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It's kind of incredible just how much the Country House Murder Mystery genre is, at its roots, a reaction to WWI and the social change that sprang from it.

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Art based on the comment of my drawing with Fulgrim and Sanguinius, moshu9 , thanks for the idea! ))

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initial thoughts for dune awakening, about 8 hours in - i've just got to the vermillion gap and beelined it for anvil.

zantara's introduction is surprisingly hot. learning that he's a terrorist who used nukes on something, that pissed the emperor off so badly he put a billion solari bounty on his head, somehow made him even hotter. my tastes are once again very questionable

(i also spent embarrassingly long wondering if luke allen gale was voicing him, but apparently not. huh.)

the story - i was optimistic going in, but i've been pleasantly surprised? conan exiles didn't really seem to have a story when i tried it out and got about 5 hours in, so i wasn't really sure what we'd get. the writers here are clearly fans of dune, and hearing bijaz get name-dropped in the first dungeon was unexpected. i also keep accidentally running into cutscenes, which is nice. i am so curious about what chani and areste are doing in the background of all of zantara's shenanigans, given his little opening spiel about them. (which is to say, i'm hoping for desert lesbians.) obviously, i'm pretty early in so i can't make any definitive judgements, but the npcs all feel nicely fleshed out and the contracts system is a great way to do that even beyond what our character sees. there's some really nice worldbuilding where the first atreides and harkonnen officers you come across are arguing with each other (and the atreides is voiced by garrus' va!) and the other characters' reactions to that.

that said, it does keep cracking me up that whenever zantara says he'll meet up with the protagonist, he ends up ghosting them because he's just so popular. just follow the exploding prison ships, protag, you'll find him soon enough!

the gameplay is nowhere near as frustrating as i expected. it becomes a little bit of a slog right before you start crafting your own vehicle, and resources are generally pretty ample so crafting hasn't really been an issue besides occasionally picking up an extra 10-15 resources. the combat is pretty straightforward, even if i struggle with parrying (which is almost certainly due to my laptop just being under spec for this game). there's a research tree that hasn't been an issue so far, though it took me embarrassingly long to realise that intel points are used on that. i really like the sandworm/sand crossing mechanics, especially now i've discovered drum- and quicksand, and it genuinely feels like an explosion when some of them emerge out of the sand.

the audio design generally?? top notch. it's rare for me to notice that in a game, but i don't know how to describe it. it just fits arrakis so perfectly.

the general design of arrakis is just so pretty too. and night-time arrakis is just outstanding. i haven't been to arrakeen or harko village yet despite having the opportunity to at the first trade post i visited, but i'm probably going to once i've set up my second base, since i'm very intrigued about the glimpses i've got of the atreides/harkonnen architectural styles. it's definitely inspired by the recent villeneuve films, but it doesn't feel obligated to copy it and i do adore that.

absolute top highlight - realising there's four in-game radio stations. one plays imperial music, another is a harvester radio station, and the last two are atreides and harkonnen propaganda channels! it's so delightful, especially getting to see the legendary atreides propagandists in action. there's a creepy spice-harvesting kid on the atreides one who talks about how her and her little brother act as scouts and, because they're so cute, people get taken off guard so the kids can kill them easily! absolutely horrifying, i love her. and there's a military captain who's all The Atreides Are Honourable And Heroic Unlike Those Evil Harkonnen, but also makes asides about how it's a war and the atreides must focus on the big picture... in the context of atreides' atrocities. i love that the devs didn't buy into the atreides' own propaganda and actually hinted at some of this stuff being not really as true as you might think, especially from villeneuve's depiction of them and especially duke leto.

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Girl’s night out. <3

I’m here to ruin Warhammer for everyone in the name of the Emperor.

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Hot take: Perturabo should, in fact, Come Back in 40k. He just doesn't do anything. Instead, he chills out and plays with his minis. Like every so often there's this big build up to a Chaos character getting to meet Perturabo The Daemon Primarch, and then instead of a major plot beat he tells them to either play a round or fuck off. Yes, I know this already happened with Honsou, I am saying that it should happen more often. I think it would be great if in the middle of all the sturm und drang of 40k, with everything getting ratcheted up a notch, there's just this one very important and powerful dude who has zero interest in getting involved. He just chills and plays with his minis. He's out of the Long War. He's free.

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I understand the intent of the writing, but I'm choosing to interpret this as Mortarion perceiving like three dozen potential genders specific to Barbaran culture

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The Wait Is Over!

We’ve been (not-so-patiently) waiting to share the news: Bear Cam is officially live for the summer!

Don’t miss a moment! Bookmark our event calendar for upcoming bear-related live events, and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky for top bear highlights, fun contests, and exclusive behind-the-scenes peeks.

the explore.org Bear Cam < click

We can’t wait to spend another unforgettable bear season with you!

Never Stop Learning,

explore.org

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this truly is the stupidest game in the universe. quest titles in ffxiv consist entirely of jokes the borderlands writing team rejected for being too dumb. heart eyes

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One of the things that makes the family conflict in Lilo & Stitch work narratively is that Cobra is correct in that Lilo and Nani's current situation is non-sustainable. And yes, Nani is not prepared to handle everything by herself. But losing the custody is not the solution either, and to a degree Cobra seems to believe the same (he legit does not want that to happen), but if Nani can't solve the problem, then from his perspective it's the least harmful solution.

And the conflict is solved because what Lilo and Nani need (what they REALLY needed) is a support net. Someone, anyone to be there to take at least SOME of the burden from Nani and give her breathing room.

Which is why Jumba and Peakley joining the family alongside Stitch, and become a constant pressence who share the burden of the household, makes all the difference.

And this does not solve all the problems, because the movie is not about magically resolving those problems, it's about putting the characters in a situation in which they can move forward as a family. And for their desire to be a family and be together as a family, to be respected.

Anyway, someone told me what the remake did for the ending

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I’m so glad I came across hunter the parenting when I returned to WoD recently. I don’t know how else to describe it other than ‘sincere’. I can tell people creating it are full of love for the source material while also having a healthy and clear vision of its problems and stuff that didn’t age well and striking that balance is imo so important for creators.

It has so much of what I adore about WoD. And it also feels so accessible to people who don’t know about it. It helped me get both my husband and best friend into that universe. (It’s fucking ogre for them. They are invested. And my crimes will continue.)

And frankly, it was a huge push for me and my friends to start working on our own vtm game. It IS a scary endeavour and I am mortified at the thought of disappointing the incredible creatives that got involved with us to work on it, but I’m also incredibly excited to contribute something to the world I have loved since I was a little shit kid of a goth.

Also, on a far more personal level, big D means so much to me as a middle eastern guy. Like, seeing a middle eastern man be portrayed with so much love and life, makes me so happy. I’m so unused to seeing us depicted this way in any media, really.

It’s been such a positive thing to watch and rewatch and to share, and I’m just so grateful it exists.

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i will never get over the fact that South tells Meta that she's shot Washington and left a timed charge on his body, so if he wants the equipment, then he better get it fast, and somehow Washington makes it back to command decidedly not exploded and with York's healing unit--despite the fact that Meta has indiscriminately stolen every other piece of freelancer equipment he's come across. i will never get over Meta using Wyoming's time distortion unit to slow down time, level a pistol point-blank at Washington, full body flinch and not take the shot. i will never get over Meta and Washington's banter while they searched for Epsilon, the fact that Washington can understand him even without a voice, even now, when he's this (he never needed Sigma, he never needed Sigma). i will never get over the fact that the last of Maine didn't die when he tossed Carolina off a cliff, or when he started hunting down the other freelancers, or when he had all the AI erased from his head and got left in an empty husk of armor with useless equipment. the last of Maine died when he took Epsilon. the last of Maine died when he betrayed Washington. the last of Maine died and the last thing Washington ever said to him was, "I always knew you'd do this." because he actually didn't know. Meta would have betrayed anyone, everyone, but not Maine. not Washington. but Washington will never know how hard Maine had to fight to be Maine, to leave him alive. he'll forever think Maine died killing Carolina, and the only thing left was the Meta and inevitable betrayal. he'll never know. the last of Maine died when he betrayed Washington.

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The way Elidibus said "it is no easy thing to see through the eyes of a beast such as him" and the way Valens had Diamond Weapon shut down immediately after it asked "where is my prey?" when they tested Zenos' combat data, I just really love how our other antagonists fall somewhere on the scale of terrified of or deeply unsettled by him

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The canon Ace Attorney Timeline

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"He would NOT fucking say that" does not apply to yoda, who could plausibly say anything

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Invite the photographer to meet his puppies....

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Wolf and Plague together! Barrel/tankard adventure time!

What happens when the Mjod comes out is none of anybody's business but those involved! :D

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i should known as soon as i saw the copper contract... we are haunted by the spirit of ea-nasir...