#without direction from another character or interaction from the player

[quarterlifekitty]

Here it is heehee

My review of Date Everything!

The Story

Yes, it’s a little silly. The entire premise is somewhat tongue in cheek, so if you don’t have a rather tolerant suspension of disbelief, it will be hard to get involved.

On a character to character basis– there are 100 characters, so each character arc is somewhere between 1-5 conversations, typically in the 3-5 range, with some outliers that are harder or easier to connect with. Are all of these character arcs particularly deep or compelling? About as much as they can be within 5 conversations, which is to say, not very. Many of the characters have somewhat relatable struggles and dynamics which lend themselves to heartwarming moments and some heated quarrels but are you going to cry? No. Are you going to feel seen? Maybe. But it’s light and fun for the most part.

This game places a lot of emphasis on healthy dynamics and coping, which is nice, but does neuter the emotional experience of the player to a degree, in my personal preference. It’s hard to reach epic emotional highs and lows in a story where so many people are healthy in their relationships or experience large leaps in personal growth easily and quickly.

But if you can go into the experience with some tempered expectations, it can be quite satisfying. These are not epic romances, these romances feature much more of the mundanity of intimacy– of learning to live with another person, accommodating their needs and idiosyncrasies, and helping them heal from things that are hard to see from far away.

Were there stories that I found touching? Yes, absolutely. The characters cover a pretty wide range of demographics and personal issues. Without going into too much detail, Rainey was a character I thought was thoughtfully written and that I connected with. But in that same vein, Barry Styles, while relatable, had a pretty heavy handed arc in which it seemed that I magically had all of the right answers for him and that the character arc had absolutely nothing to do with me.

The Gameplay

If you’ve played other dating sims, this one will be novel to you– because you do walk around and interact with objects in a 3D space. It is slightly more than just going around and selecting dialogue options– there is task and time management involved, and if you want to find everyone and do everything, some exploration is required, which I greatly enjoyed. There are also statistics and some limited resources.

Basically, in my point of view? This game is a gigantic checklist. Find everyone, talk to everyone, gain a relationship with everyone, etc. If you like completing checklists? This game is like crack. If you prefer a linear path, this game is probably hell on earth. I personally am a checklist enjoyer.

In terms of dialogue, obviously there isn’t a New Vegas level of options. There are typically three responses that are really obviously connected to a single ending: romance, friends, or hate. I do greatly appreciate that this game allows you to complete a relationship as friends, as many dating games I’ve played either have good endings, bad endings, or endings where nothing satisfactory happens in either direction. But anyways– the dialogue typically makes it clear whether or not someone will like what you say– there is very little guessing involved in regards to “what is my standing with this character? Which answer would they most enjoy?” 

There were a few moments where I thought to myself “I don’t like any of these options and I would never say this” and it felt like I was sort of being forced to act a certain way in order to spurn a character in favor of their overall arc. Not a sin, but my kiss-up, submissive, people pleasing ass did not like that. I also appreciated that there were very few moments where it was obvious that any dialogue option would have led to the same response (illusion of choice moments).

That said, there were some confounding moments where the way forward was not clear to me. While most of the character arcs trend toward personal growth, some characters don’t care for that shit at all. In some of them, you’re supposed to just be a yes man and agree with everything they say and all of their interests– in others, you’re supposed to be more challenging, and I didn’t particularly see why certain characters would be one way or the other. I think you’re supposed to intuit that some characters want to be helped, while others are beyond help, and I’m just not good at that.

In terms of QOL and accessibility, this game is pretty damn solid. The text interface is made to be extremely legible, everything is designed pretty cleanly and clearly, and the kind of information I might usually have to just remember miraculously is usually recorded. There is an entire log of every character, their relationship to you, and all the things you’ve talked about, so there was never really any “what the fuck am I doing” moments, even after putting the game down for a little while. There are some chances to do things over, no ending is ever gated behind a skill check, and you can skip certain characters that have content warnings with no consequences whatsoever. And you can turn content awareness off if you prefer that, too.

The writing, acting, art, and music

I thought they were all extremely solid. Many of the actors are people I was already familiar with, and they brought their game. I’ve seen a lot of people complain about the price of the game– but there are over 100 fully voice acted characters with multiple routes (albeit somewhat short), and there is surprisingly little overlap of actors, so the cast is pretty big, with many actors being union members, so in consideration of those people being paid fairly for their work, I don’t think the price is unreasonable at all. There is also a lot of content and replay value, in my opinion.

Anyways, the acting is all good, in my opinion. Some performances were a bit more mundane, others were amazing, but I don’t think I’d say any were subpar.

The writing was mostly very good– I think it all read out quite naturally and made sense. Some characters are really weird and speak weirdly, but there was never any time where a character was supposed to be relatively normal and I thought “no one would say this”. So, no “middle aged white guy writing teenage girl dialogue” moments from my point of view.

I appreciated the art a lot. Every character had multiple interesting, expressive portraits and it was fun to inspect all the aspects of their design and how it represented what they were. I thought most of them were cleverly done. My single complaint was solved by the end– that there were too many people wearing weird boxy clothing because they’re mostly furniture– but, without going into too much detail, the game does provide you with a way to change their outfits/styles late into the game to look, in some cases, less fucking dumb and boxy.

While I do understand why they were absent, I desperately wish there were full art illustrations– like one per character, fire emblem style.

While typically the music in a dating game is so inconsequential and boilerplate that you can turn it off and not have it impact the experience at all, this game had some interesting tracks. I was amazed that each character got their own theme with fun, interesting elements that tied into what they were. Do I remember all of them? Absolutely not. But to put this in perspective: I cannot remember a single backing track from any dating sim I’ve ever played in my life. So it’s pretty remarkable that this one has multiple memorable songs. Would I listen to them casually? Probably not because they’re designed to be loops that are inoffensive if heard repeated 100 times, but I still appreciate them.

The Erotic Angle

Is there sex in this game? Yes. But it is described only in short form by the narrator, rather vaguely and inconsequentially. Usually it boils down to “you made love, and they were a very good lover, so the sex you had together was very good and satisfying”. There is no erotica. Some people have very revealing outfits, but there is no nudity (that I’m aware of) and no art featuring sexual acts.

This makes a lot of sense because it isn’t at all marketed as an erotic game and all sexual encounters are completely avoidable– you can end up in a romantic relationship with characters and still choose not to have sex with them.

Basically, if you’re looking for an erotic experience in a dating sim or visual novel, don’t come here. My #1 recommendation for that has always been and will always be The Bell Chimes for Gold (do not get the steam version– it doesn’t have the sex scenes).

Miscellaneous remarks

I will warn that while the game is mostly polished– it currently has some not-insubstantial bugs. Dialogue loops, characters getting stuck on a certain conversations– things that may soft lock you in the current state of the game if you’re trying to do things a certain way or if you’re a completionist. There are reportedly hot fix updates in the works (the game only just came out, so it’s understandable). I mention this not only to warn you in case you’re thinking of getting it, but also to make the great confession that I myself have not yet finished a playthrough of the game fully, because it’s not possible to do on my save file without leaving a bunch of characters behind, essentially.

Overall

If you are looking for a deeply profound and emotional experience that will immerse you completely and give you a sensation of relationship fulfillment, this is not that. 

It is, however, fun and enjoyable in my point of view, and more than worth what I paid for it. That said, I think this game will hit for some people and be a complete miss for others. So it’s good that there’s a free demo.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. I’ve loved playing it and found it addictive. Overall it’s well made and thoughtfully crafted. Are there hot people? Hell yeah.

Uhmmm if I told you guys I wrote a 4 page review of date everything would you want to read it 👉👈

[onefortherose]

* Kris...Let's go back there tomorrow, alright?

@pscentral event 30: friendship ↳ Kris and Susie: Deltarune Chapters 1 & 2

insp

[inloveinsickness]

❝ HUSH ❞ — sakusa kiyoomi

cw. f!reader, fluff, olympics au, athletic trainer!reader, timeskip characters, established relationship, secret marriage, language (omi swears like once), not beta read (sorry!) word count. ~ 1.6k

“japan’s outside hitter sakusa kiyoomi and newly revealed wife, athletic trainer y/n l/n, steals the spotlight in the city of love!”

@tetzoro's summer olympics collab

your eyes glance in his direction, letting it linger on his figure as the team settles down into their corner. he’s a little tense, understandably so– it’s his first time at the olympics, and with the pressure of the finals sitting on his shoulders, the nerves are showing, though carefully hidden behind his standard resting face that you can see through so well. the lights hanging along the ceilings of the south paris arena cast a tasteful warm glow along the contours of his face. despite the subconscious clenched jaw and slightly downturned lips that make you want to kiss the frown off so badly, there’s a shine in his eyes like no other.

the last few days have been pretty rough, of stiff beds, subpar food and sleeping without kiyoomi. you know he feels the same if the progressively increasing frequency of late night calls and texts are any indication. with the boys sharing rooms in twos amongst themselves and the rest of the team’s staff being housed in a separate wing of the building, falling asleep in his arms was a faraway thought since you arrived at the olympic village.

loml ♡ : miya snores so fuckin’ loudly i can’t handle this me : well it wouldn’t be the first time you’ve dealt with it baby loml ♡ : i still think we should’ve fought harder for us sharing a room

he drifts off into slumber easily after washing up and getting his fill of talking to you (never enough), the mental and physical fatigue of matches and practices in between taking a toll on his body, but for you, being wrapped in his warm embrace was the perfect recipe and vital to a good night's sleep. it’s safe to say that you haven’t been sleeping well for the past week.

it didn’t help that being sworn to secrecy about your relationship also meant that any interactions you had with him outside being the team’s athletic trainer was like treading on eggshells. it feels like you’re in high school again, sitting next to him in the dining hall during meal times with your clasped hands hidden under the table from watchful eyes, his thumb rubbing soft circles against the back of your hand or squeezing ever so often, as if to affirm his presence and silently reassure that i’m here.

it seems to be a trend lately for athletes to be active on their social media platforms, be it their team’s or just a personal account, recounting stories or even taking avid viewers through “a day in the life of an olympic athlete” — without looking too far, even miya jumped on the bandwagon, often seeing suna running around filming short clips of their shenanigans in free pockets of time during the day. you and kiyoomi talked about it before the season began, keeping any non-professional interactions to a minimum. there’s eyes everywhere and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

both of you are very private people, it was only natural that you preferred to keep your personal life and matters to yourselves behind closed doors. this ended up being a double-edged sword, because everyone wants to be all up in your business, especially kiyoomi who finds himself in the spotlight more often, being apart of the “young handsome eligible bachelors” of the MSBY 4 and now one of the most sought-after new additions to japan’s national team.

you on the other hand, were better known by twitter as “the pretty trainer” from the shweiden adlers and now the national team, standing next to another fan-favourite, iwaizumi hajime. thankfully your role is kept more so behind the scenes, checking on the players during games and making sure they remain in tip-top shape on and off the court.

being the quiet and brooding one amongst outgoing chatterboxes meant that the media would try to dig any information out of kiyoomi, but prying interviewers and prodding questions towards him and his love life were smoothly deflected and brushed aside, the boys even coming to his defense if anyone got too pushy with it, which you were beyond thankful for. not that they needed to most of the time, he’s known to be curt with his responses and quick to bring the topic back to the game, and no one likes a snappy sakusa anyway, many have learned this the hard way.

just months prior to the both of you getting called in to begin training for the olympics and before schedules start to pick up, you had a small private wedding in your hometown with just close friends and family, the ceremony kept under lock and key and tucked away from the public eye. it made it all the more intimate, more like a quiet gathering to celebrate your union than a grand spectacle, which suited you perfectly. the honeymoon hasn’t happened yet with the timing of everything, you’re saving it for post-season when you both can finally take a break and relax for a little while.

you won’t deny that there are some days where you wished that things were different, and that you could openly express your love for each other without scrutiny and attention being on you, but alas, that is to be expected as someone exposed to the public eye.

the olympics is your first public appearance as married individuals, not that anyone particularly cares about your status, their eyes instead zeroing in on kiyoomi and the chain around his neck carrying a shiny new silver band. it's safe to say that judging by the scowl on his face and the chatter buzzing around the front rows of stands as the team settles into their side of the court, his “mystery wife" is the new talk of the town.

when he comes over to you during timeout, his eyes meet yours bashfully as you hand him a bottle, fingers brushing against yours in an unspoken apology. you just smile and lightly pat his back as he turns to join the team huddle. there’s nothing to be sorry for, silly.

these little moments mean everything to you, even though it looks like nothing in the grand scheme of things. just being there with him and coming together with a shared passion even if it's in different fields of the broader spectrum of sport, fills you with a sense of happiness and content. watching him in his element and being able to support him on the sidelines through it all, you'd never trade that for the world.

and as you’re sitting at the edge of your seat with your bum hanging on for dear life, you lean forward with your hands pressed together, the top of your index fingers resting against the tip of your nose like a pseudo prayer. match point.

it feels like you’re watching the longest rally of your life and like a bad habit, your knee begins bouncing up and down in your nervousness and anticipation. iwaizumi too, is so engrossed in the play at hand that he doesn’t notice, or maybe he just doesn’t care enough in this moment to stop you with his usual slap to your thigh and a chiding comment, “stop it, even my grandma back in sendai can feel the tremours from your goddamn knees.”

with bated breath, you watch kageyama tosses one beautiful arc of a set to kiyoomi as he leaps into the air and makes contact with the ball.

with a powerful spike, he is a force to be reckoned with, sending the ball home as the opponents dive to save it, their arms hands and fingers stretching out in a last ditch attempt to connect and rescue the point, but to no avail. the ball lands with a harsh thud and as he stands tall above their groveling, the whistle blows and the crowds roar.

your arms instinctively raise in a cheer, and in the next moment they’re closed over your mouth, tears pricking your eyes as you stumble over your feet and scramble to get up. as the team rushes towards him with shouts of celebration, his eyes immediately dart in your direction, softening as he sees you dashing over. with knowing smirks and crescent moons for eyes, the boys follow his line of sight and give him firm slaps on the back, parting the hoard for you and giving just enough room for him to uncharacteristically swoop you up in his arms and crash his lips into yours, all caution thrown to the wind.

all the noise halts and time stands still, everything fades away and nothing else in the world matters in the moment, not the people, not the cameras, just the overwhelming rush of joy and pride, and love, oh love, swelling from the depths of your chest and your heart bursting at its seams.

your senses flood with everything kiyoomi, from the way the sweaty strands of his hair at the back of his neck feel on your fingertips, his cheeks dampening from your tears, the nudge of his nose against yours, and the press of his smile on your locked lips. he breathes out and you breathe him in, letting all of his being rest in the room in your heart saved specially for him, seeping into every corner of your soul.

when you inevitably pull apart for air, the current predicament doesn't exactly click in your mind just yet until he grabs your hand and pulls you into his side, shielding you from the onslaught of reporters and press looking to get a fresh scoop on the hottest piece of news. with blown out eyes, you look at him in a daze and disbelief, did that really just happen?

the smug smirk on his face says it all.

the matching silver bands on your finger and hanging around his neck, it was always there. for the longest time it was your little secret, and now a declaration of love and devotion — not even a shiny new gold medal could compare.

© yogurtkags. please do not repost, plagiarise, or translate my work.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I will never understand people who want female characters in the game, you know why the game only has boys, the game is for the female target audience, there are several games with only girls

[Referencing this post!]

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to see more women in Twst in general! You’d expect it, wouldn’t you…? Maybe not at NRC, but with the students so often going abroad or into Foothill Town or meeting with their family members, they’d surely run into women at some point or another. It makes the world feel more fleshed out when these women are actually give unique designs and characters, as we see with some siblings, parents, and grandparents.

However, these women would likely not become playable because Twst is presented as a story exploring relationships between men and the primary setting is an all-boys magic school. Outsiders can’t even come onto NRC campus without authorization because of its magic barrier. Twst is also aiming for a certain target demographic, and while women can also enjoy women, it’s just not the direction the devs have decided to go with. It hasn’t chosen to be a mixed gender gacha game from the get-go, so expecting or demanding it of the devs isn’t the way to go; no expectation of a playable mixed gender roster has been set for Twst.

I don’t think anyone is calling for an all-girls game, but I have seen complaints that there’s no all-girls magic school mentioned, only all-boys ones as far as I am aware. It creates the impression that magic and elite schools are only for men, but I don’t think that’s the intention of the game?? It feels like a limitation due to the format and assets (like how the game only shows beastmen students in Savanaclaw when the manga and anime show beastmen in all the dorms). With the franchise being so centered on appealing to women, many of whom are yumejoshi (self-shippers) or are fujoshi (enjoyers of men loving men), introducing an all-girls school may cause tension with ships the fans have. The mere PRESENCE of a girl has caused waves in fandoms before, even if the girl just exists and doesn’t do or say anything flirty. (See: Obey Me fandom when Thirteen was announced; some fans felt threatened that she would “steal” the boys away.) Maybe Twst wants to avoid that…? Granted, OM is a dating sim/romantic in nature and Twst isn’t, so the reaction may not be the same.

I want to point out men do this too, even for games that aren’t romantic or dating sims. When Granblue Fantasy did a collab with Love Live, they eliminated all men from the event story except for the player character so as to not have any men BUT the player interacting with the Love Live idol girls.

In any case, I’m sure that all-girls magic schools exist in Twst, but just are not mentioned or explored in order to not infringe on this large aspect of the fandom. This is probably also why no NRC staff are women, even though one-gender schools irl typically don’t insist the staff match that gender as well (as this would be gender discrimination). Again, it’s not Twst’s focus. Just because Twst doesn’t call attention to it doesn’t mean it isn’t real or that it never happened. (If that were the case, then we’d assume silly things like the characters not showering is true even though they must clearly all clean themselves off-screen.)

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if Twst introduced more women characters that weren’t family members or ineligible NPCs (like the Ghost Bride/Eliza) 💦 What would happen if Twst gave us a cute girl around the NRC students’ age that frequently interacts with the main cast of boys? Like… would there be vitriol towards her from the shippers?? Would she be seen as “competition”???

And, interestingly, Yuus are an exception to this because they are seen as a proxy for players (who are largely feminine-presenting women) who self insert and project onto them. Fans liked when Yuuka Hirasaka (Episode of Savanaclaw manga Yuu) “canonized” girl Yuus, and they LOVED Yuuna Oujou (Episode of Scarabia manga Yuu) for “canonizing” outright feminine Yuus because they validate femme fans’ identities.

I find the fandom reaction to Yuuna (whom I adore) especially fascinating because I think it actually highlights some issues with the expectations we have for women and how we perceive the same relationships entirely differently just by swapping out a femme!Yuu for a masc!Yuu. I would recommend reading this post by Kallisto; I found it so enlightening and it made me see this matter from a whole new perspective.

[witchygod]

Thinking about Kenji Sato Flanderization

I think certain scene with Kenji certainly stood out out about Kenji for fans, particularly the "do my own thing" and "I know it's been a long year but you got me now" scenes and I've noticed a trend where Kenji is characterized as well honestly a bit of an asshole, sometimes to an unlikable degree so let's talk about it.

I also think these scenes have paid into some instances of flanderization of Kenji's character. Yes he's a bit arrogant and witty but he's not as egotistical as everyone thinks- he's certainly not as RUDE as everyone seems to perceive him though he does have a temper. It should be noted his temper only seems to come through when he's extremely stressed or on the field- in conflict. He's very graceful in how he handles Ami's questions as wel. He only gets snarky with his coach because his coach approached him first with abundant hostility which I'm gonna be real- not the kind of behavior that is ideal, one could argue he was trying to weigh Kenji's value but with the context of Kenji being a world series player in America this is value as an athlete that should be proven already, if he's concerned about Kenji's arrogance that'd be another thing and while that's certainly AN issue but he admits it plainly what it is 'this is Japanese baseball not American' and Kenji responding to that with a bit of disrespect is extremely fair- and coming from his coach it very much paints the tone of how he's gonna be interacting with his teammates.

A large part of Kenji's rudeness is a direct result of hostility or an active defense from either invasive questions perceived attacks on how 'japanese he is'. This is not a subtle sub theme of his character mind you- he straight up admits to Ami that the reason he 'doesnt give a shit' is because he had to learn to because he was always being judged for being Japanese in America.

Let's not get it wrong though- Kenji is arrogant and egotistical because seriously who gives out their autograph without being prompted. These are some traits, but he's not entirely up his own ass, and he's not rude (Mama Sato raised a very good boy... Ultradad helped too) . Aside from when he was pissy with her for asking some extremely personal questions off the back at a press event- Kenji is extremely respectful of Ami, he makes sure to remember the reporters by their names not publicist and while he's not humble he's very sociable. Hell he's even polite talking to the Kaiju- actively taking a gentler tone of voice with Gigantron despite his frustrations (and increasing panic over the fact the KDF is going to kill her and he can't figure out how to stop it)- he's snarky with Mina but even then he isn't entirely dismissive of her, honestly he treats an AI more like family than a servant which is a big difference in attitude than most egotistical superheroes with ai companions.

Kenji is not the sort to be a womanizer hell he doesn't even seem the sort to attend parties unless he's forced to, it's pretty clear he's a bit of a loner- this is evident as much as there is never a mention to him missing his teammates in America and the fact the only person he has to talk to in Japan aside from his father is an acquaintance he's not even certain won't publish his personal conversations with. (She won't because she's a fucking professional with ethics which is also the reason that she's not a love interest God bless I love you Ami💕) He's overwhelmed by relearning how to fit in to Japan, dealing with the xenophobia,adjusting to the new culture of baseball become Ultraman deal with his daddy issues and mourning the disappearance of his mother- all things that heavily influence his attitude and a lot of times seem to be overlooked by people.

We take away one or two of those stressors Kenji goes from snarky and arrogant to a whole lot more sociable and pleasant. He's at his core a sensitive and confident individual who's just really passionate about baseball. He's kind enjoys teaching others about his special interest and is charismatic and bold despite being prone to holding people at arms length. Which is fair because he has a lot of dangerous secrets.

In short Kenji Sato is just a Mama's boy girl(jk)

In short Kenji Sato is a pretty complex character who suffers from a decent amount of emotional constipation and just straight up having no friends. He's respectful and kind and a bit sensitive which can make him seem pretty temperamental and he's prone to pushing people away at the first sign of hostility or when they overstep his boundaries. He's extremely stressed throughout the movie and adjusting to a lot of NEW, and the KDF/Kaiju trying to get chunks out of him and the pretty blatant xenophobia from the baseball scene (ill justified by him playing badly :/) doesn't help.

I also didn't mention much of his reluctance to being a hero and his irresponsibility to the role initially I realized and I think that should be its own subject because what's going on there is less a personality thing and more.... Directly correspondent to his relationship with his father, and the fact he was GROSSLY unprepared for the role. But I do want to note that his sense of responsibility is a lot stronger than people think because it doesn't really take a lot to convince him to do the right thing after Nobiranga's death. If he was still prone to inaction after this event I'd chalk it up to a personality defect but no he's pretty quick to make more of an effort as Ultraman after this, he saw the consequences of his actions and while he's gonna whine about it he does what he has to.

I may also go on a Rant Rant later about his coach and how the next movie really needs to try to save his character because he's shit at his job....

[cleolinda]

Just for fun, here's five minutes of my very first time playing the Silent Hill 2 remake, having never played a video game before. (My voice only.) I grabbed my phone and turned on Voice Memo because I got stuck in the parking lot and felt like I needed to record struggles this dire for posterity. I recorded this a week ago, so all the issues I mention have since been fixed, including my (in)ability to move forward. (Nobody had explained the importance of the camera in doing anything to me.) If y'all are interested, I can also post a shorter clip of my most recent fight, which shows how far I've come. I have strategies now. I'm such a brave little toaster.

I originally posted this on Patreon with a transcript, so I'll include that below, long as it is. Volume advisory: I do yell a lot.

[Comments directed at James, my player character, are in parentheses.]

Okay. I don't know how much this is actually going to pick up, but I'm just gonna voice record this while I figure out what's going on. This is exactly as bad as I thought it would be. I've had to mute the sound because it's just [laughing] James making weird grunting sounds every 30 seconds—of impatience!—because I can't figure out how to make this man walk. 

And I'm on a laptop [rather than a console]. So we're just living our life here as best as we can. And I even have a touchpad mouse. I have an external mouse coming in tomorrow, maybe. 

Okay, okay, I'm trying to get him to go back into the bathroom because my understanding is that there's a whole bunch of graffiti in there that you would actually— (Why are you not turning left?! Why are you walking BACKWARDS? What are you DOING?) I've already been yelling at him for like two minutes now. (JAAAAMES. What are you DOING?)

Okay, achievement ["No Turning Back Now"]: I tried to leave. Good for me. All right. So— (BUDDY!) What—what's the Sprint command? I don't know, I don't know. Um—Escape. Settings: uh, Controls? No... Controls View? Here we go, here we go. L shift, how would I have known that? Quick Turn... oh, Rowing. I don't need rowing for like another 16 hours, we're fine. Okay, move camera on the touchpad mass—touchpad mOuSe. It's fine. We don't have a problem with that. Combat—I'm gonna have a problem with that, but not yet. Um... there are some mouse commands that I may end up remapping to some letter keys... depending on how the mouse does or doesn't work for me in terms of distance from my hand. We'll—we'll see. I'm used to—I've been using a touchpad mouse for years now, not gaming. It would be very strange to be using an external mouse. So I may just remap some stuff. [I did not. For the combat tutorial, I did use an external mouse.]

Okay, Interact, Extended Movement is “E.” Okay. Space is Zoom, escape: Main Menu, we learned that one REAL GOOD. Um... Map... Flashlight... Okay, we don't—we don't need that right yet. [Sigh.] W-S-D-A! Don't need Row, okay. Sprint. L shift is Sprint. That is what we need. [My obsession with “sprint” is because this man walks as slow as a turtle and “leisurely trot” is the only thing that’s going to get you anywhere.] Okay: Resume. 

Like, the music and sound effects are beautiful, I mean, sure, but right now this is—he's—he's very tired of me dealing with stuff. Come on, (WALK, buddy.) Shift? Can you—how do you SPRIIIIIIIINNNNNT??? 
[Unconvincingly:] All right, no, we're fine. We're fine. We're gonna be fine. So we're walking—oh, we gotta go to the car! Okay! I forgot we even have to do that! We're not getting anywhere without the map!

[Tiny voice:] Really... wanna go back into the bathroom... Maybe we try that when we… are further along... in our ability to move. 

This is a nightmare. I—I didn't think it was actually gonna be this hard for me to learn. I thought it would go a little faster. 

(Come on, buddy, what are you doing? What are you doing? E, can we interact? WHAT are you DOING?!) Oh my God. Okay, what's it—HE’S LOOKING AT IT!! [Which indicates he wants me to do something with it, but “interact” isn’t coming up.] HE’S LOOKING [tiny, despairing voice:] at it. He's looking at it. 

(Babe, what do I have to DO? What do I have to DO?!) 

[Sigh.] Maybe I do need my sister here to... tell me what to do on an extremely basic level. 


It says... does it mean lower shift? What does it mean? [It did mean left shift, like I was pressing, but nobody told me you had to hit “sprint” and “walk” at the same time.] Forward, back, right, left, sprint. Quick Turn... okay, forgot about that. E...? Yeah, and I think by Extended Movement, they mean like a traversal.

Oh... oh, my sweet lord Jesus. I didn't think it was gonna be this hArD!!! It's not hard. It's not hard at all. If you're a normal person, if you're a gamer, this is not hard at all. If you're me and you play Hello Kitty Island Adventure, it's hard. Okay. I am so glad I did not actually just start recording [video] cold. I know y'all would love to watch me just run James into a tree. I know you would love that, but we're not doing that for—half an hour, if I'm lucky. 

Okay, come on, buddy. What are we doing? E!! Oh thank God. Oh, thank God, we've got the map. Okay. Space: Zoom. Back. [Vehement mouse clicking sounds.] Back. Mouse. MOUSE. [Sigh.] I swear to the Lord Jesus Christ, come on—he has very nice nails. [James does. I don't know about Jesus.] He really does. He has very nice hands. I will say when I started the game—remember, this is something I have seen on a very large TV many times. Even I sat back and went, whoa, the graphics are really good. Like on a smaller laptop, even I went, holy shit, that's so good. 

(BUDDY?! GO BACK!! YOU HAVE!! THE MAP!!!)  

OKAY. No, no, this is FINE. This is FIIIIIIIIINE!!  

I'm alone in the house right now. My dog is not here, my dog would be barking his head off, going, what is—

OKAY!! OKAY. [Extremely tiny voice:] That was—that was fine. 

I was hitting the wrong part of the touchpad mouse... because I was thinking of it as an external mouse and I was hitting the top of it… [tiny, exasperated voice:] not the bottom of it… like I normally would. 

NO, IT’S FINE. IT’S FINE, OKAY? I know, he's looking around, he's like looking at his hands and he's like brushing something—he's like, “What are you DOING? What are you DOING?” 

(I'm sorry, that was the car door. I didn't mean to make you bump into that.)

We're doing good. We're doing fine. Come on, yeah, we're gonna walk backwards a little bit. How's the camera? We want it up a little bit, we want it down a little bit? Beautiful reflections, beautiful reflections. I had to work with the resolution because he looked very... WIDE, and boxy, and I had to get it set on my monitor's resolution, which is, I think... oh, I don't even remember what it is. This is a new computer. 

Okay, I'm gonna have to stop now. I can't scream anymore. But good luck to me.

[stari-hun]

Just wanna point out how different Jiu looks from Insight 1 (main story and her character story before then) to her form at the end of the main story (Insight 2).

Her Insight 1 outfit is the clothing she got from her guardian Ms Xu. It’s not only a symbol of her humanity but her ties to the world as well, and something a Xiangrui shouldn’t have. Even down to her embroidered bag with poetry on it about her, it's something she doesn't quite understand despite being a direct part of it. The bag is FOR her and about her, but she can't read it. Being literate is one of the most important things when it comes to interacting with society and a part of education. She wants to know about Xiangrui's, but she already is one. She can't learn about other people like her because she can't read, she has no access to knowledge apart from stories that are retold a hundred times and changed even more. Every connection to her mother and why she fell from the heavens for Jiu are things that she can only learn from other people, but at the same time she doesn't know what she's looking for because her world view isn't big enough to know where to look. Much like the way she memorizes the poems on her bag without directly being able to read them, she's going with the motions in an attempt to understand humans in the way she has from the start.

"A Xiangrui is not supposed to have any personal feelings. She fell because of you, because of the personal feeling. Remember that."

-

Then her Insight 2 outfit is very clearly an arcanist in all senses of the word. Even by the standards of Pei City which accepts arcanists as simply another kind of person, Jiu then appears clearly nonhuman in the same way Getian does. Her character story CG shows the way no one looks to her as a Xiangrui as she looks to the narration (player/camera). Jiu has let go of her personal feelings and attachment to acting as a normal arcanist in her last attempt to fulfill her duties as a Xiangrui and reverse the curse, but in return she's lost the things that made her happy with humans. Things that she already had as a Xiangrui who granted the wishes of the people in town. One of the cruelest parts yet is that Xiangrui's are likely like Meimengs where they can't grant wishes but simply have the knowledge and strength to help others.

"Be a Xiangrui, and then you will understand her."

Congratulations on becoming a Xiangrui, Jiu

[kerokasa]

re: the language of queerness in project sekai

i’m specifically using queer here to denote a type of subject-position/relationship to society, rather than any specific identities a character might hold. i don’t think a game like project sekai is particularly interested in ever putting straightforward labels on characters, even though a character like mizuki clearly reads as trans to many players.

which ofc is my entire point… the game communicates a lot of information about mizuki without a lot of direct references to identity, instead using the language of difference as a euphemism for transness/queerness.

an event like “beside unchanging warmth” ultimately points to a trans story without stating anything explicitly, and i think it’s interesting to read it while paying attention to what the word choices are actually doing here.

in flashbacks to elementary school mizuki, the word “weird” (変/hen) is doing so much heavy lifting. it’s a word that inherently calls up a certain kind of relation/power dynamic between what is considered normal vs abnormal. the language is walking this precarious line of saying-not-saying, where nobody actually defines what makes mizuki “weird”; the responsibility is placed on the reader to infer that mizuki wearing frilly/cute (feminine) clothes is seen as transgressive by her classmates.

it feels important that mizuki seems especially hurt by the word “weird” in this flashback, and i think the line delivery supports this as well. contextually, i can’t help but read it as a stand-in for more overtly derogatory language/transphobia, softened and sanitized by replacing anything specific with a comparatively broad adjective like “weird.”

(this raises a lot of interesting questions for me wrt what makes queerness legible in translation / in my experience, anglophone fans are often looking for specific markers of identity when said identities generally originate from a certain class of euroamerican queer culture and academia! which is not to say prsk should or should not be more explicit in depicting trans characters; it’s just another point of discussion)

all this leads me to other instances in which the game draws attention to weirdness/difference — and the reasons i believe both mizuki and rui’s storylines evoke queer coming-of-age plots.

this might be slightly controversial to say, but it’s hard not to draw the connection given their middle school friendship, and how much rui’s background emphasizes the same ideas of weirdness/difference. even their final kizuna rank, which is correctly translated in english to say “i guess we’re both different” (僕達も変わったものだね) returns to that word 変 that upset baby mizuki so much.

i’ve seen some people argue that rui’s backstory should just be read as an indicator of his neurodivergence and well. for what it’s worth, i’m gay and neurodivergent like every other goddamn person on this site and within the context of rui’s arc throughout the game, i think there’s still a very strong argument to be made that mizuki and rui bonded over their shared experience of being queer.

after all, why is mizuki having “weird” taste in clothes taken as unassailable evidence of her transness if rui’s “weird” thinking cannot also be read as queer (or queer and neurodivergent)?

i will note that rui’s insecurities have never centered around an inability to communicate with his classmates (unlike nene, whose arc is VERY much about her becoming comfortable around new people and realizing that they want to be her friends). although other students are afraid of him, rui is a skilled communicator in public and doesn’t appear bothered by social interaction.

rather, rui’s insecurities center on this idea that he is dangerous to the people around him / he expects to be punished for expressions of vulnerability or intimacy.

fan communities nowadays sometimes forget the origins of “queer coding” as a concept in cultural criticism. going back to classically queer coded disney villains, romantic/sexual interest isn’t really a huge part of what makes these characters queer coded. rather, it’s about presentation — stereotypically effeminate mannerisms, ursula’s visual resemblance to drag queens in the little mermaid, vocal inflections that audiences (often subconsciously) associate with gay men in particular.

queer coding is shorthand that tells the audience these characters are sinister, untrustworthy, duplicitous. it’s rooted in a history of homophobic and transphobic rhetoric that paints queer and trans people as insidious, contagious (as in the AIDS epidemic), corrupting and luring innocent straight youth into degenerate queer life.

which brings me back to why i think a queer interpretation of rui’s backstory makes it so much richer and more meaningful. starting in the main story and then really coming to the forefront in wonder halloween, rui has internalized this belief that he is a danger to his peers. that his desire for closeness will always inevitably cross a line and he will end up rejected and alone.

this mirrors a really common, familiar experience of being a closeted gay teenager and the fear of how the people around you would react to your identity. in many cases, people are afraid of coming out because of how their friendships will inevitably be sexualized, or they’ll distance themselves in order to prevent anyone from misinterpreting their relationships and intentions.

personally speaking, i really identify with rui for these reasons, even if the story uses his inventions/directing as the stated reason for his fears. it’s really not until the formation of wxs (and meeting tsukasa specifically, as mizuki and the pandemonium trio have pointed out) that rui begins to feel safe enough to be honest and vulnerable about his desires both on and off the stage.

and it is important that it’s tsukasa in the end! tsukasa flips the script that rui is used to — rui has cut himself off to avoid rejection, but tsukasa is the one who seeks rui out, invites him into the troupe, works for him to stay. tsukasa recognizes something in rui and for the first time, someone isn’t reacting from a place of fear or simply not understanding the scope of rui’s vision, but instead he wants the very thing that rui thinks he needs to suppress. it’s also significant that tsukasa is another boy, and it’s significant that the idea of “weirdness” comes back in the form of “oddball 1-2”, which reframes difference as something that connects rui and tsukasa as a unit. he is no longer alone because he’s too weird, but now that same weirdness brings him closer to another person.

i also think it’s so fascinating how mizuki and rui bond over their shared difference or “loneliness,” and the game presents it as these 2 people who really have nothing in common besides their loneliness — i think mizuki says something along the lines of being happy that rui has found people that can relate to him outside of simply being lonely. it reminds me of my own experience being closeted in high school and somehow drifting into spaces with other kids who eventually came out as queer/trans, and how we were each on our own parallel journeys without ever really talking about it with one another, or how gay/lesbian communities in small towns are often very close out of necessity (unlike in big cities, where gay/lesbian communities don’t overlap as much because they don’t need to). it’s as if rui and mizuki have a shared understanding that even if the other’s particular experience is inaccessible to them, they have to be each other’s support system.

all this is to say. mizuki’s story only really makes sense to me as a trans story. similarly, rui’s story is so much richer when read in a queer context. nobody has to agree with me and i don’t really care about the game’s ultimate intent, but i just wanted to articulate how i personally find a lot of value in interpreting these characters in this way.

[whatsjulietslastname]

expending on the mlm pricefield thing (and i’m not talking about double exposure anymore), i think if pricefield had been one of the first mlm pairing to be openly queer in video games history, it would’ve been way more of a big deal back when the game was released and years later. i also think little to no people would be debating whether their relationship is platonic or not, and people would’ve been way faster at jumping to the conclusion that you were homophobic if you thought they were.

historically, the most popular mlm pairings (i’m thinking johnlock, kirk and spock from star trek, merlin and arthur, all the h*rry p*tter and marvel gay ships) have a way bigger fanbase and are way less denied than the wlw ones (i’m thinking supercop, emma swan and regina mills, betty and veronica from riverdale etc). (for the record, i looked up “queerbaiting” to make this post and have examples, and found like a dozens of mlm pairings and always the same few wlw ones…) AND it is way more socially acceptable to say “those two women have a platonic relationship” whereas, if you do the same with johnlock, for instance, you WILL get an angry twenty paragraphs long reply about how there was nothing platonic about it (even though John Watson married a woman).

my point is not “he married a woman so he wasn’t queer” my point is, whenever one part of a wlw pairing has a boyfriend, or a man who she shows a glimpse of interest in (*cough cough* Warren Graham *cough cough*), it is IMMEDIATELY used as ‘evidence’ that this character cannot be queer since she can be in a heterosexual relationship — which is an argument that, again, you will practically never find directed at a gay ship. and, again, the few people who do use this argument against mlm pairings are called ‘homophobic’.

AGAIN, i am not saying that you cannot ship Warren and Max or are homophobic if you do, i’m saying that if Chloe and Max had been two guys, people would’ve been so focused on them, on Max’s diary’s entries, and the two possible kisses they can share onscreen, and the flirting and implications in their relationship, and Chloe’s obvious attraction to Max, that grahamfield would’ve had a way smaller fanbase — or no fanbase at all. and people would’ve absolutely disregarded the fact that you can make Max romance Warren (who is a girl in this scenario). they would’ve seen Warren’s nearly one-sided flirting, and would’ve immediately gone “she (Warren) is in love with him (Max) and he doesn’t give a fuck” (and the kiss in the Two Whales would’ve been collectively ignored by the entire fandom, as is Mary Watson, or Pepper Potts, or Tonks, or Ginny Weasley).

but BECAUSE Max and Chloe are girls, people are still debating whether she is even queer or not by saying “if i make her romance Warren she experiences no attraction towards Chloe and therefore is straight” which is false, because the attraction is HERE. all you, as a player, get to decide is whether or not Max acts on it. and no matter how much evidence there is that Max is indeed romantically interested in Chloe, you will NEVER convince those people, because to them, the moment a woman and a guy interact in a non-platonic way, this woman has to end up with said guy, no matter how queer-coded her relationship with another woman is.

and now that pricefield is broken up, people who would’ve been rioting if it had been guys are calling people who are rightfully upset ‘dramatic’. just try and imagine the reaction of the Sherlock fandom if Sherlock was returning without Watson because “they argued off-screen and decided to stop seeing each other”. those guys aren’t childhood best friends, are never romantically involved, their fandom hasn’t been begging to have a glimpse of them together for ten years, and yet i can’t even imagine how angry people would be. all this fandom was asking was to at least not destroy Max and Chloe’s friendship, and look where we are now.

[shadowslocked]

“Rook should be allowing to be an asshole to their companions”

“You just want to enslave/murder people”

No.

Firstly, being an asshole isn’t just committing overly evil crimes like murder or selling/buying people into slavery. Though, if the writers were clever enough, they could ways to let Rook get away with murder visa “it’s for the greater good” creating another parallel with Solas…

I want Rook to be an asshole so they can actively play a role in making their companions worse. I want Rook to have a negative effect on the world as a whole, furthering Solas’ belief that it’s better to see the world burn then allow someone like Rook to continue existing.

I want a Varric who is disappointed in you at the reveal of his death, who wonders if he’d been around things could have turned out differently.

People wanting Rook to be meaner aren’t people who want wanton destruction and death, they want to be able to effect the world in multiple ways as they were allowed in the previous games. They want the ability to play different characters, to be the goody two shoes in one world and then an asshole in the next and then some mixture of the two. Even if the argument is that stuff like that doesn’t actually impact the world, it’s important to help the player build the character they want to see as they were allowed to do in previous installments. As it stands, game wise Rook is always Rook, with no variation in between aside from race, background and gender.

Changing that play style NOW, in the fourth game to a series meant to follow up the previous three, was always going to recieve negative reactions from people. Asking them to not be upset with the direction the devs chose to go is basically asking them not to engage in a way you don’t like with Veilguard.

“But you can be mean! If you only focus on the story quests all your companions will die in the end!”

And that would be really interesting if it also wasn’t written so weakly.

It’s a fine ending, playing into the supposed themes Veilguard wants to have about kindness and caring about others having a greater positive impact on the world.

And yet none of your companions react to this. Nobody, from what I’ve seen, calls you out on not helping them with their quests. Especially Davrin and Lucanis who’s goals from the beginning of joining your merry band is to chase after a threat while working alongside you. Especially not when they start talking about needing to focus on their personal matters in order to get anything done.

Varric isn’t disappointed in you for not being the leader he thought you were, Solas isn’t displeased but convinced further it’s better to focus solely on his goal. Neither of them have any reaction to your decisions.

And the frustrating thing is: being meaner wouldn’t detract from Veilguards message about kindness and caring for companions making the world better. If anything it would actually strengthen the message as, sure, you defeat Solas but you’ve left the world worse than when you found it. That’s just, if not more, interesting than simply not engaging with parts of the game.

In the end it all comes down to feeling like there is no response to your actions or words, your impact feels unimportant because the game will continue forward without challenging you directly about your choices and instead waits until the very end to try to give the illusion to your choices mattering. It’s a game that wants to be an RPG like the previous games but also pulls its punches on letting your character interact with the world in a way that isn’t solely positive or nothing.

[bananathebookworm]

I don't know if this counts as an unpopular opinion/viewpoint (and I could very well eat my words), but I don't think we're actually done with Exandria.

They've said before there's still so much of this world to explore (continents, time periods, underwater nations, etc.), but regardless of what happens in the finale next week Exandria will be fundamentally changed. We still have no idea what will happen in Vasselheim or with the gods now that Predathos is gone.

I can see a version of this where the reason for EXU: Divergence coming after the finale is because the future of Exandria is another post-apocalyptic world where the remaining mortals are forced to rebuild from nothing.

I'm looking at the end of this campaign similarly to how I looked at the end of the MCU's Infinity Saga with Avengers: Endgame.

That film was the culmination of ten years worth of films. The MCU continues to live on and probably will for the foreseeable future, but that was the end of the founding members' stories and the vibes were very different without those familiar characters.

This is the end of the foundation of Exandria from the viewpoint of the audience. Exandria has been fleshed out and brought to life over the last ten years for us and we've come to care about the characters and places and the people that inhabit it, fictional though they may be. It's a world that's been living and moving and changing with each campaign, with each parties choices, and with each player's successes and failures.

But next time we're going to jump in to a new version of Exandria, one that was influenced by the events of previous campaigns, but is ultimately free of their direct interaction. It'll be a new age, but not a new world.

[ethersierra]

Nanofather Lore insanepost

Alright. We've seen my murderboard. It's incomprehensible. But for those who haven't, here it is:

It includes... a lot of everything. I couldn't begin to describe the journey I went on putting this together. Without further ado:

The Nanofather, also known as "The Weaver," "Creaky Man," and sometimes "Geltfrimpen" or briefly as "wily weaver," "dirty jeremy," "muck dweller," and "crusty man," is a recurring ominous character which appears most frequently in the opening segments of The Adventure Zone: Steeplechase. He says a lot of weird shit. And after 33 episodes, I believe I have a pretty good understanding of this shit. Take a walk with me, through this 8-part dive into what the Nanofather's deal is.

I will warn you, this is... insanely long. Turn back now.

1. The Foretelling [moments leading up to the weaver]

Back in episode 18 of Ethersea, Justin mentioned how he's the last of them who has yet to DM. Then, later in the episode, Griffin loses his train of thought and Justin prompts him with "Spin the... spin the yarn" and the riffing leads Clint to say, "weave," and Justin says, "step up to the loom... let the weaving begin at the loom."

In the next episode, as the intro song fades out, Justin interjects in a high falsetto song, singing "Weave another tapestry! McElroy Family and me," and the bit goes on for a minute or so. Later, in Ethersea 24, when trying to convince Griffin to reconsider what happened in the narrative, Justin asks him to "Check your loom, weaver!"

When Justin finally makes his Steeplechase debut, he initially struggles with starting the story. So, Griffin jumps in with,

Griffin: "Can I do what you usually do to me?" Justin: "Please." Griffin: "And be like [singing dramatically] 'The yarn-spinner takes the loom in his hands and weaves a magical tale. Take the wizard by his hands as he flies you around on his rug made of wings and a angel’s hair.'"

Every subsequent episode has the same opening. The recurrence of these instances have culminated in the persona of "The Weaver."

2. The Stew [in which the nanofather discusses various culinary topics]

The Nanofather routinely brings up the food of his world, in some way. This starts as early as episode 3, in which he says, "Perhaps a few more moments before the stew is prepared."

Other segments include advice about nano-nutmeg [12], clarifications about cilantro (called corriander in the UK)[29], and directing the addressee to search for pepperoni and green pepper in "the pyre" [19].

The other three instances of mentions of food directly address Shookles the cat. First, "Shoockles, your master calls. Where's the scum canteen? Fetch it from the shoof... my thirst is unslakable" [7]. Then, in the very next episode, says, "Please... the pollen broth. My throat became so dry... Fetch me the pollen broth, Shoockles" [8]. And most recently, he speaks rather dramatically, saying, "I believe I went… as far as I could… I don’t know if… it was far enough… I’m terrified to push it further… I believe this is the limit… Yes… no, that’s true… It’s true… The greater danger is hesitation, yes… I will add one more half-teaspoon of cumin, Shookles. Thank you, Shookles, I… should listen to your culinary acumen more" [22]. This is assumedly in reference to something he is cooking, perhaps the stew mentioned in episode 3. Perhaps all of these ingredients are being used in the stew.

Either way, these interactions tell us that the Nanofather has an interest in cooking, and that Shookles acts as an assistant to him.

3. Direct Interactions [in-character conversations]

There are several instances where the Nanofather speaks with our player characters, or appears within their world.

This first happens in episode 20, when the crew enters the lair of Geltfrimpen and hears a voice familiar to the players coming from the dragon. He says, "Excuse me for this, but I have to keep up appearances." He continues to speak with the boys throughout the scene as they fight the animatronic. He says, "I’m having trouble staying here," and within the scene, Justin describes that, "The sound seems to be coming from like... the entirety of Geltfrimpen. It’s emanating from him, not localized to any one point in the dragon’s body." Beef asks the Weaver if he could come out of the dragon, to which he responds, "Would that I could." When Montrose begins refering to him as Geltfrimpen, he says, "I am not Geltfrimpen. I am here. But I am not Geltfrimpen." Emerich asks for his name, which is met with "Would that I know," but because Beef had called him creaky man earlier, the voice says "Creaky Man will suffice for now, I suppose. A good amount of christening."

He goes on to explain his situation at their behest:

"I will do my best to tell you what I know. It takes quite a bit for me to be as here as I am. But I will try. Part of me is in Geltfrimpen. But I am many places throughout the world. Part of me is here. Part of me is imprisoned here, I think. And through this act, I am no longer... trapped here, this part of me. I’m able to be more concentrated, if that—if that is the correct word, else... elsewhere... I will not be here long, and then I will vacate Geltfrimpen for good. And I will be a little bit more myself, elsewhere."

The implications within this one paragraph are that he does not have much of a physical form, and is potentially some sort of spirit, but he can manifest part of himself at will in some places. Montrose asks if he has a home base, but he says, "I’m... scattered. More accurately, I think... shattered."

He follows with even more interesting information,

"I’ve seen you elsewhere, I was... in one of the vans, as you made the thrilling escape. I was there. I called out, but it was so loud. I have watched you from the porch of Ustaben. In the... the whittling I sat, a rocking chair... I couldn’t summon up enough voice to reach you, but I called out. I called out to anyone who would listen, honestly. But you three are the first who seem to... be looking hard enough to hear."

There have been two heists with van escapes. The first is in episode 3, when Gravel pulled up in a stolen truck/van (it is important to note that they use them interchangably). The four of them were the only ones in the vehicle. However, this escape was not very thrilling, so we are going to refer to the Gutter City heist.

Sticky Finger(s) Paul Pantry asks the three of them to steal a truck called the Clean, and notes that it is made of Hardlight. When the time comes, Emerich has attuned with the hardlight Short Doug and drives in one of the trucks with him [9].

The second thing the Nanofather mentions is an obvious reference to the Ustaben attraction, Whittle Around. In the setup episode, Whittle Around is established as having a porch where "grandpa" sits and whittles wood-- grandpa, of course, being a hardlight construct who was initially Eustace but has since been replaced [0].

The combiantion of these two implies that the Nanofather exists for moments within, or as, these constructs. His spirit seems to be able to travel between them-- to what extent this is under his control remains questionable. Perhaps he is living within the park itself, haunting it. This is given further support at the end of episode 27, when an arcade machine in the back of Poppy's Place crackles with static and we hear the Nanofather say, "act... quickly." Emerich however is unable to make further contact, and this is the last time he seems to interact with them. Montrose says that they "have a ghost in the machine"[28].

4. The World He Inhabits [what we know about the environment, the character, and allusions to mechanisms of communication]

In his first appearance, the Nanofather says to the audience (which may be moreso to the players/player characters? uncertain), "welcome travelers," establishing that we are not from the same place he is.

The world he lives in is fleshed out through each episode. Highlights include "quite a long day tending to the muck fields" [5], "I've missed the meeting with the rust council"[13], and the afformentioned scum canteen. He also says, in episode 6, "I have a new tale for you. Of a muck-dweller turned hero to his- to his people… I seem to have lost it in the last rust storm." This sets him in a sort of wasteland. He also says, or rather, sings, "I'm a neutron guy, you're my nega-girl, I'll sweep you through the ash waste as we make our way through the,"[10] before he cuts himself off.

It seems to be a world where things are rough-- he says, "to make it 37 years is quite a blessing"[13]. That implies his age is 37, or that he has survived 37 years in the conditions that he is in. Additionally, he says, "you will find it in the pyre"[19], a pyre being defined as "a combustible heap for burning a dead body as a funeral rite," implying that they either have to make their own fires or 'bury' their dead.

Notably, there seems to be a recurring theme surrounding weather and time.

"It's gotten so quiet, lately... in the nights... and in the mornings... and the cyber night, the time between the night and the mornings..."[14] "It seems the storms have come early this evening"[4] "The last rust storm"[6]

This implies that time is somewhat technologically controlled, and weather is on a cycle. The building of Steeplechase, or what we are to assume is, is like holographically augmented[31], and so are the inside skies of the park. It is plausible to say the environment wherever the Nanofather is could also be simulated.

5. Wall Breaks [speaking to the players]

These indicate communication from the nanofather directly to the players. They imply to us more about the world, but more importantly, the means of communication and lore surrounding it.

In episode 9, we open the episode hearing a different voice. They say, "Hello? …Hello, spirits?" and begin to knock. "Nanofather says the spirits can hear you through the wall. Spirits… are you there?" But they are interupted by a familiar voice-- "Kavecca!," the nanofather says. "Just another of his stories, I suppose," Kavecca amends. "Kavecca, away from that! You dabble with powers you do not understand!" This raises a lot of questions from the players, about who Kavecca is, why there is another person speaking to them, and what the fuck the 'nanofather' means. What interests me is the referral to their audience as "spirits"-- and what implications does that have? Are they between the world the players inhabit and Steeplechase? Are the players spirits? Also factoring in Blades in the Dark, which has ghosts in it, which have been altered into hardlight for Steeplechase-- maybe the hardlight kept some of that original intent. Maybe that's how the nanofather is able to inhabit hardlight.

In the following episode, we find the nanofather singing a song. What follows is pretty strange.

ohh… I’m a neutron guy… and you’re my nega-girl… I’ll sweep you through the ash waste as we make our way through the…. [click] …do you hear me, Travis? Travis: What? I’m sorry… I didn’t realize I’d left the horn on. Travis: Are you speaking, are you- talking to me? Fare thee well. [10]

First, in "I didn't realize I'd left the horn on," a horn is primarily UK slang for telephone. That could be interpretted here as a literal telephone or whatever line of communication they seem to share. Next-- he directly addresses Travis. This is the first conversation the players have with this character, and so far the only. But it isn't the only time he addresses them:

Clinton? Travis? Gribby? My three… my three favourite micro-nephews. Here to visit me. What a wonderful treat this is… Come. Let me see if I can’t find you a new tale… Griffin: Gribby! Gribby can only say his own name. Justin: Oh? Griffin: Yeah, that’s sort of his thing. Justin: Do you… how do you… I’m surprised you have insight into these three new characters… already. Travis: I’m trying harder and harder to just pretend like we are not on the call when he records that part. Griffin: It’s the only way to not be... ensorcelled by the tapestry he weaves. Clint: Not me. Not me. Did you say Clinton? Clinton… Travis: It sounded like Clinton. Clint: I wonder who that is. Justin: Clinton, Travis and Gribby are apparently, I’ve just found this out with you guys, is— did he say— Griffin: The micro nephews. [15]

This is interesting because Travis is the only one whose name is not altered, and he was specifically addressed before. What we also glean from this is that the nanofather views them as micronephews, so he has an alleged relation to them. Previously, he has called them children but it wasn't apparent until now that he was addressing them specifically.

In the intro with Kavecca, it is important to note that they are the first person to call the weaver "the nanofather." We know from his time as Geltfrimpen that the nanofather has no proper name. Nanofather is more likely to be a title, or rather, a signifier of Kavecca's relationship to him, such as being his child or grandchild. This would put Kavecca on the same family tree as Clinton, Travis, and Gribby, if they really are his "micronephews."

6. Descent Into Weirdness [tonally different moments and their implications]

Everything The Nanofather says is weird, but these are the moments that absolutely baffle me, or upon which he is commenting on the story somehow.

The first time he seems to comment on the events of Steeplechase is in Episode 16, in response to a plot twist at the end of the previous episode (in which the Barrister arrived to kick Emerich's ass but they got him stuck in a machine). He says, "Oh, that’s not right… [rustling paper] …Oh, but this doesn’t make any sense, it was… The story wasn’t like this …. Or… I-Is it changing?" He then follows this in the next episode by... just... breathe-whistling menacingly? Note that this episode takes place when they are travelling between layers, on the start of their Ephemera quest.

Episode 18 starts with, "Oh… Oh, they haven’t… even begun to fathom it… But you…. You swore, we both swore? You know they’re not ready!" I wonder who the "you"/"we" is in this. Is it us as the audience, the players, or perhaps Kavecca? Eighteen is the beginning of the time they spend in Ephemera, and at the beginning of the episode Krystal has an encounter with someone in the Gallspire. This adds on to the commentary in 16 and implies that there is something bigger at play...

Episode 20 presents us with a poem of sorts:

Ever faster, ever closer, ever never slowing down… Ever nearer, ever clearer, ever nipping at the gown... Ever spinning, ever grinning, ever hearing what they please. Ever growing, ever knowing, that they are the disease…

There is no direct indication of what this is talking about, but I think it's about Dentonic. They never slow down, they don't know when to stop dreaming! They will warp whatever they must to fit their narrative and they don't care what the casualties are.

When the Weaver makes his entrance into the world of Steeplechase, at the end of 20 and speaking through Geltfrimpen, these occurences get more frequent:

"Oh, I… I’m mostly… mostly… with them now… [chuckles] ah… ah… smaller than I… assumed…" [21] "Mostly… echoes… yet to be… I’m sorry, I know that doesn’t… answer your question…" [23] "Yes… yes, I was surprised too, Shookles. What? Oh… Oh, they didn’t hear…"[25]

25 ends with Gravel being arrested for Sticky Finger Paul Pantry's murder. 26 opens with, "…yes, but I’d assumed it was… consigned to legend! I never would’ve expected- i guess… my understanding is not… what I’d thought it was. Terrifying, in a way, but also… quite wonderful." I can't even begin to parse what he's talking about.

Then of course, there is 27: "No, no, not to the boat... Only one... one node per layer... I tried to maintain hopping... but it’s too taxing... too many...noises..." What fucking boat? And he tries to hop between layers- maybe the nodes are in the things he is inhabiting. Geltfrimpen, the arcade box, hard doug, eustace... The arcade machine and Geltfrimpen aren't made of hardlight, and these are the methods through which he has actually been able to speak (he could only see through hardlight)... maybe these are the "nodes?" I wonder what the noises refer to.

When things start looking down for the crew as they try to piece together what the fuck is happening, The Nanofather opens episode 28 with, "I’m not sure yet… I’m hopeful… Ah, Shookles… optimistic…or perhaps… perhaps optimism is just the last refuge of those… with nothing left to lose..." The Nanofather is referring to himself in this line, and the fact that he considers himself to have "nothing left to lose" implies that he has a strong connection to the events in Steeplechase, particularly to the crew-- which makes sense given their previous interactions. But what is at stake for him is unclear.

In episode 30 he says, "The thought had crossed my mind… But it can’t be long now…" I must say this is particularly ominous because I have no idea what the "thought" is or what he is waiting for. His salvation?

Finally, we have episode 31. His last appearance.

"It feels… like something… has frayed…"

In this episode, Kenchal Denton speaks to the crew a lot about cutting loose ends. And then he drops them out of a hovercraft into a desert that seems to be entirely disconnected from the electrical grid Steeplechase is on. And we don't hear from The Nanofather again.

7. Ties to Clint McElroy. [the ways in which this comes back to him.]

[post-discussion following the moment in episode 10 when the nanofather asks, "do you hear me Travis?"] Travis: Is that guy my real dad? Justin: You wish Griffin: Legally, you have to tell Travis, if the muckdweller is his real dad Justin: Not the muck dweller. The nanofather. Please- Travis: Oh, it's right there in the name! I should have seen it a mile away it's so obvious now!

Now, this may be a stretch. And it started out to me as a joke, but guys. The further I get the further I am convinced. The Nanofather is connected to, if not is, Clint McElroy the Planeswalking Janitor.

Evidence A: He calls them "children" when he goes to tell them stories. Counterpoint: Clint can't be his own son. Counter-counterpoint: Clint's full name, according to Griffin on an episode of Wonderful, is Clinton Emil McElroy Jr. Meaning, he has a father named Clint.

Evidence B: When the Nanofather refers to Travis, Clinton, and Gribby, Justin later describes them as "these new characters," in the same way he insists that Clint McElroy his father and Clint McElroy the Planeswalking Janitor are separate things [Spiritbreakers Live in San Jose].

Evidence C: The Nanofather hops between layers, in a similar way to how Clint hops between planes. And the Nanofather seems to be fractured, scattered, not his whole self. He is powerful but weak. He is able to speak to players, characters, and potentially the audience? It transcends the boundaries between the two worlds...

Evidence D: Justin is a big fan of the TAZiverse. He has shown this multiple times but the ones I remember most are of course, when he introduces "Taako from Television" in Ephemera (and other Balance things, implies it was a legend passed down, etc), and when Griffin introduced that he would be playing Indrid in Dust 2. Like of fuckin course he'd be excited to bring things together more in small ways.

Evidence E: There has been increased Clint McElroy the Planeswalking Janitor activity, the most since before Ethersea. In April, Justin played the character Clint McElroy the Planeswalking Janitor in a liveshow in San Jose (I was there hi!!!), which had initially been planned for November but was rescheduled. Both of these, though, fall under the time in which Steeplechase was active, so he was thinking about this character during that time. Additionally, the merch of the month for August is a sticker of Planeswalking Janitor Clint McElroy. And he was mentioned in Steeplechase Episode 26, when there was debate over whether something was said by Emerich or his player.

Travis: I think that was Dad. Justin: Oh. Well, I mean... yeah, I guess dad could be in it too, Trav. Is that what you’re saying? Travis: No, I’m just saying, I think Dad was making the observation— Clint: Oh my God! Is this an appearance by Clint McElroy, the planes-walking janitor? Griffin: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Clint: Okay— Travis: No, no, not yet. Justin: No, we can’t, we can’t. Travis: Don’t force it, don’t force it.

Evidence F: I didn't expect to find this one. Honestly I think it shows that I have gone too far as a person. But... guys this one drives me crazy. So. We meet Shoockles in Episode 4, when The Nanofather introduces him as "Cat bart... he's my cat. Bart Shoockles." And guys I was like haha that's funny there is no way this is related... But then I was on Clint's Instagram trying to figure out if maybe he had a cat, since I know Justin has one. And I came across a photo he took of a white dog, which I wasn't sure was his until I got confirmation from an old post on one of the boys' Instagrams. But... in the caption of the post with his dog, he calls him Homer. Clint McElroy has a dog named Homer. Let me just, direct you to the Simpsons family tree:

Finally, Evidence G: Justin would go really far for a bit. He likes to have fun and get silly with his family and he knows Clint would get a huge laugh out of this. And he would also do anything to get a good age joke on his dad.

8. Conclusion [how it all comes together]

The moment you've been waiting for. What does it all mean?

The Nanofather seems to play no real importance to the main plot in Steeplechase at this point, but he has huge potential to. More importantly, looking at the Nanofather gives us some insight into the state of the park and where the player characters find themselves. He works as both a narrative framing device and as a part of the story. He talks to the players, the characters, and the audience, truly bringing a special flavor to Steeplechase.

With everything we've seen and heard, there is sufficient evidence to say that the Nanofather lives within the walls of the park, travelling using its energy grid. He has only been able to manifest to the characters through the electronics and hardlight creations. When they arrived in Kidadelphia in episode 32, it was apparent they were not connected to the same electrical grid, and there was no hardlight. The fact that he was completely silent in both 32 and 33 supports this theory, because there would be no way for him to communicate with them. Either that or they were too late and he died.

He has found himself in a wasteland, with weather and times that are controlled electronically. He is scattered, does not have a name-- a shell of who he once was. If the Carmine Denton Nanofather theory were correct, this would be a beautiful picture: the guy who created a way for others to escape is trapped in the destruction that his creation wrought... Regardless, I am concerned for his wellbeing since it seemed like he was in a hurry.

The interactions between the Nanofather and the heist crew imply that there could be a larger plot with him, but I don't know how close that is to happening. The Nanofather is one complicated guy, and if they want to save him I... guess they'll have to never know when to stop dreaming.

Thank you for coming along with me on this long and gruesome ride. I started this way back after episode 30 aired, I think. It's been simmering for a month, my own personal stew of sorts... For those of you who have helped contribute to my madness, thank you, and to those who have watched in horror, I'm sorry. It's been a real one.

And now, to send you off, I present to you this excerpt from Episode 10:

Justin: Our friend and employee Jupiter is kind enough to help pull together recaps of this dumb stuff, but Jupiter, showing a lot of wisdom here, does not track the story of the nanofather […] Travis: I think they realize it's been so clear cut at this point that any child could keep track of all the nanofather/muckdweller lore.

[insane-control-room]

Some things are meant to be remembered; for the right reasons.

i've posted this review on steam, but i think that i want to say it here, too.

Here is my review of the 'promotional' material (according to steam) Secrets of the Machine

What I liked: the art appeared to be a true return to form; the style had its original charm with updated lighting techniques and slightly better optimization than previous games in the Bendy series. The audio design was also nice, with good ambiance and nice composition.

And now, the jank.

The game handles reasonably well; but it is clearly slapdashed together and is missing important components. There is no starting menu. There are no loading screens; and it is very jarring. There are no options in the game menu - you cannot minimize the game, you cannot brighten the game, you cannot make the game run any better on your computer, and it is incredibly laggy. If you have a potato laptop? Nah, get out. No game for you. There are no subtitles that you can enable, and voices are very muffled. Additionally, the game is very dark, and as mentioned, you cannot adjust that in the settings of the game, nor in steam settings. You have to do so from your computer.

Controls are extremely janky, as you cannot run, you cannot jump, and there is no indication for interaction with any objects. There are no control settings for remapping, and you cannot even see which keys do what.

Puzzles are boring and confusing; with no guidance. There were no hints, no rhyme or reason. There was more puzzle in the BATIM chapter 1 demo release. This thing is very confusing, especially when you cannot see anything at all. You will spend a long time walking back and forth between two rooms, wondering how you can progress, because you've done everything you could: you smashed cutouts; you hit targets; you opened and closed hands; you found posters for future games, but nothing that could move forward the one you were playing at the time. If you look at the community page, you will see that most people simply spent their time clicking on the soup can dispenser to see how many cans they could get.

If you have epilepsy, nah get out. Oh? I didn't mention the flashing lights? Well the developers did not either. Not only did they not mention the flashing lights, not in the game nor in steam, but they included TWO car crashes without warning - one audio based, and another that was directed at players. This is not only rude, but it is dangerous. Warnings exist so that people can make educated choices whether or not to interact with content that may be sensitive to them. Warn people appropriately. This 'game' did not take any measure to protect its players. There are many instances of sudden loud noises, flashing lights, and jarring location switches (not to mention the car crashes).

The story was lacking, and has nothing to do with the puzzles that a player is faced with. It feels like three disjointed tracks, and none of them align, all of them crashing together in a discordant, unsatisfying, confusing mess. It brought in more new characters that had nothing to do with the original story nor interested players, and had content that went against previously established material. It was (as you can tell, from a writer's perspective) a bad story.

It was less of a demo, less of a playable trailer, more like a tech demo with a few morsels for fans to pick apart and wish there was more of, wish there was more effort put into, wish there was more love and care for them, the players who arguably were the foundation of this game. There were teasers for games that, honestly, lacked the soul that the very first game had, and here's a point to prove it: there was an easter egg that if you clicked something 414 times (very funny.) it would rise in the air and then fall down without further ado. In the game files, the name for that sound effect? Sting. Yeah. It did. Games are a collaborative work; between the creators and the players. Blatant disregard and flippancy towards half of the collaboration is not acceptable behavior. This is a development team that mocks those who once loved them most, those who poured over their coding and carefully crafted world to marvel at what they had made, and coaxed in others with the rich promise of a delightful story that anyone could engage with on any level. The spite the creators have shown for the individuals who, essentially, had given rise to their stature in the first place, is painful.

Finally, by the time that I got a chance to sit down and actually play the game- I personally could not. The developers, by constantly updating a clearly unfinished game, had made their final update - that of a wood board blocking the actual place where gameplay takes place. You cannot go to any of the places shown in the screenshots, because the game is locked on the opening area. I've seen many people complaining of it; hoping that they can play the game.

Now, in the fashion we've seen common of JDS, they have rescinded their terrible design choice - but without notifying players that it is now possible to play the game; without telling players that this was purposeful; without telling players anything aside from a big old screw you. It is entirely possible that the only reason they put the game back into a playable state was the torrent of negative reviews that spawned after their. interesting. choice. regardless, those who care about their playerbase would have informed those who complained that it was a temporary gesture for storytelling reasons. They, however, did not, and there are a multitude of reviews marking the game as unplayable.

No matter what, the bottom line is this: This is not okay.

I'm not sure how much more eloquently I can put the fact that I'm heartbroken. This game, unlike any other, shows how much scorn that a developer can have for their own fans and playerbase. I am glad that there are people who enjoyed it, but I wonder - what did you really like about it?

Is it the memories?

[tavyliasin]

Disability Pride Essays - Enver Gortash, Invisible Disability, and Visible Mobility Aids

Our focus this month has mostly been on our heroes (or perhaps, in some cases and paths, antiheroes, but companions nonetheless), but what about the villains? Gortash might not be the most sympathetic character, given all the morals he doesn’t have, but he’s important, popular, and altogether quite fascinating. This bonus round will take a look at a few of the more subtle details in his character, from the mobility aid to some things people have noticed in how he moves and interacts. There is a lot to be said about his traumatic backstory and how this impacted his life and decisions to where his moral compass does not point where most would prefer, but it would be a disservice to pretend that all disabled people - and indeed all disabled representation - are beyond criticism and are somehow icons of perfection. We are, I’m afraid to say, just as flawed as anyone else~ Which of course does not mean that we’re all out there making plans to dominate the world with a captured Elder Brain. That’s a little much…

What is Gortash’s Disability?

Gortash is far from the youngest of the adult characters, but he is also not of a typical age that one would expect to see mobility difficulties. And that is exactly what we have on the surface - though it is only seen in a couple of scenes, he has a rather ornate cane which is used for walking at times. There’s also an element of mental health with Gortash, and whilst we could do a deep dive into the causes I don’t feel that’s entirely necessary - the effect is in a few subtle details that some players might have missed.

How Do We See The Disability In The Game?

A lot of what we see is in Gortash’s outfit and inventory, though some have also pointed out that the way he walks and uses stairs looks very similar to how someone with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome might move (this condition is characterised by a weakening of connective tissues, leading to a higher chance of dislocation in joints and potentially differences in range of motion as tendons and ligaments are looser). This was fascinating to hear and I feel like I should absolutely go back and look at the scenes to see if I can spot those subtle shifts in motion and posture, though it is important to point out that quite simply you cannot always tell if someone is disabled or in pain just by observing them. There is the cane mentioned before, that is only in a couple of scenes but has made such an impact that it quite often makes an appearance in fan-created works, too. Another key item is his coat, which many refer to affectionately as “The Anxiety Jacket” - this might on the surface seem like a practical item to protect him from the influence of magical effects that cause conditions such as Fear, but many like to see it as a garment that also reduced anxiety and other similar symptoms. We can also see the gauntlets he wears as being a parallel to forearm and hand braces - though they’re not particularly accurate to actual support equipment, there are plenty of people who will wear specifically adapted braces in those areas. They might even have a couple of fingers uncovered as Gortash does, in order to better manipulate objects and prevent accidental scratches/injury from natural reactions like rubbing one’s eye when it’s sore/tired.

How Does This Reflect Real Life?

The cane is a very direct parallel, even in how it is not present in every scene with him. We only see it a couple of times, but it’s there enough for many of us to take note and to perhaps feel a little validation and representation from that. A lot of people who use an aid like a cane may not need it every single day, and use it only as and when required to maintain their strength but without struggling needlessly on bad days or risking making things worse. So whilst an argument could be made that “the cane he uses is only decorative” that doesn’t quite add up, as surely he would have it with him when holding the huge event to impress all the patriars - more on that later though. With the gloves, braces and even compression gloves are common accessibility aids that can support and protect joints and reduce pain. Granted, ornate golden metal is not usually the first choice, but like the cane we can see this as Enver making his mobility aids match his outfit/style. Plenty of us do seek out more stylish mobility aids, or otherwise decorate them with all sorts of things from stickers and paint to badges and keychains. It would be very interesting to see braces or supports styled like Gortash’s bracers and gauntlets. His coat could also be a parallel to how some people find a lot of comfort and anxiety relief from weighted blankets or even weighted garments that apply a level of pressure to the body in just the right way to feel soothing. This is particularly known for anxiety and neurodivergent people, though plenty of others have also found this to be helpful and calming.

Invisible Conditions and The Importance of Appearances

So in the community you might see people talk about Visible Disability and Invisible Illness (illness and disability are interchangeable here). What this refers to is whether a condition is something that people can instantly recognise, and usually won’t question. This might be a mobility aid like a wheelchair or crutches, or a white cane for visual impairments/blindness, or a service dog, or visible braces for joints. There are some borderline ones like walking canes which are a visible signal of disability but might not always be respected as such, particularly if the user looks younger and not the expected elderly person using a cane to walk. But many people who still need accessibility services and options - like disabled parking spaces or to use the lift instead of stairs - may not have any of these visible differences. It may be a heart and lung issue, or chronic pain that doesn’t require a mobility aid, a fluctuating severity condition, mental health and developmental/learning difficulties - numerous conditions can affect people in ways that are not immediately recognisable, so we call them invisible.  When you look at Gortash only having his cane for a couple of scenes and not in others, and how the gauntlets specifically serve another purpose of holding the netherstone, you can argue that his conditions are mostly invisible ones. Or that he is attempting to keep them that way, at least. He holds a position of high regard and clearly to some degree cares about appearances given how ornate his clothing is and how he presents himself as a powerful and charismatic leader of his people.

Were he to walk out in front of the crowds using a cane, it would more than likely turn a few heads, or even appear to be a weakness to those who might use it against him for their own gain. To someone with as large a target on your back as he has, even with all of the power of being Bane’s chosen, it’s unwise to give anyone an opening.  

Mobility Aids and The Anxiety Jacket

There are a lot of different mobility aids that people use in their daily lives, and some are even ones that are not needed every day. It isn’t unreasonable to suggest that actually Gortash’s use of the cane is like a part time mobility aid user - he doesn’t need it every day, but he does need it on a bad day when a symptom is flaring up or he has to do more than he usually would. The jacket might also, as well as acting in a similar way to a weighted blanket, be akin to how some people have favoured clothing items that give them comfort. Something like a jumper or jacket, a hoodie that is comfortable and feels safe to wear. Keeping things stylised, as mentioned earlier, is just another way that people incorporate their mobility and accessibility aids into their personal tastes. It’s similar to how people prefer to choose glasses that they feel look nice - it’s not just about the function of the item, technically any style of glasses will serve the purpose of correcting someone’s vision easily. They’re there all the time, so having them coordinate with your sense of style and taste is logical, and can make you feel more confident and positive about wearing them. It’s the same as anything really - you choose a coat not just for how it keeps the cold and/or rain out, but also for how it looks. Mobility aids aren’t always so interchangeable - it’s tough to afford or even store a whole range of wheelchairs or crutches - so choosing the right one and making it fit is important at the start. Enver’s cane is ornate, and in keeping with the themes of other things he wears all the time. As a game character, naturally he just has the one recognisable outfit, but it’s plausible to say that were he to have a more varied wardrobe it’s unlikely there would be anything that clashes with gold and black as a colour scheme. 

Function and fashion, essentially, don’t need to be entirely separate, even when we’re talking about disabilities. 

City Design and Accessible Buildings

Now, I might be remembering entirely incorrectly on this point, but from my memory and the screenshots I was looking at, it seems like Wyrm’s Rock Keep might actually have full step free access. There is a lift (elevator) that goes up to the upper floors for the coronation and to upper rooms, and I don’t recall seeing steps at either drawbridge entrance or in the doorways to the publicly accessible rooms either. It’s an odd point to bring up, and hardly seems relevant to the rest of the game, but I do want to invite you for a moment to think about the game map and your own local area. In the game, there are a huge amount of places only accessed by stairs, streets that are cobbled and bumpy, a complete lack of accessible routes. Of course it is a fantasy game where there is magical healing, but if you want to go into deep lore then there can still be disabilities in fantasy settings, and magical healing is very expensive. Adventurers end up with plenty of coin, but this is from selling things they find or steal, from rewards for completing tasks that carry a strong risk of death to each, from killing foes and raiding their pockets for loose change (I’m not judging you, it’s a game and they don’t exactly have a Will tucked into their back pocket telling you who to give their coin to). The average citizen, however? The amount needed to pay for high level healing spells or potions is more money than they would make in over 50 years, and that’s if they didn’t have daily living expenses to account for. So to pull that back into the real world, look at the world around you. Each business you enter, notice for a moment - does it have a stepped entrance? Anything more than an inch could prevent a disabled person from entering. Is the speech or conference you are watching being interpreted by someone using sign language? Are there braille marks on important buttons like door openings or bus stop bells? Have textured paths that white cane users need as guides for routes been blocked by anything? Is there enough space for a mobility aid user to safely navigate between aisles and displays in a shop? Sometimes it can seem like there is no need to add accessibility, because you’re not seeing disabled people around who need them. But to that I like to remind people of two key points - first, if a place isn’t accessible, we can’t even try to be there in the first place (or we don’t want to give our business to someone who has not thought of basic access needs), and secondly we are still a minority, so the percentage of us in the population whilst still significant is far lower than abled people.

What We Can Learn From Gortash’s Story

It feels strange to say “hey let’s learn about this unrepentant villain and how he can represent us” but the thing is we do need diverse representation. Just as we shouldn’t have villains be the only characters to portray disability (directly or indirectly), it would also be unfair to have disabled characters only permitted to be pure and virtuous. Disabled people, and disabled characters who represent them, are people. Whole entire people with wants and dreams, needs and desires, faults and flaws and mistakes and everything that makes us all human. We cannot - and should not - boil them down to only being their disability. Gortash can be representative of how people’s conditions may vary, how some days they may need a cane but others they might not. He might be an example of someone who hides their condition, or whose needs vary from day to day. It’s good to remember that in real life someone who is disabled might be able to do something one day, but not the next. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be entitled to help that they need to do that thing on the days they can’t, nor should you be assuming they always need the support if it isn’t being requested or used. He can also show us how mobility aids and supports do not need to only be functional. If someone can afford to have a gold inlaid ornately carved cane, why shouldn’t they? If someone wants to have braces or joint supports that are decorated and match their outfits, that should always be an option available to them. I would also like to invite you to take the time to look at the world around you and thing about how things may be accessible or inaccessible to someone with different needs to your own. As a wheelchair user myself, when I started using wheels to get around I was taken aback by just how needlessly difficult it can be. Businesses with steps, curbs not properly dropped to allow for road crossings, vehicles parked too far across pavements and footpaths, even accessible toilet facilities being used to store extra bins or other supplies because there’s more space in there - forgetting, of course, that wheelchair users need that extra floor space to be able to enter, turn, and navigate when inside. If you do notice that a business doesn’t have a step-free entrance, that there’s no lift or level crossing to change platforms at a train station, that a car park has no disabled spaces, please consider speaking up or notifying whoever is responsible for the area.

I’ll round this one off to remind us all that it’s ok to find parts of ourselves in a villain’s story, and even to feel a connection to a fictional villain. Love them, too, if you like - I know I often do~ You can find a whole breakdown of why I feel we like fictional villains - and how this does not make us bad people - right here.

[blackbirdffxiv]

A lengthy ass-post about poly-shipping no one asked for

So I'm gonna go ahead and choose passive aggressive violence, in the form of an informative, lengthy as fuck post I think some folks need to read.

I won't be adding the post here, as I don't wish to direct potential harassment to the original poster (no matter how heinous I found a majority of the list), but if you're on twitter/"X", I'm sure you've seen a lengthy notepad list of RP "hot takes".

While I agreed with some of the points made, I feel it necessary to clarify some things, particularly about the points regarding polyamorous shipping.

If you don't want to read the blurb between here and the actual point list, just scroll down until you see green font.

Most know that I myself play a polyamorous character; I ship my character with other characters belonging to different players. I've been poly-ship for YEARS, so I feel I have some experience and can say some things about it.

Some points made in the "hot takes" list alluded to people using polyamorous shipping/multi-shipping as an excuse to just ERP and mess around with multiple people without consequence.

Sadly, yes, this does happen. It's unfortunate that selfish people only looking for specific things use it as an excuse for their behavior, but the only thing people can do is be aware of what to look out for when it comes to polyamorous shipping.

So rather than allow a negative light be painted on a valid means of shipping and roleplaying your characters in relationships, I think a quick lesson is needed.

Disclaimer: these are just my personal opinion on how I feel polyships should be handled, and some red flags I have seen during my time being a polyamorous OC player. By no means is this a rulebook, more like a guide so new and veteran roleplayers alike can be aware.

What a responsible poly-shipper will do:

Introduce you to their other partners - Communication is key in any relationship, this is not just for monogomous ships, but even moreso for polyamorous. A poly OC player will be open to introducing you to their other partners; while no one expects you to be best friends, it's good to be aware of just who else you'll possibly be regularly seeing around.

Share time and effort among your partners equally - A polycule relationship should be even across the board; one partner should not be treated better than the other. Treating one or more partners better than the other(s) is just a recipe for people getting hurt, both IC and OOC.

Be open and up front at the very beginning of IC interactions - A poly OC player will be up front and honest about the nature of their character if they have an interest in possibly shipping with you, or in case the possibility of it happening is there.

Encourage communication and prioritize problem-solving - This isn't just for poly ships, but ships in general. A good writing partner will encourage and WANT you to tell them about how you feel with the ship, especially if it's a problem with an easy solution.

Always make it known if they wish to bring another partner into the polycule & pose an introduction OOC - This is the most important part of being in a poly ship, making sure EVERYONE knows if there is someone new who will be joining the ship, and making introductions before a ship is made.

What a responsible poly ship player wouldn't/shouldn't do:

Hide the status of their ships - If your partner is hiding who they are shipping with from you, in my experience, this just means a person is going behind their partner's back (and is possibly cheating on them).

Brush off any possible issues you may be having with one of the partners in the ship - A responsible partner would aim to mediate the situation, and listen to all sides.

Discourage their poly partners from seeking other partners - Not every poly OC is monogomous with their poly partner, sometimes one poly OC will be shipped with another poly OC. Your partner would not expect you to drop your other ships to be with them while they continue their own, they should respect your decision to ship with your other partners.

Keep attempts to ship with other characters a secret - A responsible poly partner will make it known when they are attempting to or want to ship their OC with another as soon as intentions and wants are known. Not after a ship is already established.

Discourage those in the polycule ship from associating with each other - A partner in a healthy polycule would never discourage their partners from associating with each other; intentional separation more than likely is a means of hiding something, such as blatant favoritism, or even to keep ships a secret (in my experience).

Anyways I'll get off my soap box. I apologize for the lengthy post, but some things I've been seeing regarding this hot takes list were so blatantly heinous, I just felt like something should be said.

Have a good evening y'all; hug your pets, tell your friends you love them, and don't let jaded people online project their problems onto you.

Stay golden

[aziraphales-library]

Hello beautiful human !

Can I find in, your glorious library, stories where Crowley has good friends who care for him deeply? Aside from Aziraphale, ofc.

Thank you so much in advance ❤️

Hi! I would recommend our #apocalypse buddies, #crowley & muriel, and #friendship tags for fics to enjoy. Here are more fics in which Crowley has good friends...

Angel, Please by GhostOfCallisto (M)

Crowley and Aziraphale are both regular old humans who met under human circumstances. Crowley is a part of a struggling band called Hellish Rebuke with the demon crew, Aziraphale is a former drag queen named Angel Fell attempting to be a professional dancer. Maggie and Nina are best friends with Crowley and big fans of his band.

I'm Gonna Set Things Right Again by iocallistoeuropa (G)

Aziraphale has gone off to Heaven, Crowley is driving around the country aimlessly, Muriel has learned how to have a "cupperty", and Give Me Coffee... or Give Me Death has now been expanded and renamed Give Me Coffee, Give Me Records... or Give Me Death. Some things have changed for the better, but others have turned into quite a mess. Is there any way to set things right again?

Who Am I Without You? by Lainey_Marie (T)

After Aziraphale left for Heaven, all Crowley wanted to do was lose control of himself and spiral until he couldn't feel anything anymore but there is an angel needing his help to adjust to life on Earth and a pesky coffee shop owner who just won't let him drown in his immense sorrow. With the help of his new friends, Crowley attempts to figure out who he is when he isn't living for Aziraphale or to do Hell's bidding. But what happens when that very same angel returns in desperate need of a hand to save the world once more?

You're Just a Little Under Rehearsed by MickyRC (T)

Drama teacher Crowley loves directing the Tadfield Community Players' shows—interacting with the rest of the staff at the community center, not so much. So when he meets the new accompanist for this year's musical, he's shocked to find that he might actually like him. Possibly more than like, if he's being honest. Aziraphale is fresh from leaving a long career as a church pianist, and hoping that a new job will get him out of the lonely rut he's found himself in. The attention and kindness of the flashy community theater director are unexpected, but not unwelcome. Far from it. But with a community theater to run, a show to put on, and a disgruntled R.P. Tyler looking for any excuse to get rid of Crowley and his theater program, will they be able to make a relationship work? And, more importantly, can they make sure the show still goes on?

The Prize by Caedmon (E)

Need a car? Date my brother. My brother is a real angel but needs a helping hand in the social/romance department, so I’m trying to help him find a good guy. Ages 35-50, employed, good looking, emotionally stable. After an entrance interview, if you successfully date my brother for a set amount of time and pull him out of his shell, I will give you my garage kept 1933 Bentley. Serious inquiries only. Contact gabriel@messenger.com

love like yours (will surely come my way) by CCs_World (T)

Dr Zira Fell is a new professor of theology at St Beryl's University. His first day there he meets the mysterious and enchanting Dr AJ Crowley, an art history professor and a painter. They almost immediately become friends, and spend most of their time getting lunch together, talking, drinking wine, making art, and falling slowly in love with one another. Featuring cameos of everyone's favorite (and least favorite) characters, gratuitous descriptions of paintings, long text messaging conversations, and one cranky cat.

- Mod D