#thinking in the evil may and june designs

[alex31624]

AU where May and June didn't join the McDuck clan, instead, they reformed FOWL looking for vengeance against Scrooge for the death of Heron.

The Evil Clone Twins AU.

[hels-a-noon-june]

Welcome to Hels-A-Noon June!!

The Concept

SO. What is Hels A-Noon June? Simple. It's a 30 day drawing challenge encouraging fans of Hermitcraft and Modded Crew to conceptualize and design their own Helsians!! It's a dying art and I wanted to revive it!!

The Rules

All fanwork is allowed! Fanfics about your Helsmits, fanart of them, concept artwork, etc etc... I just wanna see the Helsmits of the fandom!!!

Tag your posts as #helsanoon, I'll try my best to reblog as much art as I see

You DO NOT have to draw a new drawing every day, you are 100% allowed to prep your drawings and queue them for the month! You're also allowed to skip days if you don't have any ideas. This isn't meant to be stifling or anything. If you have a Hermit or Friend you want to draw a Hels for, draw them first and queue it up!! This is literally just to encourage fun and edgy designs based on the Cubitos!!

The rules aren't super strict, you don't really have to do them in order, heck, you don't even have to do them in June. This is a super loose, fun thing.

If I miss any posts, I'll add them to a bit ol queue

What the Heck is a Hels!?

So for those of you who don't actually know what the heck I'm talking about!! A Helsmit, or a Helsian as I like calling them, is just. The Hels counterpart of a Hermit. The only canon Helsmit is Helsknight, we don't actually know if others exist! But that hasn't stopped anyone!!!

There are 2 ways fans typically go about designing Helsmits.

One approach to making a Helsmit by simply making the opposite of the respective Hermit. This is a pretty common method and I can totally see the appeal. It IS a Mirror Dimension after all

The other approach to making a Helsmit is by taking a trait, whether positive or negative, and twisting it until it's something bad. You're making an evil little guy here.

Who's Running this Blog?

This blog is currently being run by @galaxygermdraws! Local Hels enthusiast (Me n one of my friends have 40+ Helsians). I use he/they/it and I will actively be participating myself!

Other things explained below

Why are there Non-Hermits in this prompt list?

Simple answer, because I think it's cool! Back when Skizz wasn't a Hermit, I was potentially the first person to create a Hels version of him! I also made it a point to make a Hels Scott and a Hels Jimmy. Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see Hels versions of Life Series folks! Heck, one of the more popular Hels fics has a very relevant Hels Jimmy!!

Can I Draw Fanart of Other People's Helsmits?

ABSOLUTELY!!! As long as you tag who you're drawing fanart for, it's free game. No passing off a Helsmit that isn't yours as your own, though!! That's stealing!! And that's bad! I know we're celebrating evil clones here but we don't do that!

But yes, you're allowed to draw fanart for other Hels, I know of a Hels Tango that I bet multiple people would want to draw

Why Are You Even Doing This?

I'm doing this literally just because I want an excuse to make references for my Helsmits, design some new ones, and I just want to see Helsblr revived from the dead. I won't even lie I was inspired by Hermit-A-Day May to do this, and I only chose the month of June because it's Helsknight's birth month!

Having said ALL OF THIS!! I hope you have a fun Hels-A-Noon June. I bet a lot of you guys just got done doing Hermit-A-Day May, and you're insane for that. But if ya feel like doing any of this? I hope you enjoy it

[iinksplatserver]

iinksplat!—a server run by writers, for writers.

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What is iinksplat?

iinksplat is a server dedicated to writers connecting with each other and promoting their work! Our server is open to not just fanworks—we welcome original works; including but not limited to: poetry, short stories, novellas, books, songwriting, etc.! While this server is geared towards writing, we do welcome other creators :) we have channels for photography/pictures and art.

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If that was enough to catch your eye and make you want to give it a try (see what I did there?), you can click HERE to check out our server!

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But if that’s not good enough for you, read below the cut to learn more about our server !!

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You just sound like every other writing server�� is there anything that I might like?

Sure! In our server we have bots like Sprinto to help writers overcome writer's block and to help them get things done. We also have helpful staff who are willing to go the extra mile to answer your questions, resolve any problems for you, or make sure you’re included! And finally, we have what we like to call fandom spaces.

Well, what are these ‘fandom spaces’?

I’m glad you asked! Fandom spaces are channels in our server specific to fans of a media where they can share fics, ideas, headcanons, gifs, rambles— well, really anything.

See how little we have? We’re hoping YOU can change that! Fandom spaces are available on request to be added to the category, and we’d love if you joined with some of your fellow fans so we can create one for you :)

Maybe that’s kinda cool. Still not sold though. Anything else?

Hmmm… well, the fandom spaces and the community are sort of our center pieces, but— we have 18+ rooms available for adult members (NSFW chats and proship chats, the roles to access these are available upon request!) to share general things or to promote their writing! We also have solid rules designed to help things stay civil in our server and to protect writers against evil AI… and these rules are open to suggestions! We have a wonderful team of staff who are open to any proposed rules you think would make the server better, but not just rules! We have tickets you can open for any kind of feedback, concerns, or suggestions you have for our server :)

Yeah, that’s boring; I meant COOL stuff?

Ohhh, I see now! Well, I'm here to inform you that we’re playing with the idea of doing various writing or prompt based (so our artist friends can join in) events! This helps our writers get more out there as part of a collective masterlist and gain more recognition when these masterlists roll out! Currently, server staff are thinking about both a May event and a summer (June through July or August) event!

Any last things you wanna add?

I mean, I think I dovered it all! OH oh OHHH WAIT! Did I forget to mention that we have a prompts channel to give you ideas when you’re running low—and best part about that yet? It’s completely open to everyone in the server so we can all share prompts we’d like to see written ;)

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HERE is another invite link!

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if you have any more questions, you can message @hiighlighterr on tumblr or @whatifiwasrosie on discord! happy writing :)

[sapphanimates]

SapphAnimates Art Recap 2024!

Calling it a little bit early, but here's a quick recap of my art progress for the year ^^

JANUARY

My Alacrity AU designs for Team Chaotix! Espio was one of the new designs I was most proud of at the time (despite the fact I ended up slightly modifying it later on). Hence why I chose him to represent January!

FEBUARY

THIS IS IT. THE ORIGINS OF SASHA. A Sonadow fankid I originally made just for shits and giggles, as many other creators were making them at the time, has slowly evolved over the year to become a pseudo-face for the blog! I wouldn't be where I am right now if you guys hadn't loved her as much as I do, and I'm super grateful for all of your support! Stay tuned for more Doom's Child AU news!

MARCH

Warrior Cats designs! These are some Medicine Cat/Healer designs for fun, though it did push me into a short era of drawing a lot of warriors stuff. I think most of my March was dedicated to Warriors content, actually...

APRIL

I like garten of banban. I needed to share my concept for a darker, psychological horror type of banban story, with a hint of infection au in there as well. please forgive me.

MAY

The end of the Sasha's run in the Sonic Fankid Showdown hosted by @head---ache . She didn't last very long, but the support behind our campaign was insane. Same goes for Zayne's run in the second Showdown. Thank you all so much!

JUNE

I did a "Six Fanarts" Challenge, featuring a mix of Warriors and Sonic characters, this one in particular featuring Sonic, Tails, Shadow, Tangle, Yellowfang, and Breezepelt. Shadow was my favorite from the group, with the bright yellow moon in the background and new Doom Wings (the Doom Powers were recently announced at the time).

JULY

Drew some of the horror adjacent Tails designs from some of the zones in my Project Alacrity AU. Ojo, Maggie, and Tailtrap playing Operation together and failing miserably at it :]

AUGUST

Some scrapped art from an animated shorts compilation video I posted on my YouTube Channel! It features some of the main characters, namely Fallen Leaves from Warriors, a Floragato from Pokémon, and a Mimic and Blarret from My Singing Monsters. Please go check out the video if you haven't yet!

SEPTEMBER

September means school, and school means teachers. And I've never met a more wackjob teacher than my current Chemistry teacher. This picture was one I did as a "Get to Know You" project on the first day of school. Labcoat Sapph.

OCTOBER

My first self assigned school art project, and a photography one! A multimedia picnic, a clay frog, a paper doll coati, and a portrait of a ghostly cat-woman, all sharing a lovely shoo-fly pie. Each character was created in a different medium, and the final photo was taken in my grandmother's backyard.

NOVEMBER

Part of a community challenge spurred by @yourpalsalamander . Asha in Wonderland needed a high af caterpillar, and who better to fill the role than Sasha. Just uh... don't touch her shrooms.

DECEMBER

Mlp horror AUs have had a small comeback lately, mostly on TikTok, but I wanted to throw my hat in the ring and create new evil versions of the entire Mane 6. I haven't come up with a design and concept for Rarity yet, but I've had a great time developing the rest of them! I'd love to turn it into a video series if you guys are interested in hearing my thoughts.

See you all next year! Template is by @zontarzon

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Since you asked for asks... could you make a silly and/or serious case for why someone should watch one of your top 10 shows or a current show you are watching?*

~ ranchthoughts 🥰

*intended as a fun exercise so feel free to ignore

Hi ranchthoughts! Thanks for this ask. I pondered over this a while because I think most people have seen my top ten or are watching any current shows that I'm watching, so it felt difficult to make a case for them...but I have a couple of options. One silly, one serious.

Laws of Attraction

It has an unhinged evil babygirl (possibly a pyromaniac):

It has Galaxia:

It has the best hand-round-the-waist-twirl-that-man-around-public-claiming ever seen in a bl:

it has one of the most on-the-nose metaphorical representations of the character's situation depicted on a designer shirt:

It has singer/club owner/secret agent (sort of) LESBIANS:

(spoiler alert) It ends with these idiots in love getting married:

Dammit, now I want to rewatch the whole series.

10 Years Ticket

Not a ql (but it does have a sapphic element to the storyline) but one the THE BEST series I have watched from GMMTV. Actually from any Thai production house. Directed by Fon (Us the series, High School Frenemy, 23.5, Home School, My Precious and others), it has some of the best roles of the actors involved - young and old - that I have seen. There's just something about this story, this group of actors, and this director that just created something incredibly special. It's a tough storyline - which involves murder, self sacrifice, bullying, abuse from a parent to child, plus more - but there's also so much heart in the community. A community broken by tragedy but which finds a way to heal together. I loved every moment of this series even though I bawled my eyes out almost every ep. If you haven't seen it, I really encourage you to put it on your to-watch list (maybe for July...May and June are a little busy to say the least) and stick with it because it truly is a masterpiece. (@nabi-unveiled this is one for you I think, if you haven't seen it yet. Actually, also Laws of Attraction if you've yet to see that too 🤭).

[artsy-book]

2024 art recap!! \^-^/

surprised at the amount of art i made this year and very proud of how lovely my art has looked this year <3333 cant wait to see what i make in 2025 and see how my art style improves and changes ^-^

(links to the artworks will be below for anyone interested :D)

January - honestly just really loved getting to play with dressing up my xisuma and evil xisuma designs hehe ^-^

Febuary - now this may be my only art post in feb. but i also loved how this turned out <3333 and i loved getting to play some with with my red panda scar and bunny mumbo ^-^

March - my first ever dtiys!! i think there are many things that i would love to go back and fiddle with and change but i think for how much i struggled with this drawing it turned out pretty alright ^-^

April - genuinly love how this pfp turned out ^-^ drew this as part of me rebranding my youtube channel to better match my current art style and i think it might be one of the cutest drawings of artsy i have done hehe

May - its my dadoes drawing!! \^-^/ seriously still super proud of how this drawing turned out, especially considering i could not find a good ref for the angle i was drawing xisuma in. so i think for as slightly wonky as the drawing is it is a real good show of my improvement ^-^ also love all the lil easter eggs and dbhc refs i put into that drawing hehe

June - i really love how my vex skizz turned out <3333 i really need to draw more skizz bc he was fun to draw hehe ^-^ also i want to do more hermit swaps in 2025 cause they are so fun :D

July - i started art fight off with a bang what can i say :) i am still so so happy that my last minute idea of writting souls in the sand in the stars turned out so well ^-^ i still have this as my lockscreen background on my phone <3333

August - i also still have this drawing as one of my backgrounds on my tablet <33333 made this for my friends birthday and i am beyond proud with how this turned out!!!

October - his drawing was very much a trust the process drawing and a lot of learning on the fly, but i think it turned out incredible! also abolutely love the costumes i drew for gem, pearl and etho so so much <3333

November - i really love how this lil drawing turned out ^-^ i think it is also one of the cutest i have drawn artsy and i also just love drawing my lil guy with my friends hehe :D also love the lil 24 i drew <333333 i need to draw my lil guy with my friends sonas more in 2025 i think hehe

December - very proud of this one a lot! for one i cranked this oout in like a day!! how i, a very slow artist, cranked this out in a day urprises me a lot. and the experiments with my mandala designs in the background were very fun and i think will greatly improve my designs in the future ^-^ and again i love all the lil easter eggs i left in the snow globe and i think this is the prettiest i have drawn sean to date :D

[aprilmayverse]

mayverse dash simulator 2 but this time its if they had a fandom

💀 winered Follow "we need more complex mentally ill female characters" you people couldnt even handle june july.

💄 october-november Follow why are we all acting as if april was in the wrong for not wanting to traumadump on a literal child?

👠 pinkbitchnamedbreakfast Follow she literally did not tell her anything

💄 october-november Follow did she not tell her about the poisioning.

👠 pinkbitchnamedbreakfast Follow yeah, nearly half a decade after it happened

💄 october-november Follow well was she just supposed to tell her as soon as it happened? june was like 8 or 9 at the time

👠 pinkbitchnamedbreakfast Follow i'm just saying it's fucked up of her

🌺 ithinkihauvejaundice Follow june and dys did nothing wrong. "what about the murders" god forbid a couple middle school girls have some sleepover fun. those people deserved it anyway

⛅️ evil-wifeguy-lesbian Follow june july was the realest bitch out there because if MY girlfriend needed someone dead i would do it in an instant

☀️ peacenloveonplanetsapphic Follow i don't want you to murder people for me dearest we've been over this i don't need anyone dead

🍂 littlejester Follow

🌎 thefuckingwizard Follow "february march gaslight gatekeep girlboss" this and that. wheres my february cringefailgirl truthers

🕷 thirdsilliestvriskakinnie Follow i think that if i lost a bad bitch to an arranged marriage i would do what dinah did too

🕷 thirdsilliestvriskakinnie Follow i think i hauve a mental illness

🐬 celerytheworld Follow was it casual when you promised we were going to get married as kids, were my first kiss, told me you'd be in love with me and marry me and take me on dates if one of us was the opposite gender, told me you'd love me more than your husband if we ever got married, told me you'd rather hang out with me then get married to a man, told me i'd look beautiful in a wedding dress, and then killed yourself?

🧑 normal-guy Follow op are you ok

🐬 celerytheworld Follow

🩸 murderenjoyer Follow inherent homoeroticism of killing someone together

👻 yaoifreak Follow pascal may x mr thorgett. old man yaoi anyone

🧢 whitemormonwasted Follow when i said pascal may did 9/11 this isnt what i meant

🕷 thirdsilliestvriskakinnie Follow june july is a vriska

🧣 februarymarches Follow christly shippers dont fucking interact with me! for obvious reasons! theres a four year gap there!

🌎 thefuckingwizard Follow i dont ship them but like...op how many years do you think are in between 15 and 17?

🧣 februarymarches Follow it's an eighth grader and a senior yall disgust me. four year age gap. proshitters dni is already in my bio, stop shipping a literal child with a high school senior

🕷 thirdsilliestvriskakinnie Follow 15 is not a "literal child" op

🧣 februarymarches Follow >14 in bio

⭐️ stars-discourse-sideblog Follow you're both wrong it's three years

🔥 sometimesthorgett Follow 9/11 MENTIONED

👻 yaoifreak Follow christly are both straight men anyway. if u want yaoi try pascal x thorgett

🧢 whitemormonwasted Follow those are two different characters + pascal had a wife

👻 yaoifreak Follow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisexuality

🕷 thirdsilliestvriskakinnie Follow 2001 and 1999 were two years apart i don't think they taught anyone on this site to read

👻 yaoifreak Follow READ?

🪼 dysapppointment Follow just saw june july's ilb design and holy shit not to be a lesbian but

🍋 thosedamnlemonstealingwhores Follow username checks out

🎱 tragedyenjoyer Follow ogigugh calendar siblings december sisters badmann siblings shiz siblings collins siblings what if i Died

🧣 februarymarches Follow just so you guys know op is a dacarol shipper. don't reblog from them.

🎱 tragedyenjoyer Follow i have bad news about the creators of the thing you're a fan of

🍂 littlejester Follow trudy cryme more like tru-deez nuts gottem

🛍️ poetrynjoyer Follow mayverse is so interesting bc you have beautiful heartfelt writing about love and loss and hope and family and friendship and romance and tragedy and loving despite with such complex women and you also have shit like "monk clickbaiter fraggot" and "9/11 porn games on steam" and whatevers going on at jms

🧲 whysoyurious Follow MAYVERSE HIT 100K F/F FICS ON AO3 WHO CHEERED

🎀 apricotmayonaise Follow making a list of who could and couldntve possibly done 9/11 in the mayverse, is doing 9/11 a sin in dana's cult?

🐝 incoherentbee Follow

YES?!??!?!?!?

[joltai-showa]

did you manage to finish your balders gate playthrough? asking cuz i'm very interesting in hearing your overall thoughts of the game

Hi, thanks for the ask!

Nope, unfortunately, I stopped around mid-April because first I had to rush the finale of From Queen to a Pawn by Deidara's birthday, then all of May I worked and studied practically full-time and the only time for prolonged gaming sessions I had was on weekends (which pretty much fully ended up being consumed by HSR and Genshin as I had to finish the events/quests there) and now in the first half of June I have my exam for Chinese language classes, so no time for BG3 again until mid-June.

But I have stopped at around the beginning of Act 3 (passed the gates to Baldur's Gate and left my party in the brothel where the drow twins are), and I've watched a lot of shorts/videos/challanges on this game (lol), so I think I can say a few opinions that will not change much even after I finish my first proper playthrough (one day I am hoping to do an evil one too, currently I am kind of mildly selfish goody-two-shoes and getting all of my companions to their better(?) endings. I am unsure where Karlach's is going to go, with how many new patches Larian made since I got into the game for the first time)

First and foremost, I think that this game truly deserves GOTY that it got in 2023. I do not have much experience with in-depth RPGs such as BG3, I will admit - I am too much of a completionist, meaning I either finish the game for platinum and pretty much never touch it again, or give up half way through, so RPGs are usually too time-consuming for me (plus I am too busy most of the time, so it's easier for me to log into something live-service like Genshin or HSR and do something there for like 20-30 minutes per day to scratch the gamer itch) - but I can certainly say that BG3 is a first game of its kind that combines the variability of older RPGs from 1990s-2000s and the visual quality of the modern AAA games. I love the amount of crazy outcomes that this game already has and how many more there will probably discovered in the future, and my hat is off for the writers at Larian who had to consider all of the possibilities and create them and for the programmers who had to implement all of it (as a hobbyist writer and a programmer myself - unrelated to game design in any capacity, but having some general idea as to how a game like BG3 should be structured - it gives me a headache just thinking how all of the side quests, companion quests and main quest have to be considered in just planning out the layout of the game).

However, I do believe that this variety of the outcomes did come at a cost, but I will talk about this later, during the section about one certain character that I think is the weakest link in the cast.

Now, onto a bunch of other things:

the graphics - mwah😘

generally I am not a particular elitist when it comes to this stuff in video games, I just want the game to look either nice (which pretty much covers all modern games on decent rigs) or be stylized and stick to this style consistently - this is, I think, the main reason why I struggle playing older games (even if they are objectevily better in some gameplay aspects than what is offered nowadays), my brain and eyes get tired too quickly from the dull colors, angular models and clunky UI. if the game manages to stick the landing with this aspect in graphics, then I can get through it (random lore tidbit but I had played Nier Automata fully three times on three separate platforms and my first platinum is on Steam where I finished the game on my old study laptop that could only run the game in 700x680 at 20 FPS on an average location. like. I persevered through it, cuz the game is good)

nowadays I've got a modern gaming laptop that can run the game on high specs, and on my end it BG3 looked great: the locations, the characters, everything. I especially adore the look of the forest areas in Act 1, there's just something so magical about the forest near the druid's Grove, Ethel's swamp pre-reveal (I wish there was a way to do her quest without removing the yassifying filter on the bog lmao, I know it's supposed to be jarring and ugly, but I'd say there's an overabundance of ugly and horryfing locations in BG3, can we have something pretty as a treat) and the surroundings of Rosymourn Monastery. The light is especially amazing in the last one.

But I must admit that at times BG3 sucks a lot in another area that graphics can not improve, no matter how good they are, and I am talking about the design. Overall, I think the game captures the vibe it is going for, but some moments just completely take me out of the immersion.

Firstly, the character design, and not the main/playable characters, but the NPCs. It becomes really apparent that a bunch of characters have the exact same faces as characters in the previous acts, and Act 3 is really guilty of this - I did not even reach Wyrm's Crossing, and had already run into a dozen of NPC clones of characters from previous Acts. It's jarring, to say the least, and seems like a weird choice to make on the dev team's part, considering that they literally have a very extensive character creation engine. My guess is that Tav does not have many scenes that would require lipsync and correct facial motion capture, while NPCs do and are played by a limited number of actors that do numerous roles. However, they do manage to successfully make different appearances for non-humanoid characters that share the same actor (like with Loviatar's priest in Act 1 and Boney in Act 3, Ethel the Hag and Tara Gale's totally-not-a-cat), my guess is that all of team's efforts went on fixing the issues with non-humanoid animations, and then they just kinda decided to leave humanoid NPCs as they were, cuz it's easier. I get that they need to prioritize things, but I still dislike that it's present in the final game.

Then I've got issues with clothing design, and just how limited it feels in the game. Like, there's only so many choices in the game, and half of them looks meh. On top of that, the dye system sucks a lot, as you can't preview what your clothing will look like before you dye it plus you got to buy the fucking things from vendors that may or may not sell them, and that's on top of the limited color palettes. Bruh. I know that the game is already asset-heavy as it is, and there are mods to give you more pretty dresses and such with unlimited colors, but I am not a Betheslop fan, I don't consider an issue in the game solved if some fan made a mod to give something that is missing in the base game.

Another thing that I dislike a lot about BG3 is the general area design philosophy (cough cough Act 2 cough cough), but it's more of a personal pet peeve. I get that some areas are supposed to be gloomy and have twenty tons of human and non-human remains scattered around, but god fucking damn it can we stop with them. At some point. I get it, we are supposed to be on this grand DnD adventure, saving the world from evil gods and their lackeys and such (and I've seen some hardcore DnD fans complain that you can't do such a campaign at only level 12 max, which is... a bizarre thing to complain about. if the game works and is fun, then what's the point in being mad that it doesn't follow wider DnD canon. like. I have very limited experience with DnD, but I am pretty sure that on later levels the spells become Naruto final arc level stupid. which is hard to implement in a video game), but the more piles of human gore you add, the more desensitized I become to it.

AND PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAKE ACT 2 BRIGHTER. I COULD NOT PLAY IT UNLESS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. MY SCREEN IS ACTUALLY JUST FUCKING GREEN AND BLACK. It's so fucking stupid, me and my friends just outright call Shadow Cursed Lands "The Depression Lands". And playing the game there is just such a chore. For context, I reached that point in the game twice: once as my first character Makima (yes she was a tiefling) and abandonded the playthrough because Act 2 made me feel like a slow and confused ass; and then as my second character Tav (that may or may not look slightly like Deidara and whose Dream Guardian may or may not look slightly like a chad Obito - yes I am still very mad that the Emperor took off that disguise, I tried telling him to fuck go back, but he started yapping something about the beauty of his natural form. bruh), who is human. You know what's the main difference between humans and tieflings (and pretty much every other race in the game)?

The fucking darkvision.

And BG3 is a very different game when you are crawling through these abandonded dungeons and caves 2949928493 meters below the surface. Because darkvision does not only affect the accuracy of certain spells, no, no, no, it also gives the active character A VISION CONE THAT LIGHTS UP THE DARK AREA IN FRONT OF THEM. AND HUMANS DO NOT HAVE THAT CONE OF LIGHT. I had to walk half of Act 1 with a fucking torch in my hand, and not for any fucking puzzles, but because I COULD NOT SEE SHIT. The Selunite outpost in the Underdark? The torture room across priestess bedroom in the Goblin Camp, and pretty much half of the Goblin Camp interior? Imagine pure black fucking void in their place, and that's what it was like for my Tav without a torch. Oh, you wanna try to get darkvision on your character? Well, it's your lucky day, because Omeluum (or his redneck boyfriend or smth) sells a ring that gives you darkvision as a passive. You forked over 150 or so gold for it?

GET FUCKED LOOOOOOOOL, YOU GOT SCAMMED, BECAUSE THE FUCKING RING IS BUGGED. Yes, the internal calcs of the game DO consider this ring's effect, but it DOES NOT give you a cone of visibility, because it's fucking bugged.

(here's a more visual example, the hidden path to Kua Toa village in the Underdark. first is Astarion's POV with darkvision, second is Tav's POV without darkvision)

I legit spent like a week in such anguish, dreading Act 2, considering that any reduction in visibility in Act 1 made me go actually blind. Thankfully, around the end of Act 1 my sorlock build needed to spec into warlock, and this class actually gives darkvision as one of its passives that FUCKING WORKS, so Act 2 went pretty much as expected, but now I did not follow my ant gamer instinct (that is to explore every corner of the map before proceeding to the main quest) and MY GOD how much enjoyable was that. You mean I could have not beeing dying of Kethric's AIDS the entire time I was supposed to be doing any fucking battle? Oliver's hide and seek?

Point is, with how ubiquotous darkvision is among the playable races and characters, I don't think Larian properly tested their game areas on the darkness aspect, because god does it feel like ass when you do not have darkvision. That, and I think Act 2 should have kicked the player harder into following the main quest and getting drider's pixie or Isobel's blessing, because someone like me was an idiot and made myself go through raw ass fuckery when things could have been so much easier, but I digress.

Another aspect of design that I think is pretty important is the UI design aka the menu design. And it's... servicable, I guess? It works? At first seems cluttered as fuck, and I know there are mods to fix that (again doesn't count if Larian themselves didn't do it) but a few hours later you can kinda get used to it. Turning on/off non-lethal combat is still ass though. Overall, could have been better, but not everyone needs to be Atlus when it comes to UI design. Also it's still absolutely hilarious to me that the trader menu infinite gold/items bug could not be fixed even 8 patches later lol

Then there's the music... meh. It's also just pretty much fine, and unfortunately I can't say that it's anything special. A lot of it is very much "generic DnD adventure music your DM would put in the background", and only a small number of OSTs in the game have managed to capture me somewhat (I Want to Live as a cool easter egg behind Astarion's tent in the forest camp for whenever you get distracted from the game and gotta put your character somewhere to chill for 10-15 minutes and Raphael's Final Act which is one of the coolest boss themes I've heard in the while, both in execution and lyrics - on my second attempt to complete the game, I realized that half of the song pretty much fully references Raphael's opening monologue to the party - and honestly shoutout to Andrew Wincott for actually being the one to sing it, truly great and mind-boggling that it's locked to a side quest). The battle themes are even more forgettable, and I have only been listening to Twisted Force in my free time, because the chanting in the background is pretty cool - not sure what the intention behind it was supposed to be besides "male Slavic-sounding chanting like you have a you've got a warlock coven celebrating evil Ivan Kupala" lol. The composer is Bulgarian, if I remember correctly, so my perspective as Russian should be pretty close to his in that regard.

And now, finally, I think I got to the point the original asker was likely curious about - the plot and the characters!

Now, let's start with the plot, and honestly? I can't really evaluate it as I usually do in this blog (which is bashing Naruto's plot into the dirt like I am a bully dunking someone's head into the toilet), as BG3 is truly a choice-driven (and a bit of luck) RPG. You can be a lot of things - from hot mommy drow sorceress who is racist as fuck to everything one shade different from the color of cement to a goody two shoes gnome rushing into danger to save every poor urchin on your path and become the hero this city does not deserve - so the ending and the plot is determined through player's choices, and I really respect BG3 for this. In a lot of the games I have played in recent years (which particularly concerns Persona games, Genshin and HSR) the creators sure do love to give the player an illusion of choice in both the dialogues and the gameplay choices, likely fearing that the plot/cutscenes sections would bore the player to death as it takes away their time from the gameplay loop they are in in the first place, and to that I say - please, kindly fuck off. I'd rather read a plot-related scene in peace without BEING FUCKING INTERRUPTED ON STUPID IRRELEVANT BULLSHIT BECAUSE YOU CAN'T MAKE THE PLAYER'S CHOICE IMPORTANT AS THAT WOULD BREAK YOUR LINEAR STORY AND YOU ARE TERRIFIED OF BEING SEEN AS LINEAR BECAUSE YOU ARE MAKING A VIDEO GAME, AND VIDEO GAMES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE INTERACTIVE. Like, for fuck's sake, stop doing that - it isn't fun, it takes up your and player's time for useless shit, and variety is hard. Everyone knows that. There is no shame in keeping things linear if this is the best for the story you want to tell.

Okay, quick angry rant moment over, back to BG3 and Larian. In this particular case I think it's a tad more important to give the player the freedom to make their own story within the setting created by the writers rather than shoehorning everyone into the same outcome with slight differences while marketing itself as an in-depth RPG, and BG3 does this very well, which is why, I think, it certainly succeeds on the plot front given the format that the story is presented through.

Now, this does not mean I do not believe there are no intended outcomes for the main and side quests? No, and off my understanding of the game and the discussions I have seen, BG3 is certainly much more barren if you commit to a full evil route, pretty much confirming that the writers do expect the player not to be a complete murderhobo lol.

I can not say much for Durge playthrough as I have not done it yet (gotta say OG Durge design is fire and it's sucha a shame that stat wise Dragonborns are literally the worst race in the game lmao), but on the general Tav playthrough everything's... fine? I've seen some people complain how everyone for some reason trusts and relies on this random dude/dudette who just got yoinked into the plot to save the world, but I don't find it such an issue, I mean, this IS the player character, they NEED to experience the game to the fullest, you can make the stats and dialogue checks only so hard without making the game a chore to go through. Again, the game offers you a variety of choices to make the plot go as you want, and I think Larian would have been shooting themselves in the foot from game design perspective if they also went ham on taking in Tav's (perceived) background, as now they would not only need to write and code more shit to include Tav's background into the game's interaction with them, but also restricting the player from making the choices WHILE playing the game.

After the protagonist we've got the companion quests, and honestly? I really like how the common theme among them is "what is best for them is not what they want", like Shadowheart's servitude to Shar, Astarion's desire to complete the ascention ritual, Lae'zel's general githyanki thing with Vlaakith, Gale's godhood, yada yada. This obviously doesn't apply to the butchered characters (cough cough Wyll cough), the fanservice cameos (Jaheira and Minsc) and the later additions to the roster (Karlach and Halsin), but the common theme is certainly there, and I think it's a very cool one, as it pretty much guarantees a visible character progression for the companions and gives the player agency in achieving that "good ending" for these characters. From what I have seen, the writers generally do a very good job of showcasing the journey of these characters, like Shadowheart showing her mellower and kinder side, Astarion becoming less of an asshole and Lae'zel choosing what is right for her people (and her friends lol) instead of what had been instilled in her by Vlaakith, etc etc.

Minthara is a bit of a weird case, as she is originally supposed to be an evil route exclusive character (opposite of Wyll and good route, I guess, considering Karlach would become a companion later in development), but several patches down the line it became possible to recruit her while not killing everyone in the Grove by simply knocking her out with non-lethal attacks in the fight against the goblin leaders. In my opinion, this is a good enough compromise, as first timers would probably not think to do this (quest name KILL THE GOBLIN LEADERS probably implies all three of them need to be dead, and the other two need to be dead dead for the plot to proceed), thus going the original route with her being present only in evil route, while players that are more in the know can have the gang all together without pushing someone away and (more importantly) locking themselves out of some juicy quest rewards (such as Alfira's magic robe that she gives after saving the prisoners from Moonrise. yes that's the single best robe for any magical build in the game). Overall, I do not think this change takes away too much from Minthara's character arc, as in my understanding the main difference between the Act 1 good route and bad route is that you just knock her out and don't see her until Act 2, while on the evil path you raid the Grove and then she sits on your face and almost kills you (hot), and then you meet her the same way in Act 2. She still remains on her "betrayed by the Absolute and wants revenge" path either way, which makes sense in both cases, and keeps her arc with the majority of the rest of the characters. It does make it weird that you can have Mr. and Ms. Nice Guys like Wyll and Karlach in the same camp with Minthara "Let's murder those ten year olds for slightly disrespecting us" Baenre lmao. I mean. Most Tavs would probably accept Scratch and Owlbear Cub in their camps, so it would be unsurprising if down the line they actually got someone wild and feral.

Okay, done with my general view on the companion quests, just some more stuff regarding the main plot and then we can turn to my opinions on the characters.

Act 1 is truly something magical and unique, imho. It's a sort of lightning in a bottle that showcases the best of what BG3 can offer. I played through it fully - meaning all side quests and such - twice, and before starting it for the second time I was afraid I was gonna get bored, but I wasn't, not even for a moment (even when Astarion whom I was going to romance started reacting "Ugh, you again🙄🙄🙄" at my Tav's appearance. darling please I'm only taking the party on a slightly less assholish path, why are you like this). Maybe it's the effect of Act 1 being originally the Early Access plot, or maybe it's the combined fun of learning the battle system, getting to know the companions, chatting with NPCs and exploring the beautiful world of Act 1. In any case, Act 1 is just so fascinatingly interactive, and it would seem that the characters can react to any of the player's decisions. It's just amazing, and I wholeheartedly think BG3 in Act 1 is a 10/10 game, it's clear how much effort went into it.

Which makes it all the more apparent how much more limited and limiting Act 2 and 3 feel. In my understanding and based off the discussion I've seen, that's a common line with Larian games - start off incredibly strong and then deflate over time, particularly at the final act - which could be seen in their previous game (Divinity: Original Sin 2, right?). Now, I've already talked about how annoying Act 2 felt to me mechanically, but dear god thematically it also feels like it drags on for far too long. I get it, I get it, Depression Lands, everyone either died a horrible death or has turned into a zombie, undead assholes running around and ruining everyone's day, but seriously even the Last Light Inn or Moonrise Towers post Ketheric-battle feel like a sludge of dreariness - it is the same and it goes on for like 20-30 hours of play time, and after the first 10 hours I am absolutely done with everything already, I just want to go back to Act 1 and touch the green grass and blue water. I feel like the Thorms not named Kethric or Isobel could have been cut out entirely and nothing of particular value would have been lost - yes, they are horribly messed up and rancid freaks, but I think I got that memo from everyone in Moonrise, AND I can't really do anything for either the nurses or the patrons, so I'm pretty much stuck with the choices of either letting them live as insane zombies or killing them. It's an environmental way of telling the stories of those who had their lives ruined by Kethric's madness, but we ALREADY have the Selunite resistance side quest and other smaller interactive things showing this (and Oliver in a lesser extent, as he's connected with lifting the curse quest). I guess they are pretty fun bosses and Malus has some good gear on him, but damn I did not feel any fun when going to them compared to stuff like the Underdark quests in Act 1.

Can't say too much regarding Act 3 as I did not go through it fully, but off what I have read, there's a repeating problem of quests simply feeling unfulfilling if they were to end in Act 3. Collect the clown parts across the entire Act? Mediocre reward. Mol vanished at the end of Act 2? Yeah, she's just back in Act 3 lol. The exploding toys quest? I guess Gortash's just an asshole or smth. A lot of quests start feeling like a fart in a puddle, they start off cool enough, but then are just kinda resolved?? My understanding of the issue is that Larian was so busy lining up the flags for events and how they are affected by players' previous decisions that the writers literally had no time to work the side quests out, and in general all of the efforts went into making Baldur's Gate a seamless city that feels alive. It's cool, I get it, and I like it, but I would have also preferred if other parts of the game did not suffer for it.

And, of course, the interactivity falls dramatically the further you go into the game. If the characters in Act 1 reacted to pretty much everything, then by Act 3 you gotta pray that all of them would react to a major event (looking at you, Karlach).

Overall, I think me and my friends have had a very similar experience with this game, and I think it's fair to presume others did too: Act 1 in BG3 made me want to play it for 10 hours straight without food or sleep. Act 2 and 3 made me want to turn off the laptop after 2-3 hours of play time because it was starting to feel like a chore. It does not make the game as overall bad, it just shows that Act 1 is something Larian could not simply recreate with time and resources that they had.

(and to be fair I classify myself as an exploration gremlin and can't return to the main plot until I have explored everything already available to me. I just can't force myself, I need to see everything there is, and Act 1 is capable of satisfying that itch with its side content, while Act 2 and 3... well... they are struggling)

okay sorry but the following section is going to be really curt and angry because I spent three hours writing it and then tumblr being a piece of dogshit did not save any of it, so we're going to be running through as fast as we can while I remember what I wrote.

characters. minor characters in particular. npcs.

Raphael and Ethel are fucking amazing because a) their actors fucking served b) they feel like an organic part of this gritty and magical world. they are a part of it, and the main characters are only passerby in their own lives.

can't say anything regarding Orin and Gortash as of now, but they seem like they are okay. from what I have seen Orin is a decent representation of what growing up in a murder cult is going to do to you, while Gortash is a refreshing pragmatic evil. also seems pretty funny to me because a) played by Lucius Malfoy's actor, so I keep imagining him in that wig b) narrator calls him handsome young man meanwhile he looks like he is 40, smoked and drank for 20 of it and is going through a divorce c) my friend called the ship between him and Durge "Doordash"

Ketheric, Isobel and Aylin. cool story line in theory, sucks ass in practice, feels like it's been forgotten by the writers who were too busy with Act 1 and 3. Act 2 should have focused on them more instead of more bullshit about curse terrible. what I personally imagine to fix it: more story about Ketheric, his wife, his daughter and his devotion to Selune. the devotion starting to waver when his wife dies. Aylin and Isobel meeting, falling in love, how, when, where, what they did on their dates and such. Ketheric's views on this relationship and his mission to Selune in relation to Aylin. how Isobel fucking died (illness? accident? set-up by either Shar or Myrkul?). Ketheric's descent into darkness and Shar, while Aylin at the same time starts messing with her semi-godhood, both trying to bring Isobel back. Aylin punished by Selune for that, explaining why she feels so weak in the gameplay and the story, her ending up being captured by Ketheric like that. Isobel's return to living, her horror to seeing things after a hundred years. parallels between her and Ketheric, as she tries to bring Aylin back to life (not knowing she's kept in Shar's backrooms) after losing her family, her home and her love while protecting the Last Light inn. how Isobel's will is stronger than Ketheric's when she decides to stop messing with death because it would be against the teaching of Selune that both her and Aylin followed. yada yada, you get it, this plot line disappointed me a lot.

other npcs - fine, I like them enough. Kagha is good for what she is, tiefling refugees are okay, I like Dammon a lot, mushroom colony is funky and cool, the gnome plot line is pretty cool, I like the dude you pick off the windmill, followers of other DnD gods are crazy and it's funny to me, githyanki are generational haters and I like their armor a lot, they are cool, Emperor is obviously a manipulative asshole and I am unsure why the fandom is even debating this, he's buttering you up just to survive and get what he wants, anyway can he go back to the hot dilf look I made for him. don't think anyone in Act 3 stood out to me just yet, but I liked the ringmaster in the circus a lot. not sure if they are supposed to be a woman or a drag queen, but they are giving me Lala-chan from Persona 5 vibes, and I fuck with that.

Scratch and Owlbear baby are lovely. I will die for the little Owlbear.

OKAY FINALLY WE ARE AT THE COMPANION CHARACTERS!

again, disclaimer, as I did not see the end of a lot of these guys' arcs, but have a general idea of what to expect, so my judgements are made based on that.

some general info: both on my first and second playthroughs my party consisted of my Tav, Astarion, Shadowheart and Karlach. It was kinda ass to play when I was a ranger (and I didn't use the build guides just yet, so Shadowheart was stuck with the ass trickery domain) - practically no spell casters and too much stealth needed, but on my second playthrough with my sorlock Tav the party was pretty balanced and fun. Not even sure how I am supposed to play the game without the Astarion-Shadowheart core as both provide insane utility in being able to lockpick shit and spam guidance in the stat checks, but whatever. I think that's an important info to know because I do not switch them out for any of the scenes - the rest of the party remains in camp, but whenever I return or go for a long rest, I do try to talk with them all and see their reactions to the ongoing events/updates to their personal quests.

Welp, without further ado, let's get into it, but first to get some of the easy stuff out of the way.

Jaheira and Minsc.

Both of them are legacy characters and return from the previous entries in the Baldur's Gate series. As I did not play them, I can't really say their appearances make me feel anything - Jaheira is a really cool lady with lots of history which you can clearly see and Minsc… can't even really make sense of him, but my impression of him is some sort of weird comic relief dude? I dunno, I haven't even met him in my playthrough and only see his reactions and dialogues in the Youtube shorts that I get. I did see a lot of heartwarming stories of how people were almost brought to tears when meeting Jaheira after 20 years have passed since they first met her in the original game, and I think it's really cool that a cameo like that got introduced pretty organically and does not feel too fanservicy, at least when it comes to Jaheira. I like her, she's pretty cool, and I love her voice and a bit unusual accent (speaking as someone for whom English is their second language)

Halsin

Ehhhhh… bruh.

So, from what I know, Halsin is kinda in the same territory as Karlach - wasn't a companion character in Early Access, but people begged to make the bear man a recruitable guy to totally not fuck this big strong hunky druid, and Larian obliged, which is how we end up with him in the party. Problem is, you get Karlach in early Act 1, meanwhile you do not even get to meet Halsin until mid to late Act 1, and he becomes a playable character only by the fucking end of Act 2, and that's after you do all the quests connected with saving Thaniel (I FUCKING HATE THE PROTECT THE PORTAL QUEST ALL MY HOMIES HATE PROTECT THE PORTAL THANK YOU LARIAN FOR THIS RANDOM ASS AOE CHECK WTF IS THAT I LOST 5 HOURS OF PROGRESS BECAUSE OF THAT STUPID QUEST), and what do you get for it? Absolutely fucking nothing in Act 3, because Halsin truly has nothing to do in the story after saving the Depression Lands. He's kinda just stuck by your side with his character goals' fully complete, and can't offer anything to the story besides horny bear shapeshifter wants to mate with you + hahaha bear sex scene + Shadowheart being omega horny for him for some reason (not hating, I find it really funny, and it's a pretty fun way to charactarize Shadowheart's tastes besides her being playersexual) + the fivesome sex scenes in the brothel. I am not saying that BG3 is bad for offering the player these choices, but does it really justify him being a party slot in the game? Even in the full game he remains a glorified NPC with an okay plot line, but overall I feel like I am wasting my time whenever I come up to talk with him - he is not offering anything special, and his dialogue options feel so limited, like they were rushed at the last possible moment.

Minthara

God do I love good old Minthy.

I talk a lot about villains on this blog, and one of the worst writing crimes that I strongly believe a writer can commit is woobifying a complete asshole war criminal that did messed up things on their own volition and found joy in them/believed themselves justified to bring harm to innocents. Yes, something in their past can be incredebly traumatic, and yes, you can make the reader/player bawl their eyes out with their backstory, but it does not change the fact that this does not make them justified in harming unrelated people just because they could - it is a reprehensible thing to do, and do not try to gaslight your reader/player it is not. Yes, some kinder characters in the story can find themselves sympathizing with the struggles of that one person (should they properly learn of their past, that is), but a lot more people would still hate them for it, and it should reflect in their reactions to this person. But most importantly, this person should show this sort of wickedness in them, because, once you did something as messed up as what evil guys tend to do, there should be some justification in their mind, some reason why the did it - even if to us, as the readers/players, this might seem like an excuse, to that character it should be ENOUGH to justify what they did, it should tie in the core values and beliefs that they have.

Okay, side rant over, back to Minthara. I think Larian did a great job with her, because even after being saved by the Scooby Gang, Minthy remains a wicked bitch, for the lack of better description lol. She is a child of drow culture through and through, and even being betrayed by the Absolute does not change her ruthless core values - she still wishes to scheme and powergrab if such an option is on the table, which makes her pretty similar to Astarion in that regard. While I think Astarion does this more so out of his own trauma with Cazador and to forever remain at the top of the food chain so that no one can harm him again, Minthara does this out of her own beliefs that weakness is unacceptable, and the strong are the ones fitted to rule the weak. And you know what? Good for her, I love a good evil woman in power. In the story where most companions are trying to break free of the messed up nature of their past/society/religion, Minthy is a sort of breath of fresh air - she is aware of how different her people's beliefs are different to the other Underdark people and surface-level dwellers, and yet she chooses to stay true to the ruthless origins of hers.

I do have some questions to how the party reacts to her joining the gang if you are doing a good run, but I would not go to the lengths of saying the plot excuses her for her actions, because a) let's be fucking real most of the companions are not innocent cutie patooties themselves, so they would not be as horrified of Minthara's actions because to them it would have been like another second Thursday of the month b) Minthara arrives at the camp after we see her being tortured into insanity by the people she originally served, not trying to get a world record in all war crimes described by Geneva convention, and that would tug the heart strings of the "good aligned" characters, so, overall, I think BG3 does a good enough job of balancing the evil and the forgiveness factor when it comes to Minthara. I do think that "good" characters like Wyll and Halsin should be a lot more confrontational about inviting her at our place, but both of these guys have so many issues with their writing that I do not consider this to be a problem when thinking of Minthara.

And, finally, Minthara is just so much fucking fun. It's not some sort of objective criteria, but god I have so much fun interacting with Minthara. If I were to translate it into Naruto terms, think of Hidan: he has zero fucking backstory, he literally kills for his mysterious god of murder, and there is no justification provided to him if we think about it from traumatic point of view. He still remains one of the most fun villains Naruto ever produced, because he is kinda stupid, he is hot-blooded, foul-mouthed, an absolute batshit crazy psycho that has a lot of funny and absurd interactions with his fellow Akatsuki members (a lot of whom are the exact trauma-driven sad-backstory-dumping characters, which makes a funny contrast with him). Going back to Minthara - any interaction with her is absolute unhinged (courtesy of Minthara herself or her random Menzoberranzan stories), and every time I return to camp I can't wait to see what Minthy has to say regarding our situation. Like, I come up to talk about Orin's shapeshifting, and there's an option to randomly accuse Minthara of being a sussy impostor, and she INSTANTLY, NO HESITATION, NO SECOND THOUGHTS starts acting like she is Orin in disguise, and that's the funniest shit I have seen in Act 3 so far. She single-handedly makes the statement "fictional discrimination in DnD is hilarious" true with her interactions with Gale. Like, I am dying of laughter any time she talks about the wizard with hard R, or when she informs him he has an aura of a third son (in drow culture families kill any male kids beyond the second one as they are considered useless even for breeding). Point is, Minthara is evil, regardless of her past, and she revels in this evil, and that's what makes her such a joy to hang around with.

And, of course, Emma Gregory's voice is absolutely phenomenal. Minthara has such a captivating voice thanks to her, and I seriously recommend those who do even not enjoy Minthara as a character to just listen to Emma Gregory play her in some Youtube compilation, I promise it's worth it.

Anyway, I think that's it for the kind of optional/"hard to get because you need to go through bajillion plot hours to get them" companions, so let's get to the main cast!

I'll start with the characters I've actually interacted the most, which would be my old and trusty party: Astarion, Shadowheart and Karlach.

Now, Astarion, my darling Astarion. I am an Astarion girlie through and through, most of my friends who have played BG3 are Astarion girlies as well, so overall, expect a pretty strong bias in his favor in the upcoming sections. I'm in general a big fan of his design, and men with blonde/white hair activate something in my neurons lol

In my honest (if controversial) opinion, Astarion is one of the best, if not outright the best character in BG3. Now, it's not that it's an uncommon belief among Astarion fans, but rather... I am not sure how to phrase this better, but I have seen quite a bit of resentment aimed Astarion's way from the fans of other companion characters. I am not going to point fingers at any particular group, but it's very much noticable when you spend extended periods of time in BG3-adjacent discussions. The issue essentially boils down to people disliking how much content "the vampire twink" gets while "being not that <think of any descriptive adjective> when compared to <the speaker's favorite companion>" and how Larian endlessly feeds the Astarion fans while leaving <speaker's favorite companion> fans starved.

The issue here, I think, ultimately comes down to a vicious cycle of player feedback and Larian's focus on what things to improve in the game: Astarion, at a baseline, appeals to a lot of players be it for the looks/personality/interactions with the players/etc, so a lot of people demand more of Astarion. Larian, following the feedback they receive, focuses their resources on writing and recording more scenes for Astarion, which makes them prioritize other companions less, and then more Astarion content attracts more future Astarion fans, and the cycle repeats. I'd say the solution would have been for Larian to focus on all the companions equally, but with BG3 being as complicated as it is? They'd actually be spread too thin, and that would probably to the detriment of both Astarion and non-Astarion fans.

(and for a certain someone no amount of attention being taken away from Astarion would be enough to fix them, but that's for later🤗)

Anyway, I think what makes Astarion stand out from the rest of the cast is two things: Neil Newbon working his ass off and Astarion's character arc being something in between of all the other characters.

This is not to say other actors failed at bringing their respective characters to life, it's just that Neil Newbon went so above and beyond with Astarion it's just sort of unfair to compare them. I think I remember Neil mentioning that Astarion's story actually hits close to home, so to speak, when he was receiving an award for best character perfomance or smth, and you can kind of see it in a lot of "emotional" scenes concerning Astarion. And while Astarion's trauma and drama are deeply engaging, Neil is also amazing when it comes to portraying Astarion's casual evilness, giddy sadism and overall drama queeness, which makes for an endless amount of memeable and hilarious moments. In that regard Astarion is sort of normie's best choice for the gritty humor of DnD world (because true "unhinged casual evil" fans know that the true winner in this category is Minthara😘). Overall, both the script and the actor are doing their goddamn best to make this character fun and memorable for the player - and you can clearly see how much the creators love him, and I think that's great.

But back to Astarion's character arc: I find the contrast between him and the rest of the cast quite interesting. On one hand, you've got people tightly wrapped into their own religion/culture and at a certain point they must confront it and become disillusioned of it, which forces them to reevalute their ideals and goals (Shadowheart, Lae'zel); on the other hand, you have guys who have been deeply wronged in the past, and now they are searching for a way to fix what had happened to them to live, what they believe, a better life (Gale, Karlach, Wyll). The main difference between these two groups is that the first type changes suddenly and drastically - all they believed in is ripped from their own hands, and now they must make sense of their life somehow - while the second type remains a lot more true to themselves, and they are simply reassessing what is truly important for them. (Feel free to correct me, as I am much more familiar with the characters of the first group and might me making assuptions regarding the second group.)

And the thing about Astarion - he kind of does not fit either of those types. Yes, he is similar to the second group in the fact that he had gone through something that haunts him to this day, but, unlike the others, Astarion does not remain a simple victim of his circumstances. He is vengeful, he is spiteful, and he feels if not entitled, but at least justified in harming the weak, be it for his selfish goals or pure entertainment. Astarion as a character feels raw and painful because the hell he went through does not make him sad and pitable, it did the opposite to him: turned him angry, hateful and entrapped him in the same mindset Cazador lives in. If he is allowed to proceed through with his plans and desires, then we simply get Ascended Astarion (whom I am going to call Asshole Astarion from now on, because the word Ascended sucks to write) - a carbon copy of Cazador in all but name and looks, the very thing Astarion despises.

But Astarion's path to a happier life is not about him getting all of his life and beliefs challenged in some sort of giant betrayal from the higher entity he believes in - hi Lae'zel and Shadowheart! - but is a collection of smaller things over the course of all three Acts that culminates in him making the choice to either proceed with the ritual and become someone who he thinks will never be hurt or used again, or to remain himself and breaking the cycle of vampire master and spawn. I am unsure if the game keeps track of the choices you make over the playthrough and how you challenge Astarion's views on himself, others and his freedom, but I dunno, it always feels so rewarding when Astarion does drop his suave demeanor and is surprised by the humane things he was deprived of for hundreds of years and how it might not be an end of the world to show kindness to others lol.

Overall, I think what I love the most about Astarion is how the game, ultimately, allows him to be a fun evil bastard, but also does not shy away from showing how tragedy and suffering might not make a person better, and how it is still possible to escape the pain of your past and pursue something better, even if it is hard and takes a lot of time. I respect BG3 for putting two important things in the plot: Asshole Astarion (whom I do not think I am ever going to see in my own playthrough LOL god he's such an insufferable asshole) and Cazador's inner monologue regarding his hatred of what he had become. I don't particularly care for Cazador as a character, and he can die twenty times over for every rat Astarion had eaten, but I believe both of these things tie in nicely together to show how Astarion's personal quest is about dealing with cycle of abuse, and how, at some point, Cazador too seeked to destroy his master that had made him suffer and become someone stronger than him, and, in the end, became the worst version of himself, which is what Asshole Astarion mirrors. You can not win by continuing the cycle of abuse. Are you going to become whole by escaping it or breaking it? Unlikely, but it will certainly make you and those around you happier, even if it is harder.

(also now that I think about it but Astarion's backstory is literally be an evil lawyer, fuck around and find out, become an evil(ish) vampire. that's. that's literally Dio Brando. we just reinvented Dio Brando, but in DnD)

Let's get to Shadowheart! I'd say she is the closest thing that BG3 has to a protagonist if we assume Tav/Durge got splattered during the nautiloid crash lol - out of all the companions, she has the highest chance of surviving all the bullshit the plot throws at the party, considering she's got the Emperor pokeball and is immune to Depression Lands.

She's pretty fun, all things considered. I really like her design, and Selunite Shadowheart slays🫦it's also pretty funny how absolutely not evil she is the moment you start to become closer to her - that's one of the biggest softies you'll ever meet, and you can clearly see her putting up the front to look cool and emo as Shar's Chosen or smth lol. Yeah, yeah, bestie, you're the terrifying Dark Justiciar, now can you please stop cuddling with the Owlbear, the baby is probably hungry after you've been hugging him for the last three hours.

I can't say anything certain regarding her ending, because it's one of the things I did not look up just yet, so I can not comment on what's her deal is and how her parents' fate will affect my perception of her. Overall, I'd say she's a good representation of what a cult (and no, not the tentacle brain one lmao) can do to a person, and how beneath all the brainwashing Shadowheart remains a very much kind person. You can't break her out Shar's teachings in a day, and she is going to do terrible things if there is nothing to challenge her views on the world and her religion, but, considering how her Nightsong point system works, I'd say she herself remains someone who would do what is right rather than what is being demanded of her. It's kind of a story about not being unsalvagable from the teaching forced upon someone's mind.

Karlach!

God I love Karlach. I find it harder to be interested in the good-aligned companions, mostly because the moment the plot introduces something interesting about them, they quickly go from goody-two-shoes and liwwle cutie pies into someone less morally white, but Karlach is the one to manage to keep her "wholesome" thing with being fun to be around. She's abrasive and hot-heated, but you can still feel the heart of gold beneath all those muscles (even if there really is no heart lol). I think the reason she works for me is that she is not exactly a paragon of virtue, and she will likely do messed-up shit to people that may or may not deserve it if they get in the way of her people - which would be the BG3 gang. It also helps that we know she is not completely innocent, she spent 10 years fighting a war a side in which she was forced to join - Karlach is willing to do what is necessary to survive. Still, there are steel hard principles ingrained in her, and she is not willing to compromise on them - and she'll make sure everyone knows about it lol. But most of all, I think Karlach takes one of the themes you can see in Astarion's arc - freedom to live your life the way you want after spending so long in misery - and she explores it in a different direction: Karlach wants nothing to do with Hells, and her only goal is to get her life straightened out and enjoy everything she had been deprived of, like hugs, parties and other innocent fun. It's really powerful to see her not fall into despair even after being told she will not be able to live in the surface world, because she's tired of not being able to enjoy her life. And even when she does kind of set out for revenge, similarly to Astarion, I'd say Karlach is less about getting back at the man who betrayed her, wooping Gortash's ass is kinda necessary for all of her buddies to survive. She's just a giant blazing ray of sunshine, and I really, really love her earnest nature, especially in comparison to Shadowheart's emo phase and Astarion's drama lmao.

I do think Karlach could have been better. You can see how much stuff is still missing from her companion, like her reactions to certain events that everyone has except her, and I believe I have read she was a really late addition to the roster, maybe even added later, in the full game like Halsin? She also gets along with Wyll waaaay to easily, there should be a lot more horn ramming around these parts between the two. Would have helped set up both of these guys, but honestly, I like Karlach as she is. It's really impressive Larian made her work in such a tight period of time.

Okay, now we are leaving the familiar waters for me, and entering things that I know based on the camp interactions/stuff seen on the social media, so bear with me here and try not to throw pitchforks too hard.

Lae'zel! Lae'zel is pretty cool. Originally when I started playing the game, I did not really like her much (and somehow even missed her while exploring the forest in Act 1..... it took me until finding Karlach to learn you can actually recruit Lae'zel before entering the Grove💀I assumed she'd be in that Creche thing or something. I am still better than my Doordash shipping friend - she learned Gale needs to eat your magical artifacts throughout Act 1, so she just... did not come up to the portal. She literally ignored the poor guy. Bro imploded in that rock. Task failed successfully?), but over time she grew on me. I think a lot of first time players passes her over due to her design (which is... well, fair, I suppose, but you get used to githyanki looks) and how overly pushy and aggressive she seems, even in comparison to other companions. Only down the line you realize that Lae'zel is very much "woke" by gith standards and open-minded when it comes to the istiks. Seriously, my perspective changed so hard after I read someone's post on Tumblr describing the events of Act 1 from her POV (you're 22 years old, you end up in a weird parallel universe with creatures that look uglier than the last, you doubt their intelligence, but then all of you learn you're sick with COVID or something, but it's fine, because you know where to find a proper doctor, you try to explain these things the importance of vaccines, social distancing and wearing masks, but these guys collectively start yapping something about looksmaxxing, how vaccines makes frog gay and how tomatoes are bad for your skin, and why the angle of your jaw is the most important thing ever. you bear through their bullshit, because you are the kindest of your kind, but fucking hell do they test your patience. and the worst thing? the stupid snake oil sniffers turn out to be RIGHT AND THE VACCINES ARE ACTUALLY EVIL AND THE DOCTORS WANT TO KIL--), and I realized that my girlie is really struggling to deal with it all, especially considering how quickly she comes face to face with the knowledge that everything she was taught was fake. It makes me proud to see her ferocious nature being aimed at the right thing, and finding proper companionship with the rest of the gang. Overall, Lae'zel is very much ride or die, and she's the type to slit another's throat if she thinks her people are in danger, which makes her really cool!

(also Lae'zel and Shadowheart should bond over their trauma from Vlaakith and Shar and then they should make out. just saying!)

She's also got a kind of cute side to her, with her being unfamiliar with some creatures and words of Faerun, which is so funny? But she is thrown into a completely unfamilar situation, and I think she's doing pretty good for what she was given lol. Anyway, she's both cool and cute, and pretty much always a girlfailure, and I can respect that lol.

Also I am a firm believer that Larian casted Devora Wilde for Lae'zel's role because this was the only companion character who would be losing most of the actor's original features, as Devora looks like a fucking goddess and literally the most beautiful woman you'll see in your life, and if they did not make Lae'zel look like a humanized frog, all players would have been romancing Devora's character and no one else would have stood a chance lmao.

Gale is... interesting. Not in a negative sense, it's just that among the companions I perceive positively and is slightly interested into what their deal is, I just can not make myself imagine romancing him in particular. Is it because of the Mystra thing? I dunno, I spent a few camp events with him, and yeaaaah he mentions his ex a lot, which is uhhhhh... tho to be fair if my ex was some sort of god, especially something connected with my domain, I would also not be able to shut up about them and just be over with them lmao. Is it the vibes? He's kind of giving me vibes of a good chill buddy you can chat about pretty much anything, and neither of you are going to be throwing your baggage at each other (can't exactly say the same about other companions lol). He's a nerd, he's a loser, he's got a cool cat slash mom that keeps his life together, omg he's just like me fr. Jk, but you get the idea. I'd love to have him in the party, but I will not be sad if I do not get to romance him, I'd like him as a good if slightly sarcastic friend in the group.

Can't say I make much sense of his arc, because his ex is a toxic bitch that told him he should kill himself NOW (thunder roars), and he's kind of struggling with surviving until he meets his one true love aka the elder brain with the crown of Karsus on top of it. I kinda wanna kick him in the head for not learning anything about messing with dangerous artifacts, but what can you ask of a wizard (Minthara's wizard with hard R).

And now we get to the one and only, the character I have been alluding this entire post - Wyll.

Fucking hell, Wyll sucks. He just sucks as a character. I am seriously confused how the hell are all the previous main companions exist on the same plane as Wyll does. Karlach was a last minute addition, and yet it feels like more effort was put into her when there ever was in Wyll.

So, let's break it down. Why is Wyll a bad character? Specifically a character, not a person, out of all the companions he is probably the most "good" aligned of the lot. The answer is very simple: he is boring, and there is nothing worse for a fictional character in a story such as BG3 than being boring. None of the dialogue I have seen of him is interesting to me, he always says the thing that I can predict from a mile away, he does not have an interesting character arc - woah, he took a deal with the devil to be a good hero for all, woah, who could have expected that!! and woah, he followed through on this plan!! oh, but the devil fucked him over in the deal (literally several side quests in the game btw, so what's new being brought to the table, exactly?), and now his father disowned him(?), he's been forced to pursue an innocent tiefling and then he gets the devil/tiefling outlook for failing to follow through on his contract. Is he angry at his father for that? Is there still some tension and friction between him and Karlach, consindering how long both of them saw the other as the enemy? He's been forced to grow horns and tail, surely this would be most upsetting experience for him that would make him slightly grumpy, at least?

Naaaaaah, he isn't mad at his dad, he's pretty much instantly chill with Karlach, and he gets used to the horns after like one Long Rest. I have a question to whoever was writing Wyll: why are you so afraid of any mere notion of confrontation and conflict? Why is Wyll so damn fucking passive about everything? Why does he go along so easily with things? Why the fuck is it only Mizora - an obvious bad guy and a devil, for fuck's sake - capable of getting something out of Wyll that jolts me awake when I am sitting through a cutscene for his quest? Why, unless you are going for an absurd murderhobo run, Wyll's responses will always follow the structure "We completed thing A. We learned thing B. Let us use it to complete thing C. Let's go!" over. and over. and over again. Seriously, I fucking told you your father is in grave danger, and your reaction is "Welp. Let's go to Moonrise Towers. Oh, they tadpoled him? Damn... Welp, let's go to Baldur's Gate."

Like, I am not hating on Wyll for being a "good" aligned character, even if they are not exactly my cup of tea, but such a character MUST have a rigid inner core that would CONSTANTLY come into conflict with the world around them/other companions that are a lot less moral than Wyll is. You can't just shove Mr. Good Guy who is not going to change as a person much over the course of the plot and then NOT give him some interesting relationships and conflicts with other characters, and vice versa, because otherwise you end up with Wyll - a character awkwardly stuck doing pretty much nothing in all of his aspects as a character. And from my understanding, this guy somehow manages to be a background character in his own fucking quest, with the focus being taken completely away from him, and if this is true, holy fucking shit how this was allowed to ship.

And the only thing worse than Wyll's state in the game is the people defending it in the fandom. "No, no, no, you gotta give him time, he's getting so good down the line" - Steam tells me I have over 160 hours of play time in BG3, and NOT ONCE did Wyll manage to get me interested, neither with his dialogue nor with his plot line, contrary to every single damn companion in the game. What, should I wait until 200 hours to get that mysterious good Wyll arc?

"His romance is sooooo good" - yeah, and you can have a classy romance with courtship and dances and such WHILE HAVING AN INTERESTING CHARACTER ATTACHED TO IT, not an equivalent of soggy loaf of bread to be chewed in the middle of the night when you've got a fridge full of delectable Michelin star dishes that are the other companions. Oh, yeah, and it's a bad argument from the start, because not only is Wyll competing against the other characters to be romanced, but also because the character needs to OFFER something to the player before they run up to them to rizz them up, and Wyll fails to deliver literally anything with his quest.

"Well, at least Wyll would treat me well, unlike <another companion>" - what sort of argument is that? Are we 5 or something, are we having an argument in kindergarteners' sandbox over who's totally not imaginary friend is cooler? They are FICTIONAL characters, BG3 is a work of FICTION, why are you trying to drag something irl into this? It's fun to explore because it's safe and fictional. Obviously I would never date an undead vampire with an ego, because he would make me fucking sickly and anemic real quick, of course I would not date a horny girl with an engine for a heart, because I like having my faces not bloody melted into nothing. "Wyll would treat me well" literally has nothing to do with anything.

"People do not appreciate Wyll enough because they are racist" - yes, I wish I was making up some of the takes I have witnessed over the years. I'd love to chug whatever the hell the people claiming this did, because that must be the wildest thing ever. While yes, there might be some assholes who will not give Wyll a chance due to the color of his skin, they are the minority, and most people would crash and burn into Wyll's pathetic execution which is enough to bore anyone to death and make them wish they were talking with another companion, but hey, good job making a blanket statement about a pretty large chunk of the fanbase :D

Okay, rant over. I have no fucking clue how did we even arrive at Wyll being released in such a state, especially compared to other companions. Off the information that I know of, it would seem we had a much better and more coherent version of this character in the Early Access, with this guy being kind of full of himself and more so playing a hero rather than being one, and it's honestly amazing to me how everything I hear about Wyll in Early Access is somehow better than the final game. It feels like player feedback suggested that this guy's personality might have been slightly grating on people's nerves, so Larian's solution was to rip out any traces of personality he might have had in the first place, and then literally never write for him anything again.

That's why I repeatedly said that one particular character might have become the victim of the insurmountable task that the development of BG3 must have been for everyone involved - my guess is, Wyll was not particularly popular in the Early Access, and so his rewrite kept being pushed back, because "oh, we need to finish up Astarion's/Shadowheart's/etc plotline", "now we need to figure out how to connect all these dangs quests", "and here we've got a lore thing to tie in" and then it just kept piling on and on, and past a certain point Larian just said "fuck it" and abandonded Wyll in his "basic character outline state", because it would have been even more work for them to rewrite and add new scenes for Wyll to be on the same level as other companions.

And it's actually the writing issue, literally just the writers' problem, because whenever Theo Solomon gets to improvise with this guy (like in those official WotC sponsored DnD sessions), he makes him so much more entertaining and funny, I'm consistently amazed that it's supposed to be the same character played by the same man. Is the Shade of Frontiers OOC? Yes. Would I like him to replace whatever the hell Wyll is in the final game? Absolutely, I'd even pay money if that happened. Give me an official Shade of Frontiers mod, Larian.

Oh, and to all the people claiming "ugh, Larian added more content for Astarion🙄and nothing for Wyll🙄" - adding more scenes for him would not solve the fundamental issues in his writing. Yes, I guess it can improve the finale of his arc - slightly - but you can literally carve out both Astarion and Shadowheart out of the game, and if the writers do not take their fucking time rewriting Wyll from the very beginning, he will not become an overall better character. He would still remain a borderline NPC that somehow got elevated to companion status. And again, the rewrite does not have to take Wyll into a wildly different direction and make him into Mr. Happy Murder number seven, we've got enough of those already, but give him more conflict with other morally questionable people, give him something to show off his moral compass, and for fuck's sake give me something that's not the most barebones writing for a good aligned character.

I think that's about it on this guy. Overall, I feel like Wyll commits the worst sin a compaion character can do and that is not managing to get my interest even slightly over the course of more than 160 hours. I did not have another party other than Astarion-Shadowheart-Karlach, but the rest of the gang except Wyll? Yeah, I'd love to have another run with them and see how they see the story. But with Wyll I feel like I already know every reaction he is going to give to whatever the plot throws at us, and it's gonna be generic, bland, heroic and absolute non-confrontational unless we are talking with the bad BAD guys.

This guy is not unsalvagable, but dear lord it's a tall task to get him to the same level of quality as the rest of the cast.

Ok, I think that's about it for my impressions of BG3? Holy fucking shit it took me 2 weeks to write this thing (granted I kept getting interrupted by exams and work). To summarize, I really love Baldur's Gate 3, and it's a lot of fun, even if there are some pretty glaring issues and some little things that annoy me a bit. Truly can't recommend this game enough and I think everyone should give it a chance.

Thank you for the ask, again, it was a lot of fun to go through.

[soulofjuche]

Entry into U.S. Is Not Matter of Our Interest: International Affairs Analyst

Pyongyang, June 10 (KCNA) -- Kim Myong Chol, an international affairs analyst of the DPRK, issued the following article titled "Entry into the U.S. is not a matter of our interest" on June 9:

Recently, the U.S. announced a measure to designate the peoples of 19 countries as the subjects of ban to entry into the U.S. under the pretext of "threat" to its national security.

The arrogant acts of the U.S., which is self-righteous, exclusive and racist, are now faced with strong denunciation and rejection of the international community.

Of course, it is a matter belonging to the sphere of sovereign rights of a relevant country to restrict and control the entry of foreigners.

Nevertheless, the above-said measure taken by the U.S. is incurring a censure of the international community because it is used as a malicious political tool for discriminating and pressurizing other countries.

Great irony is that there is strange interpretation that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was not included in the subjects of the U.S. ban on entry and this measure may reflect the U.S. administration's carrot stand towards the DPRK to open the door to the resumption of dialogue between the two countries.

This cannot be interpreted otherwise than one-sided judgment not knowing well the past and present relations between the DPRK and the U.S.

In 2017, the first term of office, the present U.S. administration included the DPRK in the list of countries subject to entry ban to the U.S. for the unjust reason that it refused to cooperate with the U.S. government and did not meet the demand for sharing information, and maintained it throughout its ruling.

This year when the second term of office began, the U.S. re-designated the DPRK as an "uncooperative state in combating terrorism" and extended again the effect of the measure for totally banning the U.S. citizens' trip to the DPRK.

The reason why the U.S. does not include the DPRK in the list can be explained only by the U.S., whether it is purely for technical reason or for political purpose.

But one obvious fact is that we are not interested in the least in the matter of entry into the U.S.

Even if the present U.S. administration has not placed the DPRK intentionally on the list of countries subject to entry ban, the DPRK is not interested in it and has no reason to be glad.

The U.S., which is the most hostile country to the DPRK and where xenophobia and racial discrimination have been established as a social climate and all sorts of social evils flood, can never be welcomed as the destination of the DPRK citizens' trip.

Shortly ago, the vice-president, the second-ranking person of the present U.S. administration, denounced a U.S. university for lacking "ideological diversity" and made absurd sophism about the political system of the DPRK. This is another typical example why the DPRK has repugnance for the U.S.

If the present U.S. administration thinks that the DPRK will accept the allowing of the entry into the U.S. as a "gift" which it neither thinks nor wants, it is miscalculation.

It is not the matter of the DPRK's concern that the U.S. unilaterally makes illegal regulations outside and places the DPRK in them or not. I think that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will, in the future, too, not welcome the entry of Americans into it.

This is a just and legitimate exercise of sovereign rights to defend the state and social system and the welfare of the people from all hostile threats of the U.S. and is quite different from the U.S. prejudiced prohibition measure on entry with malicious intention.

The DPRK will not evaluate the U.S. actions on the basis of someone's hopeful observations or subjective interpretation. It will face the U.S. on the basis of the reality and by relying on its own independent judgment.

[eartheats]

//ooc post but god. for my own sake, i'm organizing and trying to set some hard dates for some events. i'm also looking for some volunteers, specifically BBA adjacent for one of them and just in general for the second! i need to stop keeping plots in my head.

no cws up until the third bullet point, where there is talk of kidnapping (successful attempts on adults, failed attempt on a teen), violence (to adults and to a teen), murder (of an adult and only an adult), mind control, and other evil team shit on the horizon. be forewarned! the final bullet point will be in very high stakes territory, given that noriko fully intends to try and end the world, but feel free to ignore if that isn't your jam. live your lives besties <3

(mid-may ETA): Bouton evolution arc. I need to find someone or multiple someones to bother with a very nosy Roselia who is trying to find a shiny stone, and may potentially steal something sparkly thinking that it's what it needs. If anyone wants to volunteer for this lmk, but I can just as easily borrow Carmine for this if nothing else! (CLAIMED)

(may!): Ren goes back to Zapapico! Temporarily. Jacques is going to get his grand festival trophy from Sinnoh and quietly retire. Ren's going to be in Zapapico and getting used to life back home for a lil while.

(early june through august): I wanna work in the Iron Crown sighting/healing arc I have in the works, because while Ren's not going to CATCH the paradox, it's going to be something that works alongside any volunteers for taking care of Noriko's evil team resurgence. Mostly as extra assurance for them to lose! Tatiana reconciliation Arc will probably take place around here too. basically, if anyone wants involvement with zapapico/ren just in a general context, feel free!

(start of september) Ren goes back to Blueberry! Madison and Jacques will be posting some of notes they find from Noriko, which will have some involvement IC if desired since I'll be using Caesar Ciphers to scramble shit up if anyone wants to play detective. :3c They'll also briefly be around to post on Ren's blog/answer questions!

(mid september) The final batch of notes is found and translated, and the opening to Noriko's secret base of operations is opened! But Madison/Jacques are going to end up kidnapped here by Iori, an admin in Noriko's Neo Flare stuff and actually a faller from Hisui! She'll be available to interact with for at least a day. <3 Design coming soon, I need to figure out her nonsense.

(also mid september) yeah so ren is. escaping the academy, even if it tries to keep them constrained. they are going to be meeting their mom on the remains of cinnabar island, where one confrontation may take place. please keep in mind if you try to do a ren rescue party, it is going to fail. (very specifically for ren) it has to fail for the next leg of the plot, but i AM potentially considering getting carmine in on this mess and getting her injured in the process, and while there, noriko is definitely going to think about taking her too so that her kid has a friend. which. yeahno. this one is influenceable, but is MUCH more likely to fail, so if anyone wants to big damn heroes carmine you have my full permission 👍👍👍 save that girl! (CARMINE SAVING IS HANDLED BY THE GIRLFRIEND BLESS)

as a small aside: would anyone like to get ren's very stressed out team to take care of for a bit? noriko's a lot of things but she's not a monster, if anyone wants to take care of the team for a bit/potentially use them against lotus :3c it may be. interesting! (CLAIMED for now)

(october-november? maybe) noriko's neo team flare shit (name pending) will emerge proper and try to be as evil teammy as possible! ren is going to be a mind controlled admin named lotus and have none of their actual pokemon! shit's going to be bad, but! while it might take a bit to organize some losses for them and i may mostly leave that to anyone who wants to fix this mess (we can either handwave or actually play them out, preference to whoever volunteers), but there's gonna be one event specific for camille, one for iori, one for lotus (which can influence how the big admin battle goes), and then what i'm hoping to be a siege on the base. this one i have ways to bullshit a win (for the good guys!!) for, but i wanna see what people come up with, too!

and by the new year, everyone should be recovering, and that'll be the end of team neo flare at least! the rest of the event will decide everyone else but ren's fate. they will end up coming back fine from this, but it's gonna be rough :')

so yeah. basic rubric and very changeable (i gotta ask some players some stuff and things), my only real rule is no instant wins/legendary spam/godmodding really? i want this to be fun but i want it to feel like an actual uphill battle a bit, and i'm still trying to build toward that. this could even be pushed out into 2025, depending, but! yeah!!!

idk if anyone has questions feel free to leave 'em on this post and i will try to get to them when my brain isn't a mess because of retail or other stuff 👍

volunteers (for my ref)

@/suddenlyauntiemaya (bouton evolution arc!!! pushing this one back for this :3b)

@/little-guys-pokemon-central

@/elite-amarys (CARMINE'S SAVIOR!!!)

@/goindownswingin

@/professor-amaryllis (ren rescue party!)

@/electricalflre

@/bee-bee-kyuu (ren rescue party!)

temporary team-ups/team holding:

lulu the orthworm: going to @/professor-amaryllis!

bouton the roserade: @/professor-amaryllis! teaming up to bring lotus back to their senses/back to being ren :3c

coriander the ferrothorn: available! she is not a battling pokemon and is. going to be about as stressed and anxious as lulu, as a warning.

soba the furret: @/bee-bee-kyuu! will be very determined and ready for a fight.

harusame the huntail: available! will also be very determined though a lot more emotional.

any pokemon who is not taken will likely be taken in by amy, and lulu is going to be going to amy instead by default for planning purposes~

[rebagels-deluxe]

Going to upload some of my Deltarune thoughts before the new chapters come tomorrow. Just some jumbled notes and questions copied straight from my notes app. Just here for me to look back on later.

Deltarune Thoughts

Started writing 5-18-25

Chapter 3 and 4 coming on June 4/5!

Crowns - several shown

RK uses yellow crown to control C Round

Susie’s room - yellow crowns above door, above bed, and above lamp. Not identical to RK’s crown

On Noelle’s cart - white crown. Only cart that doesn’t have a face, just ice

Hathies have a white crown with a heart

Spade King has white crown

Queen’s chair has one at the top

What do these symbolize? Appearance of royalty, but actually being influenced by the knight?

What happens when Kris falls asleep? We don’t know what happens after chapter 1, how long the soul was outside. The next day, they sleep “all of class”. Susie says they look like a corpse.

In ch1, you can go back to bed to skip ahead to the dark world.

Can we not control them if they’re asleep?

Did they actually sleep all class? Or did they get up and do something while we couldn’t see, then go back to their desk? That’s the only way I could see them making the library fountain. Timing still seems weird though.

Frisk and Chara = Kris and Vessel?

From oblivion theory doc

What happens during the “Susie” segments? People speculate on what Ralsei and Kris are secretly talking about. The soul can still go to her. Kris maybe sees what Susie is doing? Is Susie listening to our dialogue choices? Or does it just happen to line up. Maybe Kris and Ralsei are observing how Susie does without them. In Snowgrave, Ralsei seems upset that he couldn’t observe Susie, not that he and Kris didn’t get alone time. I used to wonder if Ralsei was actually instructing Kris to open the next fountain during these segments. But that can’t be, because Kris still does it after snowgrave without that alone time.

Ralsei seems to expect more fountains. Says castle town will grow as you add more darkners. A new fountain is fine as long as it’s closed later. The roaring is a dark world within a dark world specifically?

Are dark worlds only accessible when the soul is there? Example, if a random person walked into the library, would they have entered the dark world? Or would it be normal without having Kris nearby. Which could mean that Noelle were studying/sleeping as normal regardless of when that fountain opened, only seeing the dark world once Kris got closer. Or when Kris woke up after class and we had control again?

Susie is very important. In Undertale, Clam Girl says that “Suzy” may be the reason we came there in the first place. But we never get to meet her there. In Deltarune, Susie was new to town at some point, must be pretty recent since she’s not familiar with Asriel, who I don’t think has been in college for long yet. Susie either has a bad home life or doesn’t even have a home or family. Is Deltarune Susie actually from Undertale? Probably not. Some people think she was raised with humans.

Why do the Dreemurrs use pet shampoo? That’s clearly a human made item. Wonder how much manufacturing the monsters do here.

How does the closet dark world work? In ch1, you go thru the mysterious area first, then down to Castle Town. Ralsei and Lancer say you have to seal the fountain in Card Kingdom in order to go home. Then in ch2, you can enter the closet dark world and leave at will. And are placed instantly in town rather than where you start in ch1. Is it because the door was closed on them in ch1, while in ch2 Kris presumably leaves the closet doors open while entering and leaving?

Ralsei seems to have been created specifically for his purpose. Rouls Kaard is similar in how he always wants to serve an evil ruler. All the darkners have “purpose”, but those two seem more about the story itself rather than being a playing card or other object. Was Rouls Kaard also specifically designed/altered, rather than just a regular playing card?

Kris and Alvin seem most likely to be the knight.

Kris’s house is a lot bigger than the other rooms that became dark worlds. Seems to include the living room and kitchen, but will the bathroom or bedroom be included too? Feel like each room could be its own dark world. Someone said the three possible items in Asriel’s drawer in the three save files are like fun values. What if these are the secret boss, so the exact secret boss depends on which save file you’re on? Probably not. Would be cool if they were different NPCs for each file though. Since Kris opened the front door, would the dark world actually expand outside? Or are doorframes a boundary even if open. Did they leave the bathroom window open? Can’t remember.

Wonder what we’ll bring to Mettaton for entertainment. He would appreciate the TV. But then we wouldn’t take it back to Castle Town. Other light world items are the eggs and the chocolate candy. Does the candy do anything in the dark world? Feel like anything we’d bring Mettaton would be a darkner that would be missing from our castle town.

Maybe we’ll bring him one of Alphys’s comic books? In Undertale, they met at human fan club. Maybe we’ll set up their Deltarune friendship, similar to delivering Undyne’s chocolate to Alphys.

Don't think we'll see Asriel or Papyrus until later in the game. Maybe we can briefly call one of them on the phone before we see them in person? Papyrus and Flowey's friendship was important in Undertale, so I hope they become friends here.

Wonder if Kris making the ch3 fountain was pre planned, or if just the sleepover was pre planned. There is the choice to offer Susie the computer at their house instead of the computer lab.

[vasyandii]

heylo!!! for the misc. ask game can i gat a 22 and 25 is its not too much trouble? ⁽⁠⁽⁠ଘ⁠(⁠ ⁠ˊ⁠ᵕ⁠ˋ⁠ ⁠)⁠ଓ⁠⁾⁠⁾

Liam!! What's good Big man- thank you for the Ask :3

22.) What character alignment would you consider your OC to be?

I think she borders between True Neutral and Neutral Evil xD

Maybe More True Neutral Leaning for her job but in her past more Neutral Evil since she's been Selfish of prioritizing her own safety over others.

(But I'm not really familiar with Alignment charts so I'm not sure :((, this might change!)

25.) What is your favorite thing about your OC?

Her design, Definitely. She's easy to draw, and her face paint makes her stand out! Nak is definitely one of the ocs I'm most proud of since I learned alot while working on her.

Nak went through THREE past designs before her current design. It helped me learn what effective character design works and what doesn't

This is her oldest design (May) , before she had a name and everything

Its....okay. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with her colours, alot of things was all over the place, she didn't feel like she was even in the same game. I did keep the bandana though.

Her improved design (+ skin variations)

This is the one people are familiar with if you followed my tiktok in June! There's definitely a better grasp for colour distribution, however as my art style evolved, I came into another issue; The gear wasn't based off of anything, so it was very limiting to make her believable. (I do like her winter design though)

So I worked on a new concept.

I'm kind of embarrassed to show this one xD, while this was based on actual gear, a thing I forgot to take into account is how cluttered her design was, so I ultimately scrapped it. Too much was going on.

And that's how we have her today :3 (albeit a bit simplified since this was made in august)

[soccerpunching]

(if you haven't already answered this before:) how did you get into Ina11 and made you make this blog for it?

I dont think I've answered this before either (correct me if im wrong though). This goes under the cut like all of my long answers to personal asks...

For some context (this is relevant to my relationship with anime and fandom), I used to be nonverbal for the good 11-12-ish years of my life until I was traumatized out of it so now I'm semiverbal ((with like auditory hallucination, anxiety (general and social), depression, ptsd, etc)). I won't tell anything regarding this experience.

It's not really uncommon for Filipinos my age and older to be into anime because this is everything that the afternoon and morning television have for you. You would know naruto, goku, luffy, etc against your will and I was not immune to that. During that time also cable was really common (and was not paid per fucking channel, that started a few years later though) so I used to watch a lot of anime in Hero TV, Animax Ph, Cartoon Network PH, etc i dont remember the others.

I found inazuma eleven and other anime on one of them and got into it immediately (also because of my trauma) but because some personal things have to happen, I started watching all the anime I got into that time on illegal sites instead.

I was not an internet person and i cant get into chats because of the experience I've mentioned above so even though i like anime and have been reading every fanfiction about my fav shows that time and were even writing some of my own (mostly fairy tail and dbz but all are now deleted or orphaned), I never tried to get into any fandom (I am aware of how fandoms are because i had a personal twitter that i only use for rts that time but i never engaged because they were big fandoms who have... issues)... this was all until the pandemic happened.

After the pandemic, it was like people can understand my experiences suddenly and it made me feel like there are safe spaces now for me to be in so somewhere in 2021 I created a fandom tumblr and twitter account at the same time. Tumblr was overwhelming for me initially so I stayed in twitter (this is during my Encanto phase so my twitter has a small following even right now from that small fandom)... it was a so and so experience but it is my first so it was made better because of that small welcoming fandom...

A bit after that, I got into the naruto and dragon ball fandom which was a big mistake because it made me picked up some toxic feelings and even behaviour that I do not want. I tried learning tumblr more and decided that I'll stay here at the moment. I realized that the dragon ball fandom here actually have nicer people and are more mature and critical while being respectful of others so I enjoyed my tumblr stay!! I made a lot of dragon ball posts that gave me great tumblr mutuals that I still talk to to this day even after my dragon ball brainrot is gone.

Before 2022 ended, I needed a break because of some personal matters. I got into inazuma eleven again during this time after rewatching galaxy (i wanted to be inspired by their alien character designs but it had a different effect). It sparked my love for the series and made me reopen some old concepts and fanfic ideas I had for it before (this includes the vent fic I mentioned once where Kidou was evil, Endou was dead, Gouenji was a pediatrician, and Aki was the leader of a rebellion against kageyama's reign with Fudou by her side). And then, I started writing new ones nonstop for about 4 months (80k words for two different fanfic series btw that are both unfinished).

I started following some inazuma eleven blogs in May this year until I feel like I needed to make posts myself at about the start of June. The fandom had the encanto vibe to me with a cross to how old fandoms feel so it was really nice to be here!! And the rest is history ig?? hehe

Sorry for the really long answer and thanks for the ask!

[anshupunreddy]

Jellyfish facts

1. Jellyfish do not have brains, hearts, or lungs (Source: Marine Conservation Society)

2. Jellyfish are the oldest multi-organ animal in the world. They have been around for at least 500 million years (Source: PETA)

3. Jellyfish may be the first animals with no central nervous system that have been observed to sleep (Source: PETA)

4. One species of Jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) may be immortal because they can revert to a more juvenile developmental state when they are threatened, sick, or old and will mature into a mature adult again (Source: One Earth)

5. 150 million people are stung by jellyfish each year (Source: Bristol aquarium)

Consumerism facts

1. Nail polish fact: Nail polish originated in China as early as 3000 B.C., and in Ancient Egypt it was used to represent class rankings; lower class individuals wore nude and light polish and high class individuals wore red (source: Good Housekeeping).

2. Chevy fact: Nobody knows how the bowtie logo was originated. Some people think that William Durant—the founder of General Motors—saw a similar design on hotel wallpaper, while others say he was inspired by a newspaper advertisement (Source: CrossroadsGM.net)

3. Nalgene fact: Nalgene plastic products were originally developed for use in laboratories for things like jars, test tubes, and Petri dishes. This is because it was shatterproof and lighter than glass. (Source: Wikipedia)

4. Tote bag fact: In Indonesia in the 1970s-1980s, tote bags were often called student bags because students would print a political statement on a plain canvas bag to convey their political beliefs (Source: Vivaldi.net)

5. Champagne fact: The Guinness World Record for the longest recorded champagne cork flight is about 177 feet which was set by Emeritus Heinrich Medicus in June 1988 at the Woodbury Vineyards Winery in New York (Source: the Champagne Company)

Attendance prompt:

“As well as power, red has baser associations with lust and aggression. The devil is traditionally depicted in red. The association of red and sex in the West dates back at least until the Middle Ages. It was frequently the color assigned to prostitutes in the many sumptuary laws passed over the course of the period” (pg. 136)

This quote stuck out to me because I think it’s interesting that one color seemingly had such vastly different representations. One was of power, and like I mentioned in my nail polish fact, was often worn by the upper class. The other was of lust, aggression, and even evil. While they seem very different, power is also often associated with lust and aggression, so it might make sense that one color represented all of these themes.

[yhwhrulz]

Charles Spurgeon's "Morning & Evening" Devotional for June 25

Morning

“Thou wilt bring down high looks.”

2 Chronicles 25:14-24 , 2 Chronicles 25:27 , 2 Chronicles 25:28

2 Chronicles 25:14

This was madness itself, for if the gods of Edom had been worth anything they would have helped their former worshippers. It is wonderful that a man can bow down before that which he carries away captive, but is it not even more strange that others should adore a piece of bread, which they afterwards eat?

2 Chronicles 25:16

Those who will not hear must feel; no sign of evil is more sure than a refusal to listen to the Lord’s warnings. Victory had made Amaziah proud, and pride became the mother of many sins: the lower we are in our own esteem the better.

2 Chronicles 25:17

Probably because the hired Israelitish soldiers, whom he had dismissed, had plundered the towns and villages on their way home, Amaziah desired vengeance; therefore in his pride he sent a haughty challenge to the king of Israel.

2 Chronicles 25:18

A proud challenge provoked a contemptuous answer. Joash as good as said, “You petty king, you are but a thistle, how dare you challenge such a powerful monarch as I am? You are not worthy of my arms.”

2 Chronicles 25:23 , 2 Chronicles 25:24

One pitched battle ended the war, and left Amaziah a prisoner, the walls of Jerusalem broken down, the temple pillaged, and the nation bound down under penalties to keep the peace. Thus the vainglorious monarch was laid low. Having lost the respect of all around him, it was not long before there were plots against his crown and his life.

2 Chronicles 25:27 , 2 Chronicles 25:28

Thus in dishonour ended the life of the unstable son of an unstable father. Many start well and bid fair for heaven, yet fall short of it because there is no vitality in their religion, it has never changed their nature. Nothing short of a new heart and a right spirit will enable a man to weather the storm and reach the haven of eternal rest.

Evening

“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

2 Kings 14:23-27 , 2 Kings 14:29

Again we glance at the Israel kingdom, and find Jeroboam the Second reigning with his father, and afterwards succeeding him on the throne.

2 Kings 14:23-25

So that Jonah had other and more pleasant work to do after he had returned from Nineveh. Those who execute difficult tasks shall have easier work ere long.

2 Kings 14:27

God has respect to the sufferings of his people; he is a tender father, and cannot endure to look upon the miseries of his children. He stays his justice as long as ever it is consistent for him to forbear.

Amos 3:1-8

During this reign the herdsman prophet, Amos, delivered messages from the Lord. His utterances are short, sharp, and decisive, and are generally conveyed in rural figures, such as were suggested by his rustic occupations. His prophecy is not adorned with the graces of style, being composed of short questions, sudden exclamations, and claps of thundering threatening; we select a specimen from

Amos 3:2

Others sin against less light, and therefore their fault may be winked at; but justice grows severe where transgression is wilful and malicious.

Amos 3:3 , Amos 3:4

God’s voice is not mere noise, it means something, and woe to those who despise it. He does not threaten without cause.

Amos 3:5

Evil does not come to men by chance, neither will God withdraw bis hand till he has wrought his design.

Amos 3:6

Do not think that God sends false alarms; be sure that he is the author of the troubles which afflict the ungodly.

Amos 3:8

The drift of this series of questions is to remind the people of their God, and of the certainty that he was speaking to them by his prophets and by the judgments which so sorely tried them. We need the same arousing now, and if the Lord should send it by a herdsman, we ought to be ready to receive it. God, who chooseth the things that are despised, was pleased to send a peasant to warn a king. Who was more fit to deal with a brutish people than a keeper of cattle?

The Lord Jehovah speaks,

How dreadful is his voice!

But if the Saviour’s face be seen,

We tremble, yet rejoice.

Almighty God, pronounce

The word of conquering grace;

So shall the flint dissolve to tears,

And mourners seek thy face.

Copyright Statement This resource was produced before 1923 and therefore is considered in the "Public Domain".

[animeking114]

The Demon King's Daughter Is Too Kind!! TV Anime Coming in 2026 — Cutest Demon Ever?

If you love your fantasy with a splash of sweetness and a twist of chaos, you're in for a treat. Yūya Sakamoto’s heart-melting comedy manga, The Demon King's Daughter Is Too Kind!! (Maō no Musume wa Yasashi Sugiru!! / 魔王の娘は優しすぎる!!), is officially getting a TV anime adaptation in 2026! The Demon King's Daughter Is Too Kind!! TV Anime Official Preview Trailer https://youtu.be/lT9Ae0FsQ20 Yes, that’s right — the daughter of the demon king is here to accidentally spread kindness and world peace, much to her demonic father’s dismay. And if the teaser is anything to go by, this is going to be one of 2026's most wholesome and hilarious fantasy series.

What’s It About? A Demon Girl With a Heart of Gold

Meet Doux — the daughter of Ahriman, the former fearsome Demon King who gave up world domination to raise a child. But despite being born into evil royalty, Doux is anything but evil. She's all smiles, soft-heartedness, and accidental diplomacy. Together with Ahriman’s loyal general Jahi, the demon duo tries to raise Doux into a proper menace... but she just keeps befriending monsters, demons, and even humans. The result? An endless clash between expectations and adorableness that makes for laugh-out-loud, feel-good storytelling.

Voice Cast & Staff — Comedy Legends Assemble

The teaser PV gave us a first look at the talented voice cast:

- Misaki Kuno as Doux – sweet, sincere, and unshakeably pure - Ayaka Ōhashi as Jahi – loyal, flustered, and constantly failing at evil mentoring - Akio Ōtsuka as Ahriman – demon king turned doting dad - Shigeru Chiba as the narrator – expect that classic anime storytelling tone with a twist Behind the scenes is the comedy dream team: RoleNameNotable WorksDirectorMasahiko ŌtaYuruyuri, Gabriel DropOut, Minami-keSeries CompositionTakashi AoshimaHimouto! Umaruchan, Uzamaid!Character DesignYūki NakanoKuma Kuma Kuma Bear, I'm Quitting HeroingMusicYasuhiro MisawaLove Lab, Onipan! With this much comedy pedigree, it’s safe to say The Demon King's Daughter Is Too Kind!! is in the best possible hands. Also Read: Sound! Euphonium, The Final Movie Part 1 Set for Spring 2026

Manga Origins & Release Info

Sakamoto began the series in May 2019 on Hakusensha’s Manga Park, and it’s since shifted to Young Animal Web. It’s steadily gained a cult following for its mix of fantasy antics and emotional warmth. - Volume 5 released: August 2024 - Volume 6 hits shelves: June 27, 2025 If you’re new to the series, now’s the perfect time to dive in before the anime drops.

Final Thoughts: Demon Daughter Domination Incoming?

Between the adorable character designs, legendary comedy team, and endlessly wholesome chaos, The Demon King's Daughter Is Too Kind!! might just be one of 2026’s sleeper hits. Whether you’re here for demon lore or just watching evil overlords get out-cuted by a kindergartener, this anime’s got serotonin in every scene. Stay tuned to AnimeKing for updates on trailers, theme songs, episode previews, and streaming info as we get closer to the premiere! So what do you think — would you survive working under the Demon King’s daughter? Or would her kindness win you over too? Let us know in the comments! Read the full article