#but i see & understand why people hate the tutorials. i just think they have a different definition of fun than i do.

[itzphynix]

My infatuation & subsequent obsession with media is often tied to the ways in which I am incapable of talking about them. Whether it's because of the abhorrent contents therein which demand too much; the incomprehensible nature of my feelings on the matter; the shoddy & underbaked construction; no matter what, there is always something within all my beloved interests make them hard (or even impossible) to talk about. Instead, I talk within myself in an endless echo of speculation & alteration, as a means to replicate the sounds of a room that is not so empty. I, on my own, (no matter how many of me I am in the moment,) will never be able to fully encapsulate the sounds of a room brimming with people, though, so I double down & try to chatter more, to make up my impossible deficit.

[raqqtsx0]

Hiii, i love the way you write!! i was wondering if you could do something with Shoto, like teaching him to play a video game? just some fluff (*＞∇＜)ﾉ tyyy!!

Tactical love. Shoto Todoroki

AN:(Heh first request kinda nervous 🥹😛.) Brooo idk what color to do for todoroki im sorry if it looks weird💔. i’m sorry if this isn’t what you requested or if you don’t like it.

word count 1.6k

……

You never thought the words “Shoto Todoroki” and “Victory Royale” would exist in the same sentence. Yet here you were, several hours into what started as an regular “let’s chill after training” hangout in your dorm, and he was currently squinting at the screen.

“What does this button do again?”

“Jump.”

“And this?”

“Crouch.”

“Why would I want to crouch?”

“So people don’t shoot you in the face.”

He stared down at the controller with a level of caution like it was going to explode. “This seems unnecessarily complicated.”

“You fight villains every day and this is what breaks you?”

“Villains don’t build staircases mid-battle.”

You started a match. He immediately landed off the map.

“Am I supposed to do that?”

“No, Shoto, no you are NOT supposed to skydive into the ocean.”

By the third round, he got killed by a bush camper. By the fourth, he accidentally grenaded himself. By the fifth, he didn’t know how to pick up a gun.

“Why won’t it let me take the weapon?”. “Because you’re trying to mine it with your pickaxe like a psychopath.” You were laughing so hard your stomach hurt.

He, on the other hand, was silent laser focused, jaw tight, eyes narrowed, and you knew that look.

He hated losing.

“Do you want to stop?” you asked, once he got knocked again.

“No,” he said calmly. “I’m going to win. Eventually.”

“It’s just Fortnite.”

“It’s not. It’s… principle now.”

You weren’t sure what was funnier the fact that Shoto Todoroki had declared war on a video game, or the fact that he still can’t aim. You ended the night with him managing to survive to top 10 while hiding in a bush the entire time. He was weirdly proud.

“That was strategy,” he said.

“That was cowardice.”

“Tactical cowardice,” he corrected.

You thought that was the end of it. You thought oh okay no more fortnite. You were wrong.

That same night barely an hour after he left your dorm your phone buzzed.

[Shoto Todoroki, 11:18 PM]

Are you online?

I want to try again.

[You, 11:19 PM]

Shoto it’s almost midnight.

You died to fall damage three times.

Go to sleep.

[Shoto Todoroki, 11:20 PM]

I watched some tutorials.

I think I understand now.

I won a solo match.

Come play duos with me.

You blinked.

“You WHAT?”

You joined his party just to see if he was lying.

He was not.

Bro had gone from complete disaster to cranking 90s, editing walls, and sniping people mid-air like he’d been playing since birth. “Did you sell your soul?” you asked, as he casually wiped out a whole squad.

“No,” he said. “I just… focused.”

“You died to fall damage.”

“That was before I learned how to sprint.”

“I’m scared of you.”

“I’ll protect you.”

You didn’t even have time to react to that because he boxed you in, dropped you a purple shotgun, and then took out two more enemies.

He was so calm while playing now. Too calm.

“They’re moving left,” he muttered into the mic, voice smooth. “I can push them. you can bait.”

“You are terrifying.”

“You said you wanted to teach me. This is your fault.”

Your friends started noticing, too. Kirishima joined one night and immediately went,

“Wait…. Bro, why is Todoroki lowkey cracked..?”

Todoroki just quietly replied,

“I’m learning fast.”

He wasn’t just good. He was pocket protector, god-tier, I’m only here to make sure you win good. He started dropping heals before you even asked. hes literally your fortnite boyfriend. He even knew your favorite loadouts and carried you when you lagged.

“I think he’s in love,” Kaminari whispered

“With Fortnite?” you asked

“With you, bro.”

You weren’t ready to unpack that, so you built a ramp and ran from it.

It became a thing. Every night. Eventually he stopped asking if you were free. Now he just sent one word messages:

“Lobby?”

“Drop?”

“You on?”

Until one night, after your fourth win in a row, you said, “You’re kinda pro at this…” And he smiled that soft, lopsided, only for you smile.

“I’m good because you taught me.”

“And because I like being on your team.”

Your controller nearly slipped out of your hands. You tried to play it off. “Guess we’re a good duo.”

“The best,” he said.

“In Fortnite?”

He looked at you.

“In everything.”

[kenyatta]

Over a decade ago, back when Kevin, Molly, and I started EA1, I used to give a talk at entertainment and media conferences that explained the new world of online fandoms to producers, marketers, and executives.

It had a bit of science, a lot of fan work, and bunch of storytelling to explain the social psychology and peer-oriented technologies that enabled people to connect to each another around the things that they loved.

The crowd was really into it -- especially the bits about what fans were doing on the site called Tumblr "without an 'e'".

But then I'd almost always lose them with the last slide. Here's my v/o from my presenter notes:

…But in the same way that you can organize and motivate peer-based fandoms around Love, you can just as easily create networks of hate. In fact, I think we’re going to see new forms of hatred, fascism, and genocide that many in this room have never seen before. They will be peer-to-peer which means there will be no center to attack or defend. They will align themselves not based on common orders but a shared bond of identity. And they will express themselves in ways that menace but hide behind veils of irony or irreverence. Back when I worked on memes, I realized that they weren’t just funny cat pictures. They were proxies for understanding how ideas flowed through networks. I’m working in marketing now because I see fandoms the same way. They give us a glimpse at how we might organize ourselves when we become mostly digital and lose our geography.  My hope is to prepare fans for that possible future, by giving them the expectation of agency in the things that they love, teaching them ways of organizing and expressing themselves through digital tools, and presenting the possibility that the skills that they build through their fandom might help empower them to shape the world to come. This thing you all do that looks like marketing could be a trojan horse. A sermon in a sugar pill that prepares people for the world to come.

I don't know if this was the way other 'official' tumblrs operated but this was always the point behind the gif tutorials, premiere watch parties, and 30 day memes on Orphan Black and Doctor Who (and maybe a bit for Killing Eve). If we taught you Photoshop, you knew how to make a flyer or a protest sign. If you got a guide on how to host a watch party, you could host a meetup. And if you had to work with others to do a 30 day meme, you knew what it meant to cooperate and check in on one another towards a common goal. 

These were designs for participation. The goal was never for anyone to recognize why we were doing it (it looks like 'marketing' to me) but to give people a model and some mechanics for taking action in the world.

This was in 2013. By 2015, I stopped getting invited to do this talk. One person who saw it really got it and, b/c she was well connected, she invited me to give the talk to some folks in leadership at a national political campaign. Their response at the end was "thanks, but we've got this". (They didn’t have it.)

It can feel like there is a lot to do to respond to the right now (which is part of the point, btw), but you can also do things -- quiet things, strategic things, driven by values -- that help lay bricks for a foundation.

[dolly-gutzz]

Hunter Sylvester x fem!reader

what it’s like dating Hunter Sylvester

▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

Will drill you on metal knowledge cuz it’s his hyperfixation

like you will know just as much as he does by like the second week of dating

height difference go brrrrr

fore head kisses go crazy

is a softie but doesn’t want to be

like will beg for cuddles, cuddle you and then halfway through cuddling, will gain conciseness and push you away

(then he’ll feel rlly bad and cuddle you ten times harder)

sleepovers 🔛🔝‼️

he has such a huge and beautiful house that you insist on staying there 24/7

I mean he has all the good snacks and such a comfy bed, why wouldn’t you want to stay over for eternity??

night long car rides!!

Omg I can just imagine driving at night in like a downtown area and just talking about life and your future together

then you guys make out in his car

speaking of make outs, he does not know how to do that when you guys first start dating

like pretty boys clueless

you teach him the littlest amount of basic info

omg I can just see him like being a nerd a writing down all of the stuff your saying 😭😭

He’s literally like 🤓✍️

Sitting in at band seshes

you and Emily are besties

helping him write his songs

(there are like fifteen songs he’s written about you)

sitting on his lap whilst he writes songs

or sitting on his lap while watching movies

or sitting on his lap while in band practice

just sitting on his lap‼️‼️

braiding his hair !!

you search up YouTube tutorials in how to do different types of braids and hair styles

and if you have long hair then he can braid yours

also!! As a black curly hair girly I have this thing where I think that he doesn’t like people touching his hair, just like us curly haired people don’t like people touching our hair

so I think that if the reader has curly hair, then you guys both have mutual understanding on people violating your personal space and touching you hair, which not only brings you together but also helps you guys feel safe with one another

omg sorry for the rant lmao

Anyways

romcoms

I think he totally digs them but acts like he doesn’t

his fav romcom is ten things I hate about you

do you guys see the vision cuz I see the vision

he wants to be your Patrick and you are this kat

omg i just had a thought

what if he made a metal cover of can't take my eyes off of you 😭😭😭

DO YIU GUYS SEE THE VISION PLS TELL ME YOU SEE THE VISION

Halloween!!

you are nina the killer and he’s either Jeff the killer or Nina’s canon bf eyeless Jack ( creepypasta fandom unite!!!)

he want to stay in a watch horror movie but you want to go trick or treating

he gives and you both go trick or treating

he hates Christmas I cna feel it in my bones

bur if you love Christmas he will do a complete 180 and act like he enjoys it just a little bit

will loathe your celebrity crush with his entire soul heart and bones

like he will wish death upon them

and your all like “hunter it’s not like I’m gonna date Louis partridge he’s dating Olivia Rodrigo” and he’s all like “good cuz he can’t have you 😠😠”

has a crush on Elvira

I think that’s all the headcanonna I have in me 💀💀

[michellesneptune]

You disappear for months, no posts since December, and suddenly you pop back in guns blazing, screaming about how Astro Tumblr is 'rotting' because people are getting more love than you? Because their writing is better than yours? Girl. Bffr. You’re not trying to 'save the community'. You’re just mad your account isn’t hitting like it used to, so now you’re dragging down creators who actually connect with people to get back into the algo.

And the 'AI' accusations? You didn’t do research. You didn’t ask questions. You didn’t even read deeply. You just saw something gentle, something kind, something getting more notes than your bitter rants (or anything else you posted in the past btw) and that was enough to set you off.

If this is your idea of a comeback, maybe rethink it?

why would i be bitter about the likes? don’t contradict yourself. think. if i was so hungry for love, i would keep posting. i had gotten more likes than i could’ve asked for, really, considering that i’ve only made like five posts.

now, a quick tutorial. go see for yourself. ask chat GPT for some relatable astro observations, then compare it to what you’re getting here.

personally, what i always look for are cringy comparisons, that feel too stiff for a real person to invent. “your feelings are like carefully curated cup of chinese tea you’re drinking with a bestie on a hot yet so soft and understanding afternoon”. and those goofy ass questions. “and your chaotic responses at 3AM? those are refreshing, healing even. you are not too much.”

i’m not trying to make a comeback. i’m just worried that some poor person will for for that and decide to pay 30$ for a reading from a “creator” like this. i’m confident in what i call out as AI, because i’ve spent some time studying this. i hate that it’s poisoning the community that i’ve loved and trusted so much. i am sick and tired of this bullshit. please go see for yourself and have a quick chat with ai about your chart or something.

it’s a real issue and i wish i was wrong.

[xelmokidx]

hello

First of all, I really like it posts and how r u

Second of all I was wondering if you still do metal lorda characters or IT characters?

Because if you did I was wondering if you could do a story or some headcannons.

Headcannon-

What it would be like dating hunter Sylvester

Or an angst story with Richie tozier with light smut, aged up of course

No pressure at all btw

Anyway have a miraculous day!

✌️ 😁

IM SO SORRY FOR NOT ANSWERING EARLIER, I WAS SO SWAMPED WITH FINALS WEEK😭💀

ima do the metal lords request, ( I just haven’t watched -IT in a rlly long time 😭😭)

Hunter Sylvester x fem!reader

what it’s like dating Hunter Sylvester

Will drill you on metal knowledge cuz it’s his hyperfixation

like you will know just as much as he does by like the second week of dating

height difference go brrrrr

fore head kisses go crazy

is a softie but doesn’t want to be

like will beg for cuddles, cuddle you and then halfway through cuddling, will gain conciseness and push you away

(then he’ll feel rlly bad and cuddle you ten times harder)

sleepovers 🔛🔝‼️

he has such a huge and beautiful house that you insist on staying there 24/7

I mean he has all the good snacks and such a comfy bed, why wouldn’t you want to stay over for eternity??

night long car rides!!

Omg I can just imagine driving at night in like a downtown area and just talking about life and your future together

then you guys make out in his car

speaking of make outs, he does not know how to do that when you guys first start dating

like pretty boys clueless

you teach him the littlest amount of basic info

omg I can just see him like being a nerd a writing down all of the stuff your saying 😭😭

He’s literally like 🤓✍️

Sitting in at band seshes

you and Emily are besties

helping him write his songs

(there are like fifteen songs he’s written about you)

sitting on his lap whilst he writes songs

or sitting on his lap while watching movies

or sitting on his lap while in band practice

just sitting on his lap‼️‼️

braiding his hair !!

you search up YouTube tutorials in how to do different types of braids and hair styles

and if you have long hair then he can braid yours

also!! As a black curly hair girly I have this thing where I think that he doesn’t like people touching his hair, just like us curly haired people don’t like people touching our hair

so I think that if the reader has curly hair, then you guys both have mutual understanding on people violating your personal space and touching you hair, which not only brings you together but also helps you guys feel safe with one another

omg sorry for the rant lmao

Anyways

romcoms

I think he totally digs them but acts like he doesn’t

his fav romcom is ten things I hate about you

do you guys see the vision cuz I see the vision

he wants to be your Patrick and you are this kat

omg i just had a thought

what if he made a metal cover of can't take my eyes off of you 😭😭😭

DO YIU GUYS SEE THE VISION PLS TELL ME YOU SEE THE VISION

Halloween!!

you are nina the killer and he’s either Jeff the killer or Nina’s canon bf eyeless Jack ( creepypasta fandom unite!!!)

he want to stay in a watch horror movie but you want to go trick or treating

he gives and you both go trick or treating

he hates Christmas I cna feel it in my bones

bur if you love Christmas he will do a complete 180 and act like he enjoys it just a little bit

will loathe your celebrity crush with his entire soul heart and bones

like he will wish death upon them

and your all like “hunter it’s not like I’m gonna date Louis partridge he’s dating Olivia Rodrigo” and he’s all like “good cuz he can’t have you 😠😠”

has a crush on Elvira

I think that’s all the headcanonna I have in me 💀💀

let me know if there’s anything else you guys want me to write, I’m on summer so I have so much time to write !!! love you freaky freaks

[worstscholar]

I cant shake this idea out of my head while listening to music lol

What if reader is a popular singer/star and Doffy is publicly spreading news about his and readers alleged relationship, so reader released a music titled "obsessed" by Mariah Carey. I would loveeee to see Doffys reaction lol

Btw, love your works 💗

Reader cab be in any gender, Thankyou!

thank you so much :) this is super rushed and not edited at all. I had fun making doffy out to be a pathetic loser, part of me wanted to make him stalkerish, but I didn't feel like writing a whole fic, so here's this little drabble.

the reader has no gender

He didn't know what to call it, the sinking feeling in his chest every time he heard your voice, heard your name, saw your face. He couldn't find a good name for how utterly lonely you made him feel. Doflamingo knew he was obsessed, he loved you, he couldn't stop thinking about you, he needed you. 

He knew he looked dumb, spending hours watching youtube tutorials on how to photoshop like a pro, just so he could convince his poor mother and father that he had found ‘the one’. If only they knew you had no idea who he was, that the only thing he was holding at night was your photo. It doesn't matter if he didn't have you now, he knew he'd have you in the future, you were bound to be his, Doflamingo could feel it, and he'd wait for you, no matter how long it took and no matter how lonely he got. 

He was dedicated, using his inherited wealth to buy your albums, merchandise, anything you sold, no matter who was the target audience, Doflamingo bought it and cherished it. He's probably spent over thousands of dollars on you by now, fantasizing that it was his money that bought you that pretty new outfit, or that bag, or your new car. He couldn't help himself, could never stop himself from stalking your socials, compulsively hoarding your photos, sending you designer things, in hopes you’d read his messages and respond. 

His parents were convinced you two were a thing, so proud of their son for getting such a pretty partner, always bothering him about you coming to dinner, getting married, and giving them grandkids. His mom was especially proud, posting on her facebook about the two of you, bragging to all of her friends about her son's special new partner. Rosinante on the other hand saw right through his brother's lies, in the beginning it was harmless, innocent little lies to skip out on family functions, or holidays. Then it started to get annoying, the pictures were weird enough, but the lies had been going on so long now, their mother would start asking him about any boyfriends or girlfriends, she’d even compare him to his brother. “Roci dear, when are you going to settle down with a nice boy or girl like your brother?” She’d ask, looking all innocent, while Doflamingo sat a few feet away suddenly looking a little pale.

He doesn't outright tell his parents that doffy’s lying, instead he leaves little (big) hints, like teaching his mom how to use instagram, and adding you and doffy as her friends. He lets his mom find out for herself that your profile does not mention her son at all, in fact, your profile says you’re dating someone completely different. At first she’s horrified, thinking you’re cheating, and she stirs the pot, leaving comments on your posts, asking if you were cheating on her son. And before anyone realizes, you have a full blown cheating scandal on your hands with a man you’ve never met. The media is all over you, criticizing you, spreading ridiculous rumors. Your real partner is understandably horrified, and ends up leaving you. 

Doflamingo is also very horrified, and embarrassed. He has no idea what happened, how did this blow up so fast? He feels sick, as he scrolls social media, he started a scandal without even meaning to, ruining both of your reputations. It's easy for doffy to ignore the hate directed at him, but when it's meant for you, he's enraged. This is his fault, why are people hating on you? 

When his phone pings with a notification saying you’ve released a new single, his heart drops when he reads the title. As he listens to the song, part of him is excited that you’ve recognized him, but another part is upset that you don't reciprocate his feelings. He's done so much for you and his mom just had to go and blow up this whole situation, you’re supposed to love him.

[kingdom-stars]

Ok, one of you literally yelled "PUT IT IN MY BEINS" so I guess you liked the idea :v

The good news for you, I already have the first chapter ready! I just have to convert it to English (the disadvantages of being a non native English speaker)

With that done, let's move on to Justice for all :D

Phoenix Wright: Justice for All

The Lost Turnabout:

Normal changes here and there, a few more details in the nightmare at the beginning, Apollo and Athena are the ones who help with the tutorial instead of Maggey, Trucy and Maya go to investigate the phone and they all want to kill Wellington :v

Reunion & Turnabout:

Everyone hates Dr. Turner, even me, even you, Athena and Pearl bond (no Ship here, just friendship, I should put up a "NO SHIP, NO HETEROS NOR HOMO" sign, they're all just one big family)

Pearl: The magatama can see through peoples lies

Apollo, Athena & Trucy: Sweating nervously because a few days ago they broke a vase and blamed a bird(?)

Magataman's Shenanigans XD

A story or two here and there about how some mediums couldn't control the spirit with catastrophic results, Phoenix denying his trauma from Edgeworth's "suicide" while being a good uncle/cousin to Pearl, everyone hates Morgan Fey, Franziska is intense, Apollo sees Ini's lies but doesn't know why she lies about her sister's accident, Mia's so done with all this bullshit and Maya gets custody of Pearl, because I don't understand how they just left the girl alone in the village(?????

Turnabout Big Top:

Urgh, this case. I'm just going to adapt the anime version, erase all that disgusting love triangle stuff, Phoenix reacts more strongly to the talk with Franziska and almost has a nervous breakdown, Trucy's a fan of Max Galactica for obvious reasons and will lead the explanation to how Max's cape flew, the girl is theatrical, leave her be xd

Farawell, my Turnabout:

UHHHHH this case, hold on tight because this is my favorite and I have to make it special. With changes from the get go, Apollo is kidnapped alongside Maya, Kay offers to look for them while Phoenix, Gumshoe and the girls focus on the case, The magatama and perception are deceived, but Athena captures Engard's malice and satisfaction, Phoenix punches Edgeworth for being a shitty dramatist and making everyone think he was dead, Franzyska also gives him a whiplash, he deserves it(?), Phoenix complain to both Gumshoe and Kay for knowing that Edgeworth was alive and not telling him to later have a panic attack from the call with De Killer, This poor man will be beaten from all sides, I guarantee you xd, Apollo is a little gremling who refuses to sit still even if his life depends on it, Engard is a son of a bitch, De Killer just wants to finish his job, the gallery is confused, Adrian realizes what is really going on behind Engard's defense, Apollo is again a small gremling and takes away De Killer's radio while he is on the stand to then being dragged out, we got one more break, Mia's a good mother, everyone celebrates Franziska's Big Moment™, Phoenix together with Athena and Trucy decide the verdict of "NOT guilty" and watch happily as Engard ruins his face, the reunion scene is more mellow, Apollo calls Phoenix dad for the first time and everyone is happy

UFFF, this one was longer than Goodbyes

Extra cases of the manga:

Something I forgot to mention in the last post is that I will adapt some cases of the manga as well as the case of the train, but that will be in T&T

See you next time, bye~

[cerastes]

I've seen people before saying that, in terms of presentation, NIKKE delivers it better than Arknights in telling what they want to tell. And I still see this occasionally whenever people start comparing stories in gacha games. Looking at your post, seems like that wasn't a lie at all.

Right, this is an interesting topic for me, so let me give my two cents on this.

I would say that statement is generally true. Nikke's main strengths are its presentation and knowing how to leverage its strengths in general, but let's focus on presentation: It's story is nothing to write home to (note that I am up to Chapter 18), neither are its events (on this regard, take me lightly, I've only read three), but what Nikke wants to say, you will very clearly understand. It's good at telling its story. Sometimes the localization will have Localization Moments (Chatterbox is described as female in the first cutscene he is mentioned, male every time afterwards; there's a lot of clearly literally translated little expressions that make no sense in the flow of the conversations), but overall, even though you're looking at a story that in a lot of ways you've seen a lot of times, its particularities stand out because Nikke tells them properly, concisely, and clearly. Characterization is consistent, and there's a good amount of care clearly put into both consistency and overarching important parts of the narrative; a favorite example of mine is how, in the tutorial, if you pay close attention, you can actually see Marian's eyes glow red during her reload animation, foreshadowing something pretty important that happens with her later.

So even if the story beats are not particularly good or intriguing -- and sometimes, outright terrible, like in Chapter 18 oh god I hate Chapter 18 -- you at least can tell with clarity what's going on and why it's going on.

Arknights has the yang to the yin here, somewhat: The stories on Arknights tend to range from okay to great, and AK events have a habit of going pretty damn hard, either as a whole or at least parts of them. Sometimes, however, they have a weakness, and this weakness is that the actual story telling can be dense. Density is often attributed to good writing, but the truth is, sometimes, the text isn't advanced, it's simply clumsy, and the prose in Arknights is decidedly clumsy. But when you actually untangle the spaghetti of clumsy prose, you find some strong story telling, strong characterization, and topics you don't often find discussed in video games, less so in gacha. You kinda have to work for it, basically.

Something Nikke does good is also that it keeps its relevant cast at any given story beat low, giving it more cohesion, or rather, making it easy to stay cohesive, because Arknights can handle larger casts pretty well sometimes, but I'll be frank, the current main story has so many literal whos to keep track of that I'm supposed to be invested in that I don't really bother. I'm sorry, but I can't really feel a damn thing about Outcast when she showed up for a few scenes and then got nuked off by a contrivance while fighting some faceless nobodies we are told we should fear.

But on the other hand, Nikke narrative, again, despite its strong delivery, is still built on a feeble base for the most part. I only think of a few characters I care about in Nikke, because a lot of the cast is just fluff and Obligatory Archetypes (bunny girls, school girls, maids, etc), whereas in Arknights, I care about a whole damn lot of them, even those without events, because their files and modules paint a very integral and intriguing picture of them. Even smaller scenes in Arknights sometimes can have a big emotional impact, due to its extensive and well crafted worldbuilding and its clever use of its elements in every event, something Nikke cannot claim, because worldbuilding in Nikke is almost non existent.

They both have their strengths, basically, and it's fascinating to me, a writer, to take a deeper look at them.

[river3000]

An overview of Rachel Elizabeth Dare’s hair, and her hairbrush (and why the hairbrush should be appreciated more)

I’ve seen lots of people saying that Rachel bringing a hairbrush is unrealistic, and people with WAVY hair (which is way different from curly hair) saying it's unrealistic too, so this post is telling them why they’re wrong. So I LOVE Rachel, not just because she looks like me (same pasty, easily sunburned skin, and plethora of freckles; her poor bank account, spending so much on sunscreen), but also because I relate to her so much! One reason I relate to her is that HER HAIR LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE MINE, HER OFFICIAL ART HAIR LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE MY HAIR, way too curly, way too frizzy, and easily tangled. So, for all the straight-haired people reading this (also I will be showing this to all my friends, all of whom have straight or wavy hair, except one of them has two waves down the back of her hair and is delusional because she thinks her hair is curly) this is my hair brushing routine and other things about my hair so you understand what I mean when I say that taking care of hair like that is HARD:

I take a shower and use curly hair-specific shampoo (which is expensive)

I also do a wash-out untangle thing to make it easier to brush

I use curly hair-specific conditioner, a detangling spray, and two hair mask things to make the brushing easier

I use either a WET brush or a detangling brush, but usually the WET brush

I keep a spray bottle on hand to keep it wet the whole time

It takes at least 30-45 minutes for me to brush my hair

I wash my hair out again to get the conditioner and hair masks out

I use a wide tooth comb after that because water makes it a little tangled

Sometimes after that, I use a leave-in conditioner, but not often

If I brushed it for a fancy event or something then I use my diffuser to dry it, if not I braid it and go to bed because I take night showers unless it's a fancy event or sometimes a weekend

I sleep in a silk bonnet and use only a silk pillowcase

I can only brush my hair wet

I can’t run my fingers through it a lot

I have to go to a haircut place that specializes in curly hair

I can't brush it in the morning or casually

I brush it every three days because I can’t get it wet lots because that's bad for it

To get the Frizz™ that’s on the top of my head every morning to calm down when I put it up I wet it with my sink water

The only hair ties I can use in my hair on a normal basis are scrunchies

I only wear my hair down the day after or after I brush my hair

I wear it up every day

My friends can't do my hair a lot of the time unless I instruct them or find a tutorial video of a style of curly hair like mine, and they call me controlling when I do that

My friends with wavy hair say that wavy hair is harder to take care of than curly hair and I hate it because they don’t know what they’re talking about

If I don’t brush my hair it all becomes one giant matt on the back of my head and if that goes on too long it becomes painful and I get a scalp rash

Buying products is an expensive necessity

One I hadn’t brushed my hair for a week and when I took it down to redo my bun my friend looked at me in Horror™

Only one of my friends actually puts in the work to do my hair and helps me with it because she enjoys styling it and understands it’s hard to take care of after helping me brush it a few times, surprise surprise she’s my best friend

No hair clips, they get stuck in my hair

Once I was brushing it and my hairbrush just broke in half

I have an undercut that you can’t see with my hair down, just to make it easier to deal with; it’s an inch-or-half-an-inch-idk-which-one-thick, inch tall stripe that’s right above the back of my neck, at the base of my skull

I shed like a fucking dog

My hair also becomes so frizzy it looks like I brushed it dry when it's humid, and I live in a humid and hot place

Ginger hair makes you sunburn easier (and unable to tan)

I got bullied in school for being ginger because there’s something wrong with that in the minds of middle schoolers (I was also bullied for being gay and not ashamed of being queer but that’s not the point)

I would be called a leprechaun a lot as a kid, Saint Patrick's Day was and still is hell

Every time someone with straight hair complains about their hair being frizzy, I die a little more inside

Being pale an ginger, doing makeup, dying hair, and literally buying clothes is hard

especially makeup

I use the palest concealer they have at Target (it's called porcelain)

That’s all I can think of right now but I know there’s more. It’s entirely realistic that Rachel would bring a hairbrush because she has experienced all of this, and all of this started to happen to me when I was years younger than her. I said that I couldn’t brush my hair dry and Rachel could have had to, or maybe she would have waited for a part of the labyrinth with water to wet it and then brushed it, or had Percy use his water powers to wet it (Platonic Perachel is amazing, and I need more of it, they’re one of my fav brotps). So anyways guys, respect Rachel and stop questioning her hairbrush, they were in the labyrinth for a while, she needed that thing and it had done its fair share of service. That hairbrush has done more than being thrown at Kronos' eye.

[ovwechoes]

Widowmaker Headcanons (general) I like talking about Amelie a lot, so I'm making a general hc list of things I think about her! It's entirely self indulgent but I just want to write for her more so cope /j My asks are open, and they're under the cut - enjoy!

What's Amelie's sexuality? I like to HC her as bisexual with a male lean - she has more experience with male partners, but after Gerald's death she's struggled with dating men (or really anyone since). She's demisexual as well, even though if you said that to her she'd have no clue what you're talking about whatsoever. Her sexuality is known to very few, and she intends to keep it that way to avoid discussions about her spreading more.

What's Amelie's preferred weather and season? Amelie has an appreciation for the spring and autumn - she finds it comforting seeing the seasons change to bring new life in the spring, and then for that life to come full circle in its life span in the autumn. Knowing that it's all a cycle, and it will always repeat itself (with some variation) is something she feels secure in. She loves the rain as well; often times she'll sit by her window, glass of wine in hand and will simply enjoy the music the rain makes against her home. It's peaceful, and helps quiet her mind when it's filled to the brim with things she can't quite understand.

Something small that Amelie enjoys? It might not seem like anything to other people, but Amelie enjoys styling her hair. When she's in private, away from anyone else, she lets herself watch tutorials and enjoy herself as though she's playing dress up with herself as the doll. It's something she keeps under lock and key, with only Moira knowing because she walked in on her trying out space buns after she saw them online. She hates the fact that she has to keep her hair up all the time to fit her image in Talon, and so it's partially a rebellious act, as a way to gain more independence in herself and her identity.

Any bad habits that Amelie has? Her worst habit is her drinking - it's been her main way of coping with her trauma for years. Often times, she'll go to bed wine drunk, with the bottles on her nightstand waiting for her to clean them up in the morning. She feels as though drinking is one of the only times she can actually feel emotions the way she's supposed to, and the way she did before her experimentations in Blackwatch. It helps her feel more human, more normal. She sometimes goes on alcohol bans, especially if she's busy with work. But, she's never going to decline a free drink or a present that's alcohol related. It's her worst feature, arguably.

Does Amelie like being in pictures? Not anymore - not since her wedding photos. She was never really a photogenic woman, but after the experimentations she grew to dislike her body. That's why I think she got her tattoo, as a way to bring something she likes into her appearance so that she's not full of hatred for herself. Amelie doesn't like the reminders of her unhappiness working in Talon, and so taking pictures would only feel torturous of her. She'd have to fully, genuinely, and truly trust someone to feel comfortable taking pictures with them. It's how she's always been deep down, but it's been amplified since Blackwatch.

How well does Amelie take care of herself? Because of Talon's strict guidelines, she has to take very good care of herself both physically and hygiene wise. She doesn't like to feel grimy or dirty either, so she tends to take 2 showers a day - once in the morning and once before bed. She's very into skincare, and likes to have a winding down nighttime routine where she focuses on her skincare, body care and focuses on healing herself however she can. No one knows this besides her, but she keeps a wellness journal to track the emotions she's felt that day, what they mean and what caused them. Amelie often fills it in when she's alone, in the bathroom with the shower still running to make people think she's still busy. It's her way of trying to understand the mental war going on in her mind, especially when these emotions were dulled down and almost removed completely for years. Physically, she does Pilates and endurance training alongside her continued treatments from Moira - it helps her relax, focus on her core strength, and ensures she's ready for the missions that come next. If she could, though, she'd be training through ballet practice. She misses it dearly, but Moira refuses to let her explore that route, just incase it brings back memories or emotions that would interfere with her work. It's something Amelie detests about Talon, but she knows she can't leave and this is all she has left now after everything that happened with Overwatch. It's all she knows, and it's all she can know, so she continues with what's recommended for her training as per Moira's guidelines.

Who do they go to for comfort? Honestly, it would be Olivia/Sombra. We've seen how understanding she can be of Sigma and his ailments in Talon, and if Amelie were to open up and reveal what's going on in her mind, how she's letting herself slowly learn how to feel again, I think Olivia would have her back throughout it all. Olivia would obviously be a risky ear to talk to, incase she spills it for the right price, but Amelie is short on people she can rely on. Anyone she could trust without experimenting on her or ridiculing her is gone now, and all she has is Olivia to give her the hope of support and genuine concern. They have a very sweet, private friendship and Olivia's a good shoulder for Amelie to rely on when she's struggling with her newfound emotions. Olivia's logical nature also helps when Amelie's in a pessimistic, agitated mood and helps her to ground herself and look at the situation from a different lens. Sometimes, though, if she's feeling very restricted, unable to be herself, she'll speak to Sigma about things going on, and listen to his rambles to help quiet her mind. They both feel the pain of being in Talon, even though they have very different mental states. Regardless, it would take a lot for her to go to anyone for comfort, and even if she wanted to she's always careful with her words, making sure that if anything was overheard or spoken about, that she could defend herself adequately.

[sunnysidesevenup]

(In reference to the dating Sim post)

I've been thinking about this, and honestly it kinda depends? Knowing what I know now about all your ocs, I feel like it's obvious the answer is Arlo or Tilly, for good reason! They're very silly little guys, but also have personalities and backstories that I can see making for some pretty gut wrenching angst potential in their routes. But if we're assuming that I know absolutely nothing about any of your ocs and it's my first time seeing all of them? Then honestly... Probably Eilo or Ali.

I dont really know how to explain it much besides. Whimsy and enchanting people with magical minds is absolutely my style. Ali's way of speech is actually really fun to me and would immediately draw me in, I would love to try to understand cryptic messages from the cloud with her. She's got little fairies in her head and so do I, share your strange somewhat unsettling thoughts with me 🤝 As with Eilo, he's just. A guy. A silly guy who I can hold in my hands gently. Unfortunately with his power I can also imagine there being gut wrenching angst in his route BUT I WOULDN'T KNOW THAT so I would fall into the trap of the happy guy who's full of magical thoughts ready to run into the forest with me because the woods are calling

Arlo would probably make me mad if I didn't know anything about him I would become an Arlo hater until I was compulsively reading his wiki page at 3am, in which case I would speedrun his route in a day

I feel like a nerd for typing all that out

DON’T FEEL LIKE A NERD AHAHFDBSH I COULD LITERALLY KISS YOU RN /J

Dudeeeee yeah I could totally see people absolutely HATING Arlo before playing his route. Some people might assume he’s a tsundere or something at first but then rapidly realize, wait no. Where are the tsundere qualities. Where is his “it’s not like I like you or anything!” moment, why is he JUST MEAN??? I can imagine his route is like the SLOWEST of slowburns possible, and you’ve gotta unravel all his trust issues, at which point he rapidly becomes like, the sweetest route in the game. I can easily imagine his overly romantic gestures lmao 😭

Elio’s route is definitely the “omg look at the sunshine child!!” and friendship to lover’s route, and then you get hit with like. devastating grief. congrats. Also you are like, required to help with his brother’s trauma during the route lmao, if you don’t then you will not progress at all.

Ali my beloved. The most whimsical of routes. I can easily imagine players having to decipher what the hell she’s even saying in order to answer any questions. Honestly probably the route that gets the most tutorials written on it outside of Tilly’s.

You know those games that have like, most of the bad endings being just not ending up with the person you wanted and/or they dislike you, but then one route has the most INSANE bad endings possible? Yeah, that’s Tilly’s. His route is incredibly fun, but also the easiest to mess up I imagine. Like oops sorry you did ONE thing wrong and now you’re locked in to the most insane choices and none of it is going the way you want. You gotta keep both yourself alive AND HIM. And the rest of the game is just like a normal setting or something 😭

[dreamsy990]

so it all comes to this.

to say i was excited to play 3 would be wrong. actually i was sort of dreading the game. i went in with expectations for the worst and was pleasantly surprised. which is not to say that its good. but its certainly a game! that i played! and now you get my thoughts. unfortunately a lot of my thoughts about the end of the game are kind of hard to separate so. if youre wondering where my thoughts on endgame stuff is. its at the end.

(also i havent played remind so theres no remind thoughts here. its all just base game kh3)

combat (with some other gameplay notes)

so. im not a big fan of the combat. to preface, i played the rest of the series on standard, but with kh3 i was told it was easy so i did proud! and yet it was still the easiest kh game.

kh3 is the first game in the series where i feel as though 'mash x to win' is a valid criticism <- thats not entirely true at the start, but later in the game it does feel a lot like that. almost every fight is mindless because of how easy it is. you can see it in the enemy health bars, theyre absurdly large because of how easy it is to take them down. they need to have that high of health so the fight isnt over in under a minute.

i dont think the base combat is bad. unsatisfying, maybe. But not bad. except for attraction commands.

attraction commands feel like part of a pattern in kh3, where they try to recreate what made the other games so good without understanding WHY it was good. what theyre recreating ofc being reaction commands. technically its the same as some reaction commands, sure, being a giant dramatic attack, but it doesnt work because theres no situational awareness in them.

attraction commands dont feel cool because theres nothing in them that requires use of your surroundings or that is tailored to the enemies youre fighting, since theres only a couple that can be used at any time. there's nothing strategic about using them either- reaction commands normally would give you a specific advantage, or could be used to avoid attacks, only sometimes dealing damage on their own. in kh3, all attractions do is deal damage. they are impersonal and often obtrusive- if youre like me and hate attractions, youll still often accidentally use one, since theres no way to disable them.

this is more abstract than anything, but something about attacking feels unsatisfying. the combat feels like it lacks any real sense of impact or weight to me. but thats all personal and not exactly good criticism so. i digress

also the bosses in 3 suck. you know its bad when the most memorable boss fight in your game is the tutorial. most of the boss fights in this game are so unmemorable that ive literally forgotten them. except of course demon tide. i despise demon tide. it was fine in 0.2 but not here. every time you fight it feels like a missed opportunity for something cooler.

i think flowmotion is worse now. i get that it was a bit too overpowered, but with how much it was limited i ended up hardly using it. i didnt like flowmotion because of the attacks, i liked it because of the movement. so to me, it ended up being a reminder of how kh3 failed instead of a fun feature.

also i know a lot of people like being able to switch keyblades in fights, but honestly i feel like it removes an element of strategy the other games had

the ui (and other visual things)

this isnt something i talked about in my other reviews. but in kh3 i must bring it up. if you follow me you may know my hatred for kh3s ui. so im going to talk about it again! this is the abridged version though. heres my whole rant if you want my full thoughts on it. but the short version is that i dont like it. i am someone with terrible vision and i can play every single kh game without glasses because the ui is just big enough that i can read it. most of the time i can read subtitles too. but in 3? i struggle even WITH glasses to read anything. the ui is too small to make out anything almost all the time. its really only by muscle memory that im able to play. my glasses broke while i was playing, and i literally couldnt play until i got new ones because i couldnt make out a single word on screen. its bad design.

im also upset that there ui art has been replaced with renders. its just a shame honestly. i loved the art in the older games. the renders feel bland in comparison.

and thats generally my take on the look of modern kh. sure its pretty, but its bland. kh has always had a certain cartoonish vibe to it thats starting to die out, and i think the shift to unreal engine was the first marker of that change. i like the look of old kh. its not too technically impressive but its incredibly charming. kh3 is anything but. the characters feel far less expressive, the worlds are realistically rendered, it feels unfitting for a series like kh. its hard for me to find kh3 as charming as the other games. the only word i can think of to really describe it is corporate.

i dont know if this is a rare take, but i think technically impressive visuals are far worse than distinct ones. kh used to have a unique look! now it just looks like every other semi-realistically rendered rpg.

story (featuring: more gameplay notes)

my problem with kh3's story was unavoidable really. dream drop distance set this game up for failure and so im not going to complain about dream drop distance. ANOTHER TIME ill talk about dream drop distance. i dont have time to make a post that long. i do have a lot of problems with the story that werent a result of ddd being terrible so i guess ill just bring up those.

one of my biggest issues with the game is how unimportant the roxas plot is. youre led to believe the game will revolve around it but then sora does nothing to further it. at all. at the start he CONSIDERS doing something, and then hes told by ienzo "no its fine ive got it. go do something else" and its barely ever mentioned again until the end.

this relates to my overarching problem with the plot: it feels aimless. in every kh game theres a REASON theyre going on a journey. soras looking for his friends, roxas is working a 9 to 5, the wayfinders are all following each other, etc. but in kh3 sora is looking for "the power of waking". what is the power of waking? i literally have no clue. thats how poorly defined it is. its an abstract goal, its not tangible or even really achievable. its just a macguffin. when the plot suddenly decides to happen at the end the whole journey feels pointless. you could skip every disney world past twilight town and you would probably be fine. it's not a journey, you're not exploring for a purpose, you're just killing time until other people handle the plot.

i also really hate the new organization (i refuse to call them the real organization. theyll never be the org). theyre painfully boring and poorly put together. the old org had structure, they had very specific goals, every member had a purpose. you knew how they worked and why they did what they did. the new org is just completely lacking in that. calling it an 'organization' is stupid because there's nothing organized about it. and even disregarding all that, the new organization also lacks any real personality. the members feel so boring, which sucks, because almost all of them are returning characters who used to be really fun. and why are most of them even there? no one except maybe xigbar seems to actually care about their mission. the old organization had a common goal and a reason everyone was there. they were nobodies, they wanted their hearts back. there's no reason for any of the new members to stick with xehanort. and if you say "well they were norted!" i then must ask. what exactly is norting? like really. it hasnt been possession since birth by sleep. norting is whatever nomura needs it to be in the moment. its not clearly defined, its just another macguffin.

also because i dont know where to put it, the battle of 10,000 heartless is just a terrible successor to the original fight. there's no stakes, no buildup, no friends fighting by your side, no reason to care. they just throw thousands of heartless with no ai at you. literally no ai, if you stand still they wont attack you. its a drag if anything, an homage to a better game done absolutely no justice.

back to what i was saying about the roxas plot, roxas' return is just such a nothing scene. theres nothing about it thats cathartic, his lines are impersonal and bland, theres nothing 'roxas' about it. roxas' defining feature has always been how emotional he is, and there's none of that here. its nothing. and then he does nothing afterwords. he has seven whole lines in this entire game, six of them are in this scene, and the last one is an inconsequential jab at sora at the very end. and then he fades into the background.

the writing in this game in general is actually weirdly worse than normal. it feels a lot less, idk, human? the older games were weird and absurdly cheesy but this is just. strange. look at the scenes with riku and mickey in the realm of darkness and youll see what i mean.

WHILE IM ON THAT SUBJECT. RIKUS KEYBLADE BREAKING IS BULLSHIT. remind me to rant about that another time though im not gonna go on a tangent about that here

also i would give my thoughts on the ending but i literally couldnt care less about xehanort. so i dont really have any! the final boss was alright though

i have more specific thoughts, but generally, the game feels aimless and underwhelming.

positives

i love axel and kairi! theyre a fun duo and ill never shut up about their parallels so seeing them together is nice. i wish they did anything but thats BESIDES the point im being POSITIVE here

also. the music is great. i love the music sm. its nowhere near my favorite kh soundtrack, it feels a lot more grand which isnt my thing but its still some of yoko shimomuras best work. also hearts as one. its the PERFECT conclusion to roxas' theme and arc. the progression of it from melancholic (roxas) to desperate (the other promise) to triumphant (hearts as one) is just so good. i wish the rest of this scene was as good as the music so i could compliment it more wholeheartedly yknow?

its actually funny also! kh isnt the funniest series, most of the time when it IS funny its completely on accident. but kh3 is like days in the way that it just. actually has funny writing. the jokes intended DO land and its just a breath of fresh air.

oh also riku being well adjusted is the funniest possible conclusion to his character arc. 10/10 im so happy hes normal. never give that boy an emo arc again nomura

conclusion

over all, kh3 is exactly like how my teachers described me in elementary school: it has a lot of potential, but doesnt apply itself. this couldve been a decent game but it simply doesnt do most things very well. i give it a 5.2 / 10. its not an actively bad game but its a game i have trouble enjoying. sidenote im retconning my opinion on bbs to say its 4.7 / 10 because a: my opinions have changed and b: i think 3 is better but i dont want to give it a very high score.

[petricorah]

i wanna start making comics but like. i dont really know how??? are there any tips that you could give me perhaps?

hi!

i've been working on trying to compile a list of resources for people (@aangsfrogs--i didn't forget!) who want to make comics for a long time. It would consist of some of my personal tips and a lot of links to other people's PDFs and youtubes. But that's...a hefty project, so if you had any specific questions for the meantime, my askbox is open!

But, for just beginning, here would be my tips:

Read comics. Read manga and webcomics and cartoons and medical comics. There is so much out there, and reading is such a big way to learn. If you see something you like, take a moment to think about why you like it. Are the expressions or colors appealing? Did it make you feel a certain emotion? Analyze what the artist may have done to get across what they did. (Is it the camera angle? the style they chose to draw in? the paneling? the pacing? the color? etc.) Doing this over time will help you recognize the tools available for telling stories through this medium, and you'll be able to put them in your own work.

Try to think about what you want to make comics about. What moves you? What topics interest you? What ideas or tropes do you love in media or think about often? What do you hate and wish was done better? What characters are you drawn to, or what characters do you want to create? (What about them compels you?) I find it's hard to create an idea out of thin air, but if you start writing down random ideas you have, you'll start thinking about them, and over time, you'll have a bank of things to pull from when you want to create.

Lastly, anatomical skill or knowledge of color does not a comic make! You don't have to know much to begin, and there aren't rules. Just start drawing what is meaningful to you!

This is just cursory and doesn't get into super specifics like paneling or scripts or plotting or colors or thumbnailing or....etc, but I'll try to expand my list of resources and get that out! And, hmu if you have any specific questions on topics!

happy drawing~

Book list under readmore:

Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics and his Making Comics. These books are taught in like, every comic class ever. While not my complete favorite, they do a good job of showing some history and fundamentals, and how easy it is to make comics even if you don't have a lot of drawing experience.

99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style by Matt Madden: Really good if you don't know how to start analyzing comics. (Also it's just a fun visual exercise.) It shows the same short story done in 99 different styles with different emphasis on different moods and points of view.

The PreHistory of The Far Side: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit by Gary Larson and The Calvin and Hobbes: Tenth Anniversary Book by Bill Watterson: Two great books with work from my two favorite cartoonists. They both have writings from the author about getting ideas, developing stories, and being a comic artist.

Uncanny Bodies: Superhero Comics and Disability, edited by Scott T. Smith and José Alaniz and Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation, edited by Sheena C. Howard and Ronald L. Jackson II: These two aren't really about making comics, but they are great collections of analysis about old and new comics alike.

By no means a complete list, but some good ones that I can think of off the top of my head.

There's also the book Webtoon School: Everything you need to know about webtoon creation and story writing. To be honest, I didn't read this completely through because it was a bit more fundamental than I was expecting, but it gives a good cursory look of how to write comics if you're just starting out! It covers some history, how to write stories and arcs, etc.

Also, look to your favorite writers! A lot of webtoon/webcomic artists do tutorials or youtube videos. for instance, velnxi has this great tutorial up I really suggest looking at here.

[valhallavalkyrie9]

Crochet community, please answer a question for me.... how did ya'll learn when all the tutorials I've found are dogshit. Like no hate to these people, I dont think they realize where they're lacking in their videos but damn, they suck pretty bad a lot of the time.

Like seriously, so many people will title things as "easy" or "beginner" but don't explain terminology at all. Or they go fast... all the time. Like if I'm a beginner I need snails pace to actually be able to see what's going on so I can understand exactly what I'm doing. Just going slow compared to what you're used to is not enough, it needs to be EXTREMELY slow.

.......This frustration may have to do with me following my first pattern and immediately needing to learn to treble crochet into a magic circle... which I can't because nobody seems to show clear enough how to do that.

Like where do I hold the circle the keep its shape EXACTLY. Show me specifically what threads and why. How do you get that first chain after the circle done so easily? And then, how do I actually treble into the damn circle?

Im totally not frustrated crying rn after trying over and over and over and over and.....

[snapsnzips]

Why Am I Even Here? My Initial Dragon Age: Inquisition Reaction

I didn’t even like DAI at first. Especially coming in hot from DA2 and a lifetime of built in keyboard habits from Bioware games. Suddenly trying to click-to-move has me stopping and shooting. I can’t walk around using my mouse buttons while I drink some coffee or have a snack. Every time I try to pause the game I jump and the pause is now way off where my small handed pinky can’t really reach.

I’ve always played dual wield rogues. I love them. I instantly hated them here. No DA2 gap closer, no click to move if I’m not quite close enough, she kept ending up back in front of mobs no matter how I positioned her. No health bars or nameplates on mobs, they were impossible to see for someone overwhelmed by the input of a new game.

Also wtf is that tactical cam? As a diehard DA:O combat enjoyer, I was in shambles.

I can’t name my save games, I have to maintain a text file with save timestamps of things I want to keep.

I had to be standing on top of something to loot it with no click to move for better repositioning. The hold key is more of a suggestion to your party than a command that they actually fucking stay where I put them. Releasing a party from hold (if they actually stood still for more than 5 seconds) is now a separate keybind.

I finally made it to the tutorial boss and was so mad about how bad melee rogues play that I restarted the next day with a mage. Things got a little better.

I remapped jump to a mouse side button. I remapped disengage to another mouse side button. I put pause on the key it’s used for the last fucking 20 years of bioware games. I gave up mostly trying to get my party to stop moving. (I’m never doing the temple puzzles again where it requires everyone to stand in really specific spots all over the room). I installed mods that:

widened search radius

constantly search pinged

extended gathering reach

quicker looting

more banter

deshine (why tf is everyone soaking wet?)

more hair mods because again bioware hair is all square blocks

HD textures

A Reshade preset

complexion textures

beard edits for the male NPCs because wtf is that facial hair?

And then I restarted again to get something better out of the character creator.

I ended up with a bunch more mods but those are the big ones. I finally ended up needing mods to stop Maryden from singing so loud when I’m talking to people, to shut up Xenon because he’s so loud and stop the requisition officer from talking so she stopped interrupting banter that triggers on zone in.

Weirdly I don’t hate table missions. Although I wish some of them could have been side quests. I managed to kill my Dalish clan at least once and also killed off the Wardens in a set of missions. At first I thought table missions were purely flavor so I didn’t realize I could accidentally murder people and get really bad outcomes. I honestly don’t mind the war table although I did eventually cut mission length to 50%.

I got a conversation zoom-in mod as well. The default conversation zoom is so impersonal it just felt bad. The game should allow more zoom in during none cutscenes.

In case you can’t tell, I’m a game restarter. I often need two or three starts into a game before I can finish. I’ll restart and play the intro a few times to get a feel for what’s actually going on once I’m no longer overwhelmed. I’ll also restart halfway through if I realize I’ve made some really irredeemable mistakes (those conversation wheels don’t always mean what you think), or if I realize I’m really into what’s going on and want to replay what I’ve already done for a deeper understanding before moving forward with my story.

Restart scenario: I had been playing DA2 from my original pre-order disc from over 10 years ago. When it went on sale over Christmas, I bought it so I could play the DLC. Which I did then realized as I was part way through act 3 that I didn’t want to go there again. Anders my beloved.

Since there’s no way to save a character outside a new game, I had a lot of early false starts with DA:I. But that’s probably a story for a next post.