playthroughs has remained pretty much the same. On a recommendation by EpicNameBro, I became enamoured with Dex/Faith Lighting builds, and it would be my focus on Dark Souls III as well. I enjoyed the fact we were back at Firelink Shrine, and the appearance of Andre and the Handmaid related the themes the game was touching upon. Additionally, Lower Lothric Castle was almost up to par to Undead Burg as a starting level, but I did think there was a feeling of sameness all through the world which I believe stemmed from the wash-out colour palette.

The hub-based designed from Demons Soul’s comes back, as Firelink Shrine serves a main hotspot from stores to NPC gathering, and there is a focus given to the areas pertaining to the main bosses of the game. Even though I didn’t dislike this design, I do think it hinders some the exploration and secret finding encouraged in OG Dark Souls. Combat it’s the best it has ever been, and the inclusion of Weapon Arts is a fantastic addition.

However, I did find the lack of purpose off-putting. I knew I was working towards ending the final cycle of the Age of Fire, and the entirety of the series has been building up to inevitable coming of the Dark. The world has become empty and dilapidated, with every single restart withering the inhabitants of the land. Thematically, I understood why the world was what it was, but I found myself caring so little that I was constantly questioning why I was playing the game.

I was having some fun, especially with some of the boss battles, but it was the in-between which I did not found appealing. Back in Dark Souls, the quest of ringing the Bells of Awakening was nothing but the MacGuffin needed for my journey as the undead, but I relished whenever I encountered both the in-game or online companions doing the same. Solaire, Siegmeyer, Logan and every single of the supporting cast made the world lived-in, continuing their own quests unbeknownst to me until I advanced through my own.

Dark Souls 3 feels alienated from this idea, as my solitary journey was reinforced since NPCs abandon you on most levels before they can be interacted back again in Firelink Shrine. Additionally, the conditions for continuing their quest are so restrictive that the only NPC which I concluded their story was Orbeck of Vinheim, a support mage whose ending was triggered just because I bought all his spells. There were so many quests I missed because of these nebulous reasons that my blind playthrough felt aggravatingly lonely, which hasten my uncaring attitude towards the world.

It is clear the narrative design of Soulborne games is no longer appealing to me, and the terrific gameplay which is found in these titles is not enough for me to care as deeply as I once did. In contrast, I have been enjoying my first experience with Mass Effect, with Mass Effect 2 being one of my latest titles to finish. I can affirmatively say the way that game delivers story is superlative, treating the main quest and companions as equally as important. The gameplay, which was an improvement over Mass Effect 1, is nothing to write about, but is serviceable to enjoy the development of the story, which has become my main drive from gaming.

Coming to terms with the fact that FromSoftware’s approach to telling their stories is no longer for me has honestly been a bummer. I consider their games the epoch of stringent third-person character combat, but I do believe as I grow older that gameplay is no longer my most determining factor for my enjoyment. I appreciate the route they have chosen to tell their stories, and I wouldn’t dare to suggest they change it because it has become part of their DNA. I am quite interested in how I will enjoy Sekiro: Shadow Dies Twice, as it is the next one in the bucket (after I go back and give Bloodborne one more chance). The game has a defined protagonist and a more structured story, so I do hope these characteristics give me an outlet to enjoy FromSoftware’s games once again.

* At the time of posting, I have currently resumed my playthrough of Bloodborne. I left before combating Rom, the Vacuous Spider and I feel I’m close to finishing the game. I wrote this a couple of months back and I want to leave this as is before I write my concluding thoughts of the Hunter’s Dream.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Memento Moria

Kiiiii-shi-shi-shi! Happy Halloween! Last time we took the whole month for Victoria Cindry with our #Spooky Sidestory. That was fun, if you don't know Cindry always borrowed from a famous ghost story about a spirit named Okiku. Which means you maybe need to think a little more in hindsight about her being an actress whose story relies on a theme of toxic obligation. We touched on Moria a bit, how he serves as a warning to what lies ahead. But I always wanted to give him his due. He's such a good seed for the yonko; baiting the idea of separating the crew, the zombies as an analogue for infighting, his shadow keeping you from even touching him. How many people did he beat without lifting a finger? This becomes a huge motif by Totland & Wano.

Moria is a great villain, though I'll never fault a younger fan for not quite getting it yet. Other characters share this idea of their dreams dashed by the buzzsaw of the New World, but Moria is the one who really embodies it. He's not just someone who experienced loss, he's defined by it. I mean this in the nicest way possible, you won't truly relate to Moria unless you've had some kind of tangible past success. Laurels to rest on long enough you know how dangerous that can be. I love this "whiteout" panel, how his face looks so bat-like. If you need a refresher on why this pertains to Kiku:

Kiku's introduction already leans on drawing from One Piece's history, subtly baiting key associations. Bat-Man being one of the first Gifters is certainly a choice, and his extremely shallotesque shape reinforces the reference. For those who don't know, Moria's animal motif isn't a gecko. It's a bat, Gecko Moria. Komori=bat. That in Kiku's intro is worth pointing out alone, much moreso when we get an update on Moria paired with a reflection (Catarina) of what we just highlighted out of the star of the first act. Those two are solid thematically, now add the Ringo ripple.

Does it have to mean anything? No, but theoretically if we wanted to have one of the Akazaya involved somehow there's a certain logic to Kiku the Ringo native being the intuitive choice. It's just like the Shanks/Buggy angle. We have someone so oddly worldly in Wano and yet again a known thread is set up it can easily run through her. I might actually want to see a flashback of Kiku & Moria having a chance encounter over Shanks. If only because I can guess how Shanks would go. You think Moria might make a play at recruiting the demonic prodigy of the Akazaya? Say what you will about his necromancy, which I'd imagine Kiku would abhor, I don't see Moria being the type to care about the trans aspect. Being earnestly good about it like Luffy seems reasonable.

Moria though, just as a villain he's grown on me. Or really I've grown, lost groups of people I once felt brought out the best in me. Lazily replaced them with shadows, spun my wheels in a position that sounded like a good enough spot to be in. I get Moria, he's kinda over it but hasn't fully given up. Just taking a lazier, safer approach because he's scared of what lies ahead. Shadows Asgard and taking in 1000 shadows is a big example of growing on me. Makes so much more sense when you see how Kaido/Wano builds off of the concept. Moria has the power to be a top contender, he doesn't have the will to control it. Shadow Asgard, false divinity.

Back then, even the Straw Hats see it right away. Luffy turns to the crew and tells them to take care of the rest cause he's gonna get reckless. I love the parallel of Luffy having to take on a taste of Moria's true power and Zoro well, that time when nothing happened. Kuma's getting plenty of focus now but we'll wait until the flashback ends to do him proper. Keeping that strong and famous crew he could count on over more zombie mooks won the day. That under the threat of daybreak is good shit.

[jonquilyst]

Ty all for the makeover suggestions!! I had a lot of fun making my own versions of the townies, which I have never done before.

As you can see their appearance is pretty faithful to their original. I consider my style to be a more realistic and enhanced version of the EA style. While it's not super obvious (aside from Baby Ariel), I did tweak their facial features and bodies a bit since frankly... EA can make their sims look pretty wacky.

Anyway, I hope you like them!! Full-body screenies and explanations for each townie are below the cut.

Nancy Landgraab (suggested by @plumbobpaparazzi)

I never really liked Nancy's OG look. I feel like she doesn't look classy enough for her status as head of the Landgraab family/company, so my goal for her was to really make her live up her to status. Her hairstyle pays homage to her sims 3 incarnation and frankly, I think she looks better with her hair up than down.

As for her facial features, her eyebrows her tweaked to be less janky-looking but still looking like she could fire you any time. They were also darkened because you cannot for the life of me see them in her OG look. Her nose, lips, and chest were also tweaked to look extra perfect/plump to really emphasize that she's had some procedures done 🤭 I also redid her makeup.

Maaike Haas (suggested by @micrathene-w)

Maaike is seriously an underrated sim and I wish they did her better. I started off by tweaking her facial features because they looked really janky (esp her eyes, I gave her a new preset entirely), so I softened them up and now she looks so much better (while retaining her overall OG look) I also widened her waist because it looked too narrow for her body shape.

I think EA wanted to go for an academia look for her, but the problem with that back when Get Together released was that there really wasn't a lot of academia-esque clothes. The blazer she wears made her look older and the skirt she had was frankly a little too long, so my goal with Maaike was to really give her that cute academia look. I think she turned out amazing and I like her a lot more because of it! I hope you think so too 💖

Baby Ariel (suggested by @akitasimblr)

My biggest problem with Baby Ariel is that the sim looks nothing like her, so she got the appearance biggest tweaks out of everyone. I did a total revamp for her so that Baby Ariel could look more like her real life self. Besides that, I updated her look so she could look more like her present self.

Catarina Lynx (suggested by @chaoticpixls)

I think my goal for our favorite cat-lover here was to make her less... tacky? I still wanted her to be recognizably herself; bouncy and obviously a cat-lover, but cuter and more put-together, if that makes any sense. I also wanted her to appear a bit younger.

I think the biggest sin EA did with the cats/dogs pack is not include a cat/dog beanie. This girl totally rocks it and although that brimmed cap she wore was cute, I think she looks a lot better with a hat that has makeshift cat ears (and not that hair that has the cat headband).

I also made her lipstick a lighter, because her OG shade is just way too dark for her. Sorry.

Knox Greenburg (suggested by @mustanoita)

Ok, my biggest question about how EA did Knox was why he looks so trashy for someone who is big about climate change, going green, recycling, etc. So my goal for Knox was to make him look less trashy and more outdoorsy. I also wanted to make him look younger because he just... looks really old lol. So I gave him a new eye preset, made his cheeks fuller, and gave him a slightly different hair color. I also gave him a new hairstyle that's similar to his OG to really give him that handsome flair because... honestly, EA did him dirty.

Penny Pizzazz (suggested by @ashubii)

Penny's OG look is alright by itself, but I don't think it works that well for Penny since she's meant to be a fashionista who knows what's trending. Also her earrings and shoes did not match with that dress at all. So I gave her a cute trendy outfit that still screams "classy." I also changed her hair because I never liked it and I HC her hair texture to be wavy/curly and not straight so I went with a curlier and more voluminous hairstyle with braids because Penny absolutely slays with braids.

[headcanontheshitoutofsoulsborne]

Big Hat Logan is a living legend, Black Iron Tarkus is the Chad of All Chads, and Solaire of Astora is literally super human… but Sieglinde of Catarina could take all of them in a 1v1.

[owlgodarchives]

🍋🌻 My Favorite Dark Souls ( 1,2,3 ) NPCs 🌻🍋

[onlytheembersremain]

You guys remember this? Thought it would be a cute idea to convert it into video form, complete with the music. 😄

Enjoy all of the beanie boys! 🥰

[a-real-chicxulub-vibe]

thoughts?

[secretsofblackthornhall]

Emma to Dru

Dear Dru,

Hey, baby bat! So how’s Shadowhunter Academy? Still having a good time? How’s the roommate — Thais, isn’t that her name? How’s having a roommate? I always kinda wished I’d gotten to go to SA, although obviously the weather was better in California. But you like things dark and gloomy! Just, you know – try to get some sun sometimes, okay? While I know you love your ghostly pallor, vitamin D is a real thing.

Not that we’re getting any sun here in Chiswick, where England is being fully England with the weather. I guess it goes with the house, though. You’re going to love this place when you see it, by the way. It’s the most goth building you’ve ever seen. The whole place is full of crumbling statues and faded wallpaper with creepy stains and a LOT of these dark brambles—

Huh, I guess it makes sense there are a lot of black thorns at Blackthorn Manor. Still, they’re a huge pain to cut back. Why didn’t your ancestors go with something less pointy? This was owned by Lightwoods for years, why no light woods? We may never know.

(I always forget about the Lightwoods because I think of it as Blackthorn Manor but I found a diary of a girl who grew up here, hidden under one of the floorboards. Like way back in the 1870s. She’s just a normal Shadowhunter teenager of the time, complaining about boring history lessons and obnoxious older brothers. Normal stuff! She’s about 13 in the part I’m reading but it goes for a few years. Her name was Tatiana Lightwood, I wonder if Isabelle and Alec have heard of her?)

Anyway, Jules is working hard on de-spookying the place, but trust me, it’ll still be gothier than a ripped fishnet whenever you get to see it. It’s going to be ages before we’re done with all the hallways full of empty birdcages and decaying books. This house is big. And extremely busted.

Also . . . haunted. At first I think we were both in denial. It was just weird moving shadows, cold spots in places — if this was one of your mundane movies, we’d still be arguing about what was going on. But we’re Shadowhunters. We know ghosts exist. And we finally broke down and admitted to each other that there’s definitely one in this house. Somebody’s moving small objects around and playing the piano off in the distance… low, haunting bits of sweet music we can both hear. But here’s the thing — the only piano here isn’t even playable. It rotted through a long time ago.

So, we have a ghost. But they don’t seem definitely or even particularly hostile. It could just be a bitty poltergeist, or a passing unquiet spirit. I’ve just started going through papers and it’s obvious Some Stuff Went Down Here at some point, lots of weird references to demons and bindings. (Oh, I’m putting a thing aside for you, it’s a taxidermied raven covered in flowers, I think it used to be part of a really extra hat.) So the potential for unquiet spirits is definitely there. One more thing to deal with along with the need for all new drains. (What, exactly, are drains?)

Anyway, I can’t wait to see you and oh no, I spent most of the letter telling you about the house but I really do want to hear about the Academy and your roommate and teachers, like is Catarina there? What about Ragnor? Have you seen Jaime lately? Tell me everything!

XOXO

Emma

PS I just found out who Tatiana Lightwood thought was the cutest boy in London. Will Herondale. Wasn’t that the guy Tessa was married to, a long time ago? Would she think this was funny? I mean, it’s kind of funny. Always a Herondale, you know?