#ire game developers

[mallach]

SHUT UP???????????

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

Dragon Age is dead and Bioware killed it by wasting ten years fucking around and mismanaging and abusing their staff with crunch and not letting the creatives and writers actually do their job. Instead the leaders at Bioware were just as into Games As a Service and Live Service and Empty Open Worlds as EA was. This isn’t a case of “oh poor wittle Bioware”. Bioware implemented 60-80 hour work weeks and ran around with their heads cut off when making Anthem. Bioware is the one that was sued for severance by former employees.

Veilguard failed because it’s a shitty cobbling together mechanics and art direction of Skyrim, God of War, Mass Effect 2, and League of Legends/Fortnite. No cohesion, no distinct Dragon Ageness other than the grudgingly acknowledged setting that feels like the writers are so disinterested or even resentful that they have to abide by a technical ‘canon’ if they’re not allowed to ignore, shelf, or literally sacrifice to the Blight.

No the opinion of Veilguard is not gonna “lighten up” or be more positive as time goes on. Have people “lightened up” on Game of Thrones S8 or the series finale of Dexter? No. Similar ire and resentment will remain for Veilguard because of how blatant the fumbling and atrocious mishandling of this game was. And yes, I would’ve preferred this game had not come out at all because then this shitty development to the canon wouldn’t exist.

[rebo-chan]

Okay so I make a lot of canon-adjacent posts. *gestures at my food post* very canon very important very informative. But my heart is full of whimsy and magic and sugar and spice and everything nice.

Today I wanted to talk about some of my hcs that I have regarding Tsuna and Reborn. Shit I just completely made up ^v^ I'll do five each to not make this a long post again rkehns.

Tsuna:

Grows up to really like coffee like his mentor, but could never really stand straight espresso. From my food post research, I saw that he is a snack food fiend. So, I think he's the type to enjoy lattes, frappuccinos, and mocha. What I'm saying is that he walks into Vongola meetings with a iced coffee and he stress-drinks it for the sugar rush.

Good with kids! I don't think he wants kids of his own, because he has enough of those, but he's the perfect balance of playful and strict. I do think though, if he did become a parent by some accident, he'd be the stricter one of the two. Mom is gonna be the fun one and Dad is the one that brings crazy things around you, but tries to put you to bed at 8pm.

Still a bit of a dumbass as a mafia boss. The moment he found out he has to give salaries to people and try to tax that shit and file it with their IRS but also do the calculations himself, since technically he shouldn't show that information to Gokudera or anyone else that will know how to Math. He lives each paycheck day in fear that he will wake up the next morning and get arrested for fraud.

Actually bars anyone from bringing in pets to Vongola HQ. Believes they have their hands full with their box animals. "No, Yamamoto please we can't keep the box of stray puppies lets take that to a shelter -" "Gokudera, I see that you have a kitten in your pocket where.. where did you get it.." "Hibari.. Carry on, ignore me :)"

Has developed noise-cancelling ears. Doesn't hear the screams anymore. An ally family will comment on the noise at Vongola HQ and Tsuna will be like "..wdym? :o do you hear something?" Look around and will completely ignore Fuuta and I-Pin strapping Lambo to a medical desk as they are threatened by Bianchi, who is putting on sterile gloves and getting the scalpel. The silence though? The silence scares him. (WHAT A SOMBER LINE TO LEAVE OFF ON)

Reborn:

Super good with the ladies. I know this is something said in the story, but I mean the type that has the whole casual flirting with no weight to it thing down. But, also a little bit standoffish, like you'll never really get to know him this way. It's very strategic, but he does it for fun!!

Tries to teach Tsuna how to hide a body on multiple occasions, in case he ever needs it, but mostly to torment Tsuna. "You can't incinerate all your enemies to ash everytime, it'll get really obvious after awhile. You have to spice it up. Now, put on these gloves. I have someone for us to use" "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE SOMEONE?"

I've said this one before, but it deserves saying again! I've always believed that pre-curse, his cosplay skills had real use! It was something he would use to sneak into buildings into or seduce who he needed to, before he brings the gun to their head. Very comfortable in skirts, dresses, wigs, makeup, etc. Wears his new identities like a second skin.

He snickers and sneers and smirks his way throughout the series (or does a lil maniacal evil laugh), but I bet his real laugh, uncursed, is deep and low. Something he keeps just in his throat, not loud at all. A softened version of his smirk on his face, pleased and relaxed. If you weren't paying attention, you'd miss it as he flips back into his regular demeanor.

LOVES judging things. Always the referee in their games (Snowfight!). Taste-testing (Mochi chapter!). Anything. He's judgmental and you WILL hear his opinion. I fully believe in the three criminal brothers episode, where Nana gets him coffee beans from a shop, he gets straight home afterwards and stands on the counter with his hands on his hips as it brews. He was prepared. Tsuna buys new snacks so Reborn opens all of them to take a bite and decide which one he likes best before taking it, leaving Tsuna with a bunch of opened bags. Ranks the guardians on obscure shit just to get them riled up "Most likely to win at a dance competition in a chicken suit" and he'll put Yamamoto above Gokudera just to watch him fume. A villain. I love him.

OKAY EVERYONE, THAT'S ALL I'LL DO FOR TODAY. Thank you for reading this far I hope you enjoyed reading it. PLEASE give me your hcs, I'd love to hear them. I need a lil pick me up c: It can be any character. Someday, I might do hcs for the other charas too. I think.. a lot about these guys. OKAY THANKS BYE !!!

[daisypreaker]

painting miniatures with homelander

(an exercise in restraint)

companion piece here and all other stuff is on my masterlist

(drew the OC here though it's still a wip - i think she's pretty cool, you'll like her)

tw: use of ableist slur , dubcon, mentions of physical and verbal abuse

"Naya...Na-ya."

If it doesn't work the first time, he swings for second base. If it gets to third she's in trouble. It's never gotten to third. She knows the consequences. There is no real nuclear button when it comes to Homelander. No big red circle waiting to be pushed. It's a series of codes, played like harp strings, a ripple of cause and effect, until it crescendos into -

"Yes?" Naya lifts her head with comedic surprise. Best to pretend she was too absorbed in painting her Jotaro figurine. "Sorry, I was painting his teeny tiny little tushie - look how cute!"

They've started to get together once a week to paint little grey miniatures; Stillwell thinks it helps him and is startled he has given into the idea of having a hobby. He's surprisingly good at it too, even when he keeps the gloves on.

But his real hobby is Naya. And it will be, until the day he finally rams his fist into her gut and pushes it out through her mouth.

It was fine up until about a month ago. He used to call her the r slur right there in meetings with The Seven and even The Deep didn't have it in him to blast out a sycophantic laugh. It made them uncomfortable to watch him bully her. None of them knew her oblivious persona was an act. It was one of the better kept secrets at Vought. She was meant to be completely guileless, a Disney princess who had accidentally developed superpowers. Homelander wasn't into that sort of woman, so it panned out that she was a frequent subject of his misplaced ire if she irritated him on the wrong day.

The pretence was fine until she made the mistake of taking over one of the saves Homelander was late to. 30 school children returned home to their parents, safe and well. He was crying over his lost baby blanket somewhere. It just so happened someone caught the whole thing on film, and when Homelander watched the footage later, Naya was not acting - incapable - enough for his liking.

And then he began to pay attention.

If there was one thing worse for a member of The Seven to be ignored by Homelander, it was to be noticed by him.

It wasn't like she could keep him out of her apartment, or stop him from discovering she liked to paint miniatures. When he said he wanted to join her, she almost broke protocol and lit up. It would kill her, but it would leave him next to dead, as she was meant to do when Vought no longer had control of him. But she didn't. She thought of the kids she'd delivered one by one from the edge of that cliff, their little hands clutching her body as she descended through the skies, and she decided she did not want to die just yet. Who was she to choose death motivated by Homelander when more sweet little lives could yet be saved?

"What do you think of - hey, look at me," he chuckles, as if at a kitten's antics. But when she doesn't, the agitated flutter of the lashes starts. "Look at me."

He won't finish the sentence until she does. He's a little bitch like that. She sneaks a glance his way. That vein bulging in his forehead doesn't look promising. Last time she saw a vein bulging on him, he was jerking it off the edge of the Vought building. Dirty old man.

"Sorry, sorry. What do I think of what?"

He relaxes, and rolls his pretty eyes like tossed blue marbles. "Nothing. You don't even care."

Naya has to fight the urge to roll her own. Playing that game, are we? He's flirting with her. She's observed him too long not to know this is how he flirts.

"Oh come on - " she sets aside her miniature and crawls across the floor to tuck herself all pliant against his knee. "I wanna know. Please?"

He's in her favourite chair, looking like a fucking pillock surrounded by squishmallows and plushies. Sweetness and innocence was part of her 'branding' which turned into fans gifting her everything pink and purple and fluffy for her apartment - she keeps the ones gifted by the women and the ones gifted by men (who all look a certain...way) she tosses out.

He hums under his breath, pleased at the immediate submission, and runs his hand over her hair. He's reassuring himself she's still what he believes her to be, and that Vought hasn't lied to him. Lies shatter the illusion he's in control.

Naya can't help playing into it. The weight of his hand feels....good. Her eyelids droop, and she tucks her chin on his knee, free hand playing with the gap between his calf and his boot. The same boot that once kicked her in the mouth so hard she had to regrow a full set of teeth and it fucking hurt.

"You know...I forgot what I was going to ask you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." A pleased sound croons through his chest as he watches her nuzzle into his palm. "Such pretty eyes. First thing everyone notices."

She knows what she looks like, kneeling at his feet, doll eyes turned upwards. They're so large and dark, he gets to see his face imprinted in them.

She was designed to worship him. They were going to market her as his wife back when domestic ideals still had America in a chokehold. But mistakes were made, and her test tube remained in the freezer whilst his was tipped into some poor runaway girl and - well, everyone knew how that story went. She was born quite a bit later.

And now there's...an age gap.

He has crow's feet and grey pubes. She's cherubic with a mane of lush, dark hair. It's the kind of gap that would make the 'woke left' uncomfortable, question the ethics of an older supe getting into a relationship with a vulnerable, overtly childish one. The other half of the population - his forever fans - would get their rocks off on the idea of their hero fucking the ethnically ambiguous, barely legal Vought pin-up.

He knows she was meant to be his. But the general contempt of her perceived intelligence meant he really didn't care. He was all tangled up in Stillwell anyway.

And Vought prefer Black Noir and Naya together, though she doesn't see that going very far romantically. She misses their comic book reading sessions - both sit back to back and don't exchange a single word - but he had stopped coming up when Homelander started frequenting her door.

"Aaah." He opens his mouth like a dentist coaxing a particularly stupid patient.

Naya obeys. Her spine tickles like pop rocks. Obedience is a given, it is her purpose. But she always rationalised it to keep from losing herself in Vought's manipulation. Except just now, her mouth fell open and her mind was blank. No this is so fucking dumb or you cock-sucking freak of nature.

"Good girl." He shoves two gloved fingers in hard, so deep they hit the back of her throat and her crappy gag reflex kicks in.

Naya forces herself to breathe around them, panic firing on all cylinders. Don't bite down, don't bite down. She could bite his fingers off. He might regrow them, but the point is, she has the strength to bite them off before he gets his lasers through the back of her skull. Her jaw will lock like a rabid pit bull and they'll have to bury her body with his fingers still shoved deep.

Don't bite down, don't bite down, don't bite down.

"What's wrong? You don't like the taste of paint?" His words stroke her ears like velvet, soft as a cobra's hiss.

She shakes her head as much as she can with the grip on her jaw and lets out an inquiring squeak. Her hands squeeze his calf gently, pleading with him to stop. Tears generally have to be forced, but not now. They leak into the corners of her gaped mouth and only once she thinks she might pass out does he let go.

Naya drops away, body curling in on itself as it heaves in air. She finally has a real appreciation for the fish Deep carts around so carelessly.

"I'll tell you one thing - " Homelander's voice dances with boyish glee. "You would not be able to fit my dick in your mouth. I mean, you're grinning all the time - like a fucking harlequin - so, you know - I just thought - hey, she could probably fit a whole bunch in there. But...apparently...not."

He flicks off a glove each with all the panache of a queen on Drag Race (another Black Noir bonding activity).

"Do you want me to suck your dick?" she pants. Anything - anything - to get him out of there. She's strong enough for a lot of things, but not this. Stillwell and Maeve must have the patience of saints.

"No! Don't be vulgar." He looks genuinely disgusted. "Look at you - with this cutesy shit all over the place. What would your fans think if they heard you say that? Though it might not be too great of a surprise. You do look like the type to fuck your way to the top - "

"What type is that?" Naya interrupts.

He blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Is it something you think about a lot? Me fucking my way to the top? Do you think about me fucking other people? Or fucking you?"

Please god let this pay off. Please GOD -

Flabbergasted stutters turn into the usual chuckled drivel that vomits out of him when he is processing the appropriate reaction. Either she's off the invisible hook he brought in here with him, or he's about to go completely still and drop the act. Neither thing happens.

He closes his mouth - that thin, cruel mouth - and forces a tight smile. The only thing she likes about him are the wrinkles around his eyes. They remind her of cat's whiskers.

"I think I'll come back to finish this later." He sets his miniature down with the careful tilt of a practiced artisan.

She was expecting worse. Don't be a fucking r*****! The last time he'd snarled that, half the Vought board were seated around the table and he hadn't liked that she was making them laugh and taking the attention off of him.

Homelander wasn't stupid enough to say it in front of them. But Stillwell followed them out, and saw him drag Naya into a separate room. She must have had her ear pressed to the door because later, Naya received a text saying she was permitted to visit her friend in Maine (she'd asked the week before but was denied).

"Okay. I can't wait, Homelander," she says sweetly, and blows him a kiss when he turns back to take a second look just before he leaves.

He's doing that a lot more these days. She's not playing her part well enough.

As soon as the doors close, Naya drops to the ground, breathing frantically until her head turns to clouds. Her palms are bloodied from where she'd pierced them with the grip of her own nails. The weight of his hand is still on her head. It's always going to be on her head. There's no escape.

There will never be an escape.

[vampxrebarbie]

genuinely a fucking master class in "less is more." the tomb is dead fucking silent save for direct player interaction with the environment and it's OPPRESSIVE and just highlights the moments you do get sounds, like the queen's shrieking or when youre being closed in on by the mummies and both the rulers. the few jumpscares there are WORK because theyre used strategically and given breathing room so the player has time to feel that oppressive dread build between.

amenti has earned itself a spot on my "nope" list on account of whoever did its sound design did absolutely PHENOMENAL work because the queen's shrieking after you open up the king's sarcophogus is fucking bone-chilling

[tracyislandinmymind]

Just a little splurge of thoughts on SOS Part 2 because it really is an incredible episode in terms of music, lighting, pacing and writing. I could yap all day about it, but I’m gonna just muse for a moment on one specific aspect:

The Hood in this episode, and how well he is positioned as ‘the bad guy’.

He is at his glorious villainous best in a dark way in SOS II (incredibly dark for a kid’s TV show, and it’s written for the adults) without actually needing to do much. He is made out to be especially callous and cold in SOS II and it is delicious.

That he shot at TB4 and caused that rockslide in pursuit of Brahman for purely selfish reasons (without even knowing if he was worth anything) is bad.

That he left Gordon for dead so callously, with Fuse of all people serving as the moral compass here, is awful.

But the worst part about all of it that is so subtly evil? He just doesn’t care. He isn’t full of rage or maniacal cackling or anything dramatic like he usually is. He has done perhaps the most horrendous thing, the one time he might well have actually killed a member of IR (because at this point we don’t know if Gordon is dead or alive) - and he is just so flippantly unbothered by it all.

There’s one line that sums it all up beautifully - “this better not not be an elaborate ruse to annoy me.”

He is so selfish that he can believe quite easily that IR have done all this to annoy him - even when Fuse is clearly troubled by what he saw.

We’re used to seeing IR triumph over the Hood. We’re used to enjoying seeing the Hood annoyed - the escape capsule in Falling Skies, the excellent game of Catch-A-Hood between the Thunderbirds in Brains vs Brawn, the empty vault in Unplugged.

So when the Hood says “this better not be an elaborate ruse to annoy me”… woah.

Because the audience knows what is happening on the other side of the story. We’ve heard John’s voice when Gordon’s beacon goes off, and just watched the most horrendous, jarring, silent launch sequence with terrified Alan and the look Scott and Virgil share, and Penny and Parker enroute in a hurry too.

There is this huge build up of music and noise and emotion on the IR side because this is the highest of stakes - and the Chaos Cruiser is just business as usual.

We know it is anything but an elaborate ruse and what happens right after the Hood talks?

Pan shot straight to Thunderbird 2 and FAB1 arriving to drive that message home. IR are desperately trying to rescue their squished fish, and the Hood’s biggest concern… is being taken for a ride as a joke.

*chefs kiss* glorious, selfish villain writing. It’s even better if you line it up with who he has just tried to kill.

Gordon didn’t know Brahman’s worth either when he went down there (no idea he was the clue to Dad!) but he went to help because there was someone in need of a rescue. He couldn’t listen to a machine in distress and had to help. Brains helps set it up here when he reinforces that Brahman isn’t actually in any pain or any real danger - yet Gordon doesn’t hesitate.

The Hood, in contrast, has turned away from a human being, one who was only trying to help, in mortal peril (that he caused!!) when he could’ve helped very easily - and he is far more concerned about being pranked by IR with the robot. The fact he doesn’t even care about Brahman is an extra cherry on the top because as an audience we’ve grown attached to him both through his crash scene singing and because Gordon has just paid a high price for him.

Two ends of the scale. Solidifying him as ‘the villain’ so simply but also in such a subtly dark way for the adults watching. Despite this being a kids show and all the Hood’s usual dramatics - he really doesn’t care who pays for his greed.

And a nice tidbit for Kayo’s character development/position as a ‘good’ moral character here too. She’s got the Hood on lock. She lets him escape to get Brahman instead. She could’ve so easily continued after her uncle - she could’ve quite literally followed in his footsteps and ruthlessly pursued her goal despite the cost to someone innocent (in this case, Brahman) for selfish reasons. She had a choice in that moment to follow her brother’s choice or her uncle’s - and she chooses to side with ‘good’. Then immediately goes to see Gordon. Solidifying her ‘real’ family and where she belongs by context.

[interact-if]

IF: Loving Starless Skies

Hello! Im Grace (she/they), an IF author looking to promote my blog: https://www.tumblr.com/paragrasya The game is titled Loving Starless Skies. General Premise: Every person takes charge of their own destinies—except for the ones who seal it by peering into their possible demise. This earns the ire of many deities who are untouched by death and beholden to eternity. All humans are destined to die, but all are afforded the ability to change the journey that leads to that destination. Yet you've done the unthinkable. Now you know you were destined for a most painful death and this knowledge sealed what was an otherwise alterable fate. You don't want to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, nor do you want to stand by and allow it to happen. The one who should help you is the one who got you in trouble in the first place—the Overseer of Chaos. But true to their nature, they are entertained by the havoc. If it were to be anyone else, then it must also be a deity. You must find an Overseer and convince them to help you. Tags: Filipino game, if wip, demo to be released Genre: Romantic fantasy Age Restriction: 18+ Intro Post Link: https://www.tumblr.com/paragrasya/771841915943567360/loving-starless-skies The development is going well and I'm excited to release it next month. Thank you for this space and for helping new authors like me promote their IFs. Let me know if there's other info you'd like me to provide. Thanks again!

[httpvomitello]

heeeeey girl or boy idkn sorry ahaha, I would like the idea or the reaction of bay tmnt or rise or both of them that splinter has a man partner, that they have a new cool dad that contrasts splinter's attitude

Hello! I'm a girl 😊. Anyways ~ i hope you like it! ♡♡♡♡

The Cool Dad *⁠.⁠✧

Leo doesn’t immediately warm up to the idea

He’s used to Splinter’s disciplined ways, so this easygoing, “normal” guy feels a little out of place

Leo observes quietly, unsure what to make of him

Over time, Leo realizes he’s just here to be supportive and present, with no agenda or hidden teachings

Leo starts to appreciate the simplicity of it; it’s nice to have someone around who just wants to listen, chat, and occasionally tell him that he’s doing great without expecting anything in return

The new dad shows Leo that it’s okay to just be, to hang out and relax without constantly pushing himself to improve

Leo finds himself loosening up, realizing that even a little downtime has its own kind of value.

Raph clicks with him almost immediately

He’s the first adult figure who doesn’t seem fazed by Raph’s attitude or rough edges

Instead, he laughs it off, treating with a level of casual respect that Raph instantly appreciates

He’s not there to discipline or shape Raph’s attitude, he just encourages Raph to be himself

Raph’s never had someone outside the family who gets him so well

If Raph’s training or punching a heavy bag, he’ll be there cheering him on or even helping, ir just talking

The casual bond they share makes Raph feel seen and appreciated, maybe even more understood than he is by his own brothers.

Donnie’s intrigued but unsure of what to expect

When he realizes this guy doesn’t know anything about ninjutsu or science, he’s both a little relieved and curious to see what he’s all about

He quickly finds that Splinter’s partner has a surprising amount of curiosity and interest in Donnie’s work, even if he doesn’t understand it all

He encourages Donnie to share his projects, hyping him up even if he’s clueless about the details

Donnie isn’t used to having someone cheer him on with no questions asked

The support is genuine, and he starts feeling more confident in himself

It’s refreshing for him to have a cool dad who just thinks everything he does is awesome.

Mikey absolutely loves him right from the start

He’s fun, engaging, and doesn’t shy away from Mikey’s goofiness

In fact, he joins right in, making Mikey feel totally accepted

They quickly develop a bond over movies, snacks, and games

Mikey finally has someone who’ll watch every cheesy movie and try his new recipes without a second thought

They share inside jokes, and Mikey feels like he has a buddy who genuinely gets his vibe

He hypes up Mikey’s art, jokes, and wild ideas

For Mikey, who’s used to being the “baby” of the family, it feels amazing to have someone who lets him shine without teasing him, boosting his confidence in all the right ways.

[hopelessfrog]

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

She was smarter than me, or luckier. She's the one who finally kept that sun from rising.

stars: ☆☆☆☆

i mean... where to begin! obviously, it's the Hunger Games so i was guaranteed to love it, but wow. it wasn't what i was expecting, to be honest - and i still don't know exactly how to feel about it.

i loved how Collins expanded the world; i loved meeting people we know and love, but younger; i loved haymitch's character development; i loved the different perspective of District 12. as always, i cannot fault Suzanne's writing and i felt the characters in this book were particularly strong, especially with such a full cast. i cannot begin to express how much i love Maysilee, and don't even get me started on Ampert or Wellie or Louella...

i liked the return to first person pov. especially in contrast to BOSAS. it makes BOSAS stand out all the more because it reiterates just how inaccessible Snow truly is. he cannot be understood by us, nor should he be. i can understand why people were saying SOTR read like fanfiction, but it didn't bother me.

SPOILERS AHEAD

now, the plot. the damn plot. of course, Haymitch had to have done something very dramatic, devious and maybe even rebellious to have invoked Snow's ire the way that he did. so i can understand the scheme to blow up the arena. that makes sense to me. however, there are still aspects i don't understand - why were the gamemakers in the actual arena? what were they sweeping? i'm still so confused by it! maybe i missed something, but i've reread that scene a few times and tbh i still can't visualise the situation.

also, the violence in this book... i felt genuinely sick. it was the most graphic by far, imo. it could be that Collins is making a point about society's thirst for violence, or our ability to accept it as fact. it could be a commentary on how people clambered and begged to read about another Games, effectively making fans into the Capitol audience. it could be that i am simply too familiar with the original trilogy and am myself desensitised to it. i can't say for sure, but i can say i was shocked. poor ampert. poor wellie. poor lou lou. i have no idea how they're going to translate that for the big screen and retain any kind of PG rating.

i also felt the ending was slightly rushed. his return to 12 after the post-games torture (the snake and the rabbit scene also confused me, ngl) until Lenore Dove's death just happened so so fast. i did love the prologue though, of course. the reveal that he knew who Katniss was pre-games? urgh... perfection. i also loved that he was friends with Burdock as a child. the ideal amount of angst and hurt for me.

overall, i loved it. i was always going to. however, i do think it had its faults, and it is the weakest of the Hunger Games books so far for me. however, i will 100% reread it at some point. maybe i'll update with my thoughts after then!

[jessicas-pi]

for the ask game, could we mayhaps get a little snippet of sabezra in the teenage rebellion au and/or mythical creatures au?

hehe ok let's do both! (this got very long, whoops lol)

first off, here's a random bit of writing I just churned out, set in the not-so-very-distant future of the Teenage Rebellion AU, but after just enough of the plot development has developed that Things Are Just A Little Different! you get no context.

---

"You know," Ezra mused in a low voice, leaning on the back of Sabine's chair and playing with a strand of her hair. "The first time I saw you, I thought you looked like something from a story."

Sabine glanced at him in the mirror ahead of her, and a smile pulled at her lips. "Oh?"

"Very dark fantasy," he nodded solemnly. "Ruler of the court of shadows, wicked changeling queen, goddess of the underworld... you get my drift."

"I hope that's a compliment."

"I assure you—" He ducked down and laid a kiss on the top of her hair, then dodged to avoid being swatted by Sabine's handmaid. "—it certainly is."

Sabine giggled. "You had better stop touching my hair, Youngest Brother, or Taya's gonna skin you alive."

Sabine's handmaid had taken a decided dislike to Ezra since the beginning, and his habit of fiddling with Sabine's hair while it was being braided only deepened her ire.

"All right, all right," Ezra said, holding up his hands dramatically and backing away. "I yield. You win. She's all yours, Lady Taya." He turned, making his way out of the bedroom and down the hallway, raising his voice theatrically as he did so. "I'll just go off... on my own... alone... by myself... just me... so lonely..."

Rolling her eyes, Sabine raised her voice, too. "Hey, you know what I just realized?!"

Ezra's head appeared through the doorway as he leaned back into the room, blue-gold eyes dancing with joy. "What'd'you realize?"

Sabine started ticking things off on her fingers, speaking to her handmaid more than to him. "Loud. Whiny. Hungry all the time. Needs constant attention. Hollers when he doesn't get it..." She trailed off, then faked a gasp, looking up at Taya with faux-astonishment. "Stars above, Taya—he's a tooka!"

Taya choked on a laugh, and the comically indignant look on Ezra's face was more than enough to send Sabine into howls of merriment.

---

And! Now! Some mythical creatures AU!!

---

The very last thing Sabine remembered was the anchor chain snagging around her leg and yanking her down.

Well... no, not quite.

There was something after that, too.

A shape. Silhouetted above her in the sunset-lit water, there was a shadow of—of—something.

Something... with a... with a tail.

Kanan had said he wouldn't, couldn't shift back into his mer-form—but then again, an anchor chain dragging Sabine to the bottom of the ocean might be enough to change that.

Something cold and wet poked her cheek once, lightly, then poked it again, followed by a splashing sound. A few seconds later, the same chilly touch tapped her forehead a few times—this time accompanied by a curious sort of trilling, clicking, gurgling sound—and her eyes popped open.

She was lying on a powdery beach, her cheeck squished into the sand. Her throat burned, probably from swallowing saltwater. The moon glittered and reflected off the waves lapping at the beach in front of her. A sea breeze ruffled her bangs.

She didn't really notice any of that, though, because not four inches in front of her face was someone else's face, staring at her with intent curiosity, one finger extended to poke her on the forehead again.

Awake in an instant, Sabine shrieked and shoved herself up, scrabbling backwards on the sand, away from the weird staring face person.

Apparently, her shriek startled the kid staring at her, because the kid let out a matching, higher-pitched shriek, and flailed backwards away from her, scooting back into the ocean until he was sitting in the waves, leaning back on his hands.

Sabine braced herself up on one hand and shook her head, trying to collect her thoughts and figure out what had even happened.

She was about to demand to know who he was, where he came from, and why in the name of all good sense wasn't he wearing a shirt, when her eyes fell upon the golden tail, peeking up out of the waves.

Sabine raised her eyes to him again, and really, actually looked.

The faintest of golden-hued patterns glimmered on his skin, glowing so softly they were barely visible in the moonlight. Long, pointed ear-fins poked out through his shaggy blue-black hair. And, most telling of all, there were flaps in his skin on each side of his neck.

He had gills.

Sabine took a breath and opened her mouth, though what she was planning to say, she didn't know. But she never got the chance.

Her movement had broken the silent spell of shock that held both of them in place, and the mer-boy spun around, diving headfirst into the surf and disappearing from sight.

[pumpkinrootbeer]

A Tale Two Trades: A Full Breakdown

I've seen a lot of confusion, a lot of misinformation, and a lot of misunderstanding about what happened. Let me try and clear some of this up!

Introduction

The year is 2019 (stay with me) and the NHL preseason has just begun. However, the Colorado Avalanche are still missing one of their top players and draft picks: Mikko Rantanen. Despite the season technically already starting he's not even in the country! No, instead he's still in Finland currently awaiting a contract agreement from the Avalanche front office as a restricted free agent. Most reports assume he will get signed for around 10 million. The captain, Gabe Landeskog, comes out and defends Mikko, siting his love of the team and emphasizing how much of a team player he is. When Mikko does end up getting signed, Gabe is waiting outside the arena with a "Welcome Home, Mikko" sign. He was signed with the Avs for 9.2x6.

During his time there, Mikko was the third player in franchise history to break 50 goals in the regular season, as well as the third Finn ever. He currently holds the franchise record for most goals scored in a season, and has put up back to back 100 point seasons with them. During 48 games played there without Mackinnon, he has scored 22 goals and gotten 30 assist for a total of 52 points in 48 games— a better point per game average than his games with him. In the first half of the '22-'23 season, Mikko will either make or have the primary assist on more than 50% of the Avalanche's goals.

Then, in 2025, he will be the highest point per game player to be traded at the deadline since 1994.

The 2024-25 NHL season

The Colorado Avalanche are riddled with injuries, like Landeskog who has still not made his return since him being placed on IR, as well as several other players. This is not a new development; they have never been fully healthy at any given time in more than five years. When asked about the injuries in a post game, Mikko will say that he feels like it's been like this his entire time there.

Mikko, who is nearing the end of his six year contact, has been in contract negotiations all summer. Midway through the summer, it's reported that they're nearing an end to the deal. Then the Draisaitl contract hits. Rantanen and Draistaitl share an agent, and negotiations immediately stall. And then Mikko Rantanen scores a hattrick on the opening night of the 2023 NHL season. And that's when contract negotiations officially go off the rails.

The first thing to understand about contract negotiations is we don't have all the information. Agents and management will leak information to the press. There will be baseless rumors. Players will say one thing while something else happens behind closed doors. Two insiders will have conflicting reports and people will insist this means someone's lying. That's the first thing to understand.

The second thing is money is not the whole picture, there will be other incentives like a No Movement Clause or it will come down to the amount of years signed. Kadri didn't resign with the Avalanche because they would not offer him a deal longer than a one year contract. Location is a factor, a team's cup window impacts choices. There's a lot of moving pieces and that's just for the players.

The third thing is players rarely get bargaining power in these negotiations. Their value is directly tied to how well they are preforming, and if you're not preforming- well. Players do not get to choose who they sign with typically and don't get to look at multiple offers at the same time, unless they are UFAs— unrestricted free agents. Other teams cannot approach players with offers if they are already signed with a current team, but if it's UFA, they get to see all the offers and make a move from there. The only time a player will have the upper hand in negotiations is if they become an unrestricted free agent. Anything besides that, and you better hope you have a NMC or else you can get flipped at the drop of a hat.

One thing that will go on to impact contract negotiations is most agents are moving to a percentage based negation as opposed to just solid figures as the salary cap increases. As in, 15% of of the teams salary cap as opposed to the number of 14 million.

Something to note, specifically in this instance, is Mikko is an incredibly private person. He's very friendly with reporters and always willing to talk to them, but his first pre season interview he makes it clear he does not want to discuss his contract. Despite this, the one thing he makes clear is that he, under no uncertain terms, wants to stay in Colorado. His exact quote is "We won the cup here, why would I want to leave." This will be his only statement on where he wanted to end up for the rest of this saga.

Rumors quickly fly around that the Rantanen camp is looking for 14 million from the Avs and Mikko is unwilling to have any negations until after the trade deadline. While I have seen zero confirmation that negotiations stalled, in fact reports later go on to contradict this, the reason the 14 million number gets floated around is because it's reported by insiders that Rantanen's camp believe they can get 14 million on the open market as a UFA. This has never been stated to be their asking price.

The Avalanche have an internal salary cap of 12.6, their lead point scorer and the league's MVP, Nathan Mackinnon's number. It will be important to note that Mikko before getting traded will make up more than 15% of the teams goals and roughly 18% of the teams points. 14 million AAV would be come out to 15% of the teams salary after the cap increases in the coming seasons. It's also important to note that the Mackinnon deal was made when the salary cap was in a completely different place.

Most reporting on this believe the Avalanche will offer 12.5 or 13 million and sign Mikko for 8 years, maybe with a NMC and some other perks. This turns out to be massively overselling their offer, but we'll come back to that. Mikko goes on to score two more hat tricks, break his record for his career highest point streak, and, right before the trade, be second in the league points. Second only to his linemate.

There are games where only Mikko scores, there are games where Mikko gets his first natural hat trick, and there are games where Mikko puts up five points in a night. He is completely dominating, he's named the NHL's second star of November, and he's on pace for 40+ goals and another 100 points. Despite their record breaking absysmal start, the Avalanche are looking stronger and it's starting to feel like this might just be another legitimate cup run and a large portion of that is attributed to Mikko.

And then, in the middle of the night, during a roadtrip, months before the trade deadline, rumors start circulating that Mikko Rantanen is getting traded to the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Carolina Trade

Most people think it's fake, most insiders and reporters believed he would be on the Avalanche for life. And then it gets confirmed, in a massive three way deal, Mikko Rantanen gets traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for four draft picks, Marty Necas, and Jack Drury. Carolina gets Mikko Rantanen from the Avalanche and Taylor Hall from the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks, who are also in this deal don't forget, get their own third round draft pick back and pick up 50% of Rantanen's salary while their at it. This trade immediately puts the Carolina Hurricanes as the new favorites to win the cup.

Around this time, the first solid number for the Avs contract is stated to be 11.75x8. (Some report lower, but absolutely no one says higher than that.) Almost a million less than any offer suggested by insiders or reports leading up to the trade and not even coming close to the artificial salary cap placed by the Avalanche front office.

Almost immediately after the trade, the New York Times start reporting that Rantanen was completely blindsided by this trade. Many fans insist that this can't be true, that the Avalanche would have exhausted all possible options, and they, at the very least, would have communicated with the team's leadership before making such a blockbuster trade. Then, as interviews start coming it, it is confirmed by all four players involved in the trade that there was zero communication with the players.

Mikko outright states that he was willing to take a team friendly deal, that he was under the impression they were still negotiating, he didn't know they were in a rush to get it done, and that for the first time he now knows how brutal the industry can be. He stresses that he had no idea a trade was coming.

Interviews with the Avs assistant captains both say they never say this coming, Nate in particular stresses that he never thought Mikko would leave and he's heartbroken to see his friend go. He talks about how important he was off the ice, how much he meant to everyone in the room. The coach Jared Bednar talks about how hard it is to lose a close friend like this. This narrative will never be contradicted by any Avalanche reporting and the Avalanche general manager will go on to say it happened quick and they felt they had to jump on it.

Old teammates of Mikko's will be interviewed and will express their shock that they would ever let him go. Erik Johnson will comment "what the hell" on the trade announcement, and reach out to the Hurricanes commentators to let them know what an incredible person and player he is. During the opening face off of his first game with the Hurricanes, an Islander player tells Mikko he'll be alright.

Mikko will seem shell shocked in interviews, he will struggle to adjust to games, and he will get norovirus, an injured leg, and a black eye all while facing intense pressure from the Carolina front office to sign an 8 year extension. He will get off a plane and play with Carolina the same day he's traded. He struggles to adjust to the Hurricanes' system, which is notoriously one of the most difficult systems in the league, he struggles to build chemistry with his linemates, and he struggles to score goals. He will also be playing 5 minutes less.

While being interviewed, Sebastian Aho says that the team had slowed down and expected Mikko to lead the way, and he says they can't sit back and expect him to carry them. That they need to show him why they're such a good team and show him where he fits within that.

Despite this, Mikko Rantanen leads the Canes in shots on goal, off the rush chances, and chances generated. Every stat of his goes up from Colorado, except for one: his shot percentage. Mikko typically has a shot percentage of 15% and in Carolina it goes down to 4. Around him, the entire team seems to struggle, with the whole locker room getting sick, a struggling power play, and the break for four nations. Mikko manages to put up 2 goals and 4 assists in his 13 games with them. About half of his normal production which typically averages out to a point per game.

A contract number of 12.5 to 13 million is reported to be offered to Mikko, who does not outright reject it but asks for more time to consider since he has played less than ten games there.

Carolina's GM calls this trade risky and a gamble. Marty Necas goes on to say in an interview with Colorado press that the Canes never should have made the trade if they didn't already know he would sign. Their coach will say after the trade deadline that Rantanen told them he was not interested in signing, in direct contradiction to statements made by insiders, and that no trade should have been made unless they had a guarantee that he would sign.

Later, much later, an insider will report the Canes got positive feedback (not confirmation) from the Avalanche, not Rantanen or his agent, as teams are not allowed to negotiate with players on different teams directly, that Rantanen would be willing to sign. They also say that Rantanen's agent believed the whole trade suggestion to be a bluff by the Avalanche. A bluff like that would not be unprecedented, general managers do things like this frequently in the NHL.

At the end of the day, they did not know, as their were no advanced discussions with any of the players by their own teams, and they will have traded for him anyway on the hope they can convince him to stay. They won't.

The Dallas Trade

About a month before the trade deadline, rumors start circulating that Mikko is going to get traded again as his point production continues to suffer. He is placed first in the trade boards. Then, a week out from the deadline the first credible report goes out that Tulsky has asked around the league for interest in Rantanen. This will later be the time that Mikko will say he was sure he didn't want to stay in Carolina. Their first choice is the Leafs but the deal is contingent on Mitch Marner waiving his NMC which he is fully unwilling to do. Back to the drawing board.

Teams across the league apparently we're looking at Rantanen and making offers for him. Panthers, Leafs, Oilers (yes really), all were interesting in securing Mikko to their team. When it became apparent the Hurricanes were going with the Stars, several gms are reported as half-joking about sabatoging the trade because it would make the Stars too good.

The night before the trade, or early morning depending on how you look at it, it gets reported the Hurricanes are working out a deal with the Dallas Stars. A few hours later, the terms of a deal, Logan Stankonev and two draft picks, have been agreed to by both front offices but it hinges on Mikko Rantanen signing with the Stars. These negotiations between Mikko and the Stars go on for hours with reports they've stalled multiple times. Until three hours before the trade, when it's confirmed he has signed to the Stars for 12 million AAV (annual average value) for 8 years, making him the highest paid player in franchise history and the first one to ever to sign an 8 year deal all without playing for them once. The Stars become the new favorites to win the cup.

And in his first game with them, he puts up a third of his point total from his entirety within the Carolina system within one night of playing for the Stars. He scores the same amount of goals from 14 games in Carolina to 2 in Dallas.

The Aftermath

So, where does this leave us? Where does this leave Mikko, and the total of five players that have been moved around in trades centering him?

Necas and Drury have been settling into the Avs wonderfully. Hall, though not scoring any official goals, has been playing well for the Canes. Stankonov scores the game winning goal with his first game with the Hurricanes. Mikko for his part seems to be doing much better, fitting smoothly into the Stars system and mood noticably improving. He does over four interviews during his first day with the Stars and appears to be in pretty good spirits. The fans however are not.

Immediately there is heavy backlash from both Avs and Canes fans. Avalanche fans claim Mikko is a traitor who was asking for far more than he was worth and then signed for the same deal he rejected from the Avs just so he could play with a division rival. Hurricanes fans claim Mikko knew the whole time he didn't want to sign there but dragged things along to intentionally sabotage the Hurricane's front office. They will use Tulsky saying that since the Rantanen deal took so long he couldn't make trades for anyone else as evidence of this.

Mikko will say that he went with Dallas ultimately because he believes it to be a better fit and that he had to consider every aspect of his life, not just on the ice. He says he had to take his family into consideration, while mentioning his long term partner, Susanna Ranta, by name as someone he was taking into consideration. This leads a large portion of the affirmationed fanbases to stalk her Instagram, harass her, and flood twitter with some of the most misogynistic drival you can imagine. Fans will wish harm on both of them and spam images of him getting hit three times in a game against the Oilers. They will post hoping he tears his ACL, spamming under every possible post about him that he's a piece of shit who betrayed the Hurricanes or the Avalanche— depending on which teams colors they have in their profile picture.

Let me make it clear, I do not think this is representative of Canes or Avs fans. I know those men don't speak for you, but I mention the sheer outpouring of negativity because I think it's important and it is directly impacting Mikko and his family. He will never mention Susanna again, and you can see him cut himself off when he's talking about reasons why he chose Dallas during an interview with Oilers' media. Which will, in itself, be picked apart; people will mock him for stuttering and not being able to speak English— like he couldn't be stuttering because it's possible his words are being picked apart and one wrong choice will result in even more harassment for him and his family.

In a interview with Finnish media, Mikko will say he was overwhelmed by stress during his time with the Hurricanes due to trade talks and contract negotiations and that he had no idea what would happen next. Across interviews and articles, he will talk about the stress and uncertainty he was facing- how he was just trying to make the best of a bad situation. People will take a clickbait-Google-translated headline out of context and use it as evidence of Mikko talking bad about the Canes. There will be conflicting reports coming from Hurricanes media about whether or not they got confirmation about whether Mikko would agree to sign before coming here, and Mikko will take the flack for it all.

On the Avs side of things, several reporters have come out in defense of Rantanen but that they understand any negative feelings fans have about him not just playing for a long time division rival but signing there long term. They will also acknowledge that at the end of the day, it was the Avalanche who shipped Mikko out first.

Mikko has said that it's going to be hard and weird playing against the Avalanche the first time he does, and the second, and third. Bednar has said that he will be rooting for Mikko, just not against the Avs. Mackinnon said that it doesn't bother him, he plays against his close friends all the time. Toews said that it's going to be really hard and he's not looking forward to playing against Mikko for times a season. A lot of bittersweet sentiments from all sides.

Conclusion

There's really no good way to end this, a lot of information is still coming out and has been for days. A lot of ill-backed up claims have come out and been taken at fact, which bothers me simply because I'm autistic and the minutiae of getting ultimately irrelevant details correct is important to me. I've tried to cover every possible angle here but I know I have unavoidably missed context some fans are going to find unforgivably important, and I'm sorry about that.

While I think it's important context that Mikko was actively losing value in Carolina and the longer he stayed there the harder it would be to keep his contract number up, I understand why a signing like this would sting for Avalanche fans. I also understand why Hurricanes fans would be upset another star player wasn't interested in playing for their team long term. Hockey is a brutal business and these things hurt.

I've tried to break this timeline down in the most understandable manner while including all details that I find important. I cut a lot of stuff that, while interesting, wasn't really relevant. Hopefully I didn't cut to much. Feel free to send me an ask looking for further clarification on anything.

[ggswaywardgifrepository]

Spoilers for various Ace Attorney games, specifically, the original trilogy and a bit of AAI2.

I have been dwelling on the idea of the DL-6 turning out differently. IE: a certain somebody didn’t lie while being channeled and the actual murderer was caught much closer to when the crime happened. Because imagine how drastically that would impact the entire universe.

Miles would never have been taken in by von Karma (which auto correct tried to convince me should be Bob Karma and now I also need a superhero by that name).

Miles likely would’ve become a defense attorney like he wanted to as a child. But it would’ve been under the guidance of Eddie.

Imagine this 19-20 year old guy trying to be a mentor and brother figure for Miles while also keeping the doors open at Edgeworth and CO.

Miles and Franziska wouldn’t have grown up together or developed that sibling bond. She’d have grown up without her father around but might still have been a prodigy and likely became a prosecutor anyway. And depending on how deeply Manfred’s so called values were instilled in her, been determined to topple Edgeworth in court (much like she wanted to square off against Phoenix).

Misty wouldn’t have been branded a fraud and abandoned Mia and Maya. Mia might not have become an attorney at all. Her choice would no longer be related to a determination to get to the bottom of what ruined her family, at least.

(Which would also impact all of Morgan’s plotting. She might still plot, but her ire would be focused elsewhere.)

Someone else would’ve been at the forefront of trying to stop all of Dahlia’s machinations. We all know the Terry Fawles case was Miles’ prosecutorial debut, but what if it was instead his debut as a defense attorney?

Is there such a thing as a defense attorney prodigy in this verse? Athena, I guess, but she got her badge overseas, right?

Anyhoo.

Imagine ProdigyDefenseAttorney!Miles later being the one to defend Feenie in place of Mia.

What does this all mean for a character like Godot? What if he had zero involvement in anything Dahlia related? In effect, Godot wouldn’t exist at all. Diego Armando would presumably still be an able bodied defense attorney for Grossman.

Phoenix could still fulfill his dream of becoming a defense attorney but it would be wholly inspired by Miles defending him (twice, now).

Or… what if Dahlia instead got to someone on the Edgeworth and CO side following the conclusion of Terry’s trial (which I’m obviously still considering played out the same way). That’s yet another direction of things branching off.

I’m sure I’m nowhere near the first person to daydream about this. And there’s likely tons or other ripples and deviations I’ve failed to mention.

It’s just fun to ponder.

[oensible]

in a way im kinda glad we sent our darling grudge holding goon givani to roam the beautiful rockies because i do not want this to start any kind of violent feud with uhc 👍 im frustrated with the missed calls bc i want macklini to get matched up against top players trying to stifle his game thru elite play so that he can develop like a superbug bacteria rapidly evolving from antibiotic overuse, i dont want anyone getting any ideas to try to stifle his game by putting his ass on ir lol. unfortunately the best deterrent is the refs/toronto/dops doing their job which sucks because. it is very hit or miss. many many misses, and this goes for any given team tbh the sharks arent uniquely maligned (THAT honor goes to michael bunting 2022–23 😭) HOWEVER the best deterrent is most definitely NOT hoping that hockey fights are going to magically start working as advertised, because even as hype and hockey-culture-mythos-compliant as they are they just mean more and more people are going to get hurt 😭 and our players cannot play good hockey if they are sat in the penalty box/dressing room!!!

[applestoashes]

An update on Apples to Ashes

Hi, it's Prima, the creator and sole developer of Apples to Ashes.

Wow, it's been two years since I conceptualized Douglas and the idea for a visual novel. I think about how much has changed for me personally since March 2022, the different things that have happened to and for me. It's hard to sum it all up into a few words, but to put it plainly, there's been a lot of hardships I've encountered in my personal and professional life since starting this journey, along with some blessings that kept me going along the way.

When I first dreamed up this concept, I was experiencing a lot of new things. I was participating in fandoms for other indie "yandere" VNs, I was drawing a shit ton and garnering a following. I was actually becoming the active, well known artist I'd been striving to become since around 2015. I was so inspired and, somehow along the way, I gained the attention and respect from a lot of other creators. It was so insane to think so many talented people cared about what I was making, considered me worth following, etc.

That only grew as time went on, especially when I started the A2A project. From that point, I watched in absolute shock as people engaged with my own ideas, drew my own characters. They were hyped for this visual novel, they wanted to know more. Douglas started to get associated and drawn with other indie VN characters. This feeling of being put beside all these other amazing creators was disorienting to say the least.

Due to a lot of things I've been through, it feels like the magic wore off a bit. A lot of the drive I experienced at the peak of 2022 kind of plateaued, and... lots of things changed for me. I started taking commissions, I started doing more than just art, like getting back into video editing and voice acting. I got hired by a studio, I got a lead role in another visual novel. I told myself that I can do all these things that I want to, despite the additional need to work a regular job, and the fact that ADHD VERY much has hands. Financial hardship and mental illness... double homicide

A lot can change in two years. My inspirations for the setting in A2A came from my experiences with a job I had at the time. Well, needless to say I've had a few jobs since then, and been through a few very... jading experiences. The person I was when I conceptualized Apple to Ashes and the person I am now are two different people. I was very bright-eyed and inspired, especially by my peers. I wanted to attempt to do something I'd dreamed of for a long time: make a visual novel, and it felt possible, tangible.

I've learned a lot since then. There's a lot that goes into making a game, especially considering I'm largely pursuing it alone. Due to that, and the choices I've made, the things I've been through, Apple to Ashes progress has largely been halted. I feel a lot of pressure to make it something satisfying for everyone that's given love to this project. I feel a lot of guilt about the lack of progress, and feel like I'm earning the ire of people who are tired of waiting, or perhaps losing any momentum or interest I had originally garnered.

All that being said, I'm not saying all this to come to the conclusion that this project is canceled. It's not. I want this story to come to fruition. I want to give everyone waiting the experience they deserve. I want to reach the full potential this concept offers. I want to explore the themes I've attached, use the experiences I've had and witnessed. I want to bring light to these issues using this medium.

The TLDR of this is... Apples to Ashes will happen when it happens, but it is going to happen. To those of you who have offered your patience, I really appreciate it more than I can put into words.

Thank you for reading.

[liquidcrystalsky]

A third-party game for the switch 2 (Nobunaga's Ambition) said you don't need to use the switch 2 Joycon, and you can just use any USB mouse in order to play it.

Nintendo hasnt confirmed or denied at all if USB mice can be used for all games or even just in some.

but actually fun fact none of this is new, you can plug a keyboard and mouse into the switch 1, and it will just work, though its up to the developer of the game to implement it. Quite a few third party games support it, you can just plug in a usb kb+m and it works exactly like you'd play it on pc.

First party games? Game Builder Garage. thats it.

fun fact Keyboard and mouse support has been modded into Splatoon 3 with flexlion, however it may just be a translation layer mapping keys and mouse movement to buttons/sticks/gyro, im not sure.

Anyway. my point is. nintendo could have been doing this mouse bullshit the whole time and you wouldnt have even needed to buy any new hardware. but no. the only thing i can think of is using the gyro and accelerometer of the joycon at the same time as the mouse, but i feel like other than the main 10$ demo they made and drag x drive, nothing's gonna use it. Think about how many joycon features were in labo or 1-2-switch Only. it has an IR camera and they just removed it for the switch 2 because they literally never used that feature ever other than those two