ideas-on-paper

[ideas-on-paper]

How to tell you've found a masterpiece: When you get into a new piece of media, you keep wistfully thinking back to it, like "ah... that was nice" and continuously compare it to whatever you're consuming right now, until you realize that nothing - NOTHING - will ever be able to compare to it.

[ideas-on-paper]

This is honestly something I never thought about before, but I really like your thoughts!

I agree that Tali would distance herself from the pro-war faction after ME2; it may have also been the point when she and Gerrel slowly but surely started to become estranged. (Also, as you said, returning to her birth ship is pretty much out of the picture, considering the Quarians' exogamy rules - a common feature of real-life clan societies, btw.)

I'm actually not sure if the admirals may also hold the position of captain at the same time, but it's something I've been pondering about (that didn't come to my mind until recently, actually). If Gerrel was indeed Tali's captain though, that would color her conversations with him during her trial in a somewhat different light. (As she wouldn't only be talking to an old friend of her father, but also her (former) superior.)

Which ship did Tali go back to between ME2 and ME3?

So this thought entered my head this morning, and I found myself wondering where Tali went after Shepard turned themselves over to the alliance post-ME2? Notably, if Shepard is not on the Normandy, nor is Tali (she returns to the fleet each time, regardless of exile or not (I make sure she's never exiled).)

It can be easily surmised which ship she went to post-pilgrimage, after Shepard's first death: the Neema, helmed by her father's best friend, Han'Gerrel. I'd assume the geth data was the thing presented as a gift, especially as at the time, Tali was as much anti-geth as her father and Gerrel were, at least. Her new name when we see her again in ME2, also confirms the new ship name: she's now Tali'Zorah vas Neema, when previously she was Tali'Zorah nar Rayya.

But which ship (assuming she isn't exiled) did she go back to (while keeping the vas Normandy name, because she's loyal to Shepard like that, and it's a badge of honour and pride, as well as a "fuck you" to the admiralty board for the non-consensual change of her name in ME2)?

Perhaps my judgement is coloured by the changes to characters (for better or for worse) in the admiralty board in ME3, as I can't see her going back to the Neema, especially after meeting (and keeping in touch with) Legion - obviously, this is assuming a playthrough where Legion is around and survives ME2.

(Though, on the other hand, it's also coloured by coming across... fanfics where, let's just say,it wasn't a great day to be literate and thus able to read summaries. Anyway, moving on.)

So, post-ME2, I can see her viewing the Neema and the war fleet it is a part of, in a different light - I can imagine the war fleet as being the most anti-geth; heck, even Shala'Raan's portal fleet doesn't strike me as heavily anti-geth--perhaps a bit more neutral, seeing as they're more like the shield of the flotilla. It helps as well in ME3 that even Admiral Raan - despite her initial "What the hell is this?!!" if she hadn't met Legion (bless Aghdashloo for her epic acting) - can recognize that it is a fully living, sentient being.

Maybe she'd go back to the Rayya, but I think, while you can go back to visit, you can't go back to stay, if I have interpreted what Tali explains to you in ME1 about the pilgrimage correctly. In addition, it might be a bit much going back, considering the recency of what happened on the Alarei, especially with her father's death and the uncovering of what he was really doing there. While Captain Kar'Danna seems decent enough, I doubt she'd go back there to stay for good, even if she could.

My second thought was the Tonbay, but I think the only support that had in my considerations was the fact that Admiral Raan ("Auntie Raan") was the head of the portal fleet, and I think Tali is more of a go all in on the offensive type, rather than stay on the defensive/shielding.

What about the Qwib-Qwib, then? After meeting Legion, and knowing of Koris' pushing for peace with the geth, I can see Tali maybe giving Koris another chance, despite him being kind of a dick to her during the trial. (I like to think his conscience relating to the trial caught up with him, particularly post-ME3. I LOVE how he also backs up Shep on Rannoch, on adding that they also speak on his authority. That's some good character development there.)

In addition, Koris is the admiral of the civilian fleet, and thus, would have even more reason to be anti-war, especially with the added reaper threat as well. I think Tali would, even if she had disagreed with him at first, start agreeing with him (heck, they were the only two to vote against the war with the geth!)

Or, perhaps, none of those ships at all, though perhaps one in the civilian fleet, rather than in the other factions. I can see her moving away from the war fleet (and she probably eventually would have anyway, in other less extranueating circumstances), and joining up with a ship in the civilian fleet. Hey, maybe on Rannoch, she and Koris even manage to be joint-admiralties of the civilian fleet (or rather, civilians in general, as there wouldn't be a "fleet" as such anymore), and I like that idea, personally.

Any other thoughts? @ideas-on-paper

[ideas-on-paper]

And thus, Homeworld 1 comes to a close!

It was a long, perilous journey, but with endurance and determination, we made it through. (And with the various ships stolen from our enemies - those also helped. xD)

More than 25 years after its release, the original Homeworld is still absolutely gorgeous - sure, it may not play as smoothly as more modern RTS games and some parts can be a bit tedious, but this old gem still has lost none of its charm.

[ideas-on-paper]

[Homeworld 1 Mission 16 spoiler]

Just WHY does it have to be so hard to keep Captain Elson alive in the final mission? (Oh, suicidal NPCs in strategy games, how I loathe you…)

Still, I didn't have it in me to just let him die - that guy risked so much when he decided to defect and help the Kushan, and I wanted him to be there to see his efforts come to fruition.

After my umpteenth attempt, the futile tries to heal him with my Support Frigates (just WHY do you refuse healing allied units?!? 😑), and the realization that the lone Ion Array Frigate in my group of Ion Cannon Frigates was slowing me down and keeping me from catching up with him (on the bench you go 🙄), I FINALLY found a way for Elson to survive.

I mean, it may not have been strictly necessary, but at least I can have my peace of mind now. 😌

[ideas-on-paper]

[Homeworld 1 Mission 16 spoiler]

Y'know, I always think it's cool if a game manages to integrate storytelling with gameplay.

So, the fact that Karan's announcements are suddenly gone when she's knocked out cold is a really nice touch - also, the fact that I didn't even notice that they shot down one of my Resource Collectors is proof that you can lose track of the action pretty quickly without Karan's alerts. ^^'

[ideas-on-paper]

When she says "maximum number of ships in the fleet", you know you're the naughtiest ship thief in the galaxy… ^^'

[ideas-on-paper]

"So, how many Ion Cannon Frigates do you want?"

"YES."

[ideas-on-paper]

[Homeworld 1 Mission 14]

Some people say the Bridge of Sighs in Homeworld 1 is named after the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, the last point from where convicts about to be imprisoned could see the outside world. (In reference to this potentially being the last point from where the exiled Hiigarans could see their homeworld.)

Little did they know it's named after the exasperated sighs of the players who have to put up with all the turtling.

[ideas-on-paper]

Homeworld 1 pilot shenanigans, 3rd edition XD

Song: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by Dead or Alive

[ideas-on-paper]

[Homeworld 1 Mission 13 spoiler]

The Karos Graveyard experience:

"It's probably best if I take out these autoturrets with my fighters."

"Wow, these things are tearing through my fighters like wet paper…"

"Can I use Cloaked Fighters for this?… Yes, I can! …Wait, no, I can't." :/

"Okay, whatever, I'll just go in there with my capital ships."

"WHAT. DID THIS LITTLE BITCH JUST STEAL ONE OF MY MULTI-BEAM FRIGATES?!?"

"WHY DOES THIS THING HAVE SO MUCH HEALTH?!?!?"

"Okay, actually got pretty lucky the little bastard glitched out so I could shoot it to kingdom come."

*sobbing* "SO. MANY. TURRETS."

"Can I just sneak up there with a Cloaked Fighter? …No."

"Y'know what, fuck this, I'm gonna look up a guide."

*after reading that you should sneak up on the relay with a larger squad of fighters and use a grav generator on the thief* "Well, that was quick…" :P

[ideas-on-paper]

Lies of P: Overture + personal update

It's decided: After doing a poll and asking around among other Lies of P fans on Mastodon and Tumblr, I decided to do another NG+ run before starting off with my (German) Live Let's Play of the DLC. My reasons for that are as follows:

The thing I was most concerned about was the difficulty, and that the DLC might be too easy in NG+ - however, as @puppetofdreams and two other people on Mastodon told me (big thanks to you! <3), it's more like the opposite. And since I'm known for not shying away from a challenge, I decided to take on the higher difficulty in NG+2. ;-)

In addition, NG+ also gives me the opportunity to complete some things I didn't accomplish in my first playthrough. For example, during my Let's Play, I accidentally messed up the thing about Eugénie and the cryptic vessel, and thus missed the "true ending" of her story. Due to the end of Eugénie's questline and the access to the DLC being available nearly at the same time, I have the opportunity to still show this off on stream. Also, I didn't manage to get the Golden Lie either in my first or my second playthrough (and neither would I have in a third Free of the Puppet String playthrough) - as such, I can also complete my collection of special weapons that way.

If I had started off with a completely new savegame, I probably would've had to deal with the exact same problem as in my first run: that being that in the endgame, I was constantly skirting the limit of my capacity with the equipment I was wearing. Because of that, I probably would've been very reluctant to try out new weapons, since I'd have no secondary weapons as a "backup". However, since I really want to check out the new weapons and Legion arms from the DLC if I already have them, I decided for a NG+ run for that reason alone.

Lastly, I'll probably progress through the game faster in NG+, since I have my full arsenal of weapons at my disposal - hence, I'd be ready to go into the DLC sooner.

Still, since I want to ensure that I'm meeting my viewers roughly eye-to-eye, I'm going to use the same playstyle (with Technique weapons) as I did in my first playthrough, and I will also make the same story decisions as the first time around (with few exceptions). And of course, I'm going to bring back my No Specter Challenge for the DLC! ;-)

To be able to entirely focus on my NG+ and avoid story spoilers for the DLC, I will retire from social media for the most part for now. I will still post the rest of my Homeworld 1 posts (I finished that game by now, but haven't shared the posts I have prepared yet because I focused on LoP) and log in from time to time to check my messages, but that's about it.

I know all of this probably isn't that relevant to my English-speaking readers, but I still want you to know where I'm off to. I want to thank everyone here on Tumblr who has been reading, liking, commenting, and reblogging my Lies of P posts so far. To all my LoP followers and mutuals, you rock - much love to all of you! <3

[ideas-on-paper]

I don't think I've ever seen any historians pick up on the idea that Robespierre might've had autism (correct me if I'm wrong, though), but I've seen a few other autistic Frev enthusiasts commenting Robespierre's behavior with "yep, that's definitely on the spectrum". xD

And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me, especially the vastly different perceptions of his character that you mentioned.

Therefore, I'm really glad you're introducing this idea to a wider audience with your comic! :-)

Incorruptible Chap 4 pt 3

Robespierre is spiralling 💔

I made a little ramble below about meltdowns/autism/etc feel free to read or not read~

So how to put this- I'm using a combination of observations from different events of how Robespierre reacted in stressful situations to inform this scene... But I want to approach with a sensitivity that Robespierre wasn't given by most friends n collegues.

Imo, since I'm writing this story deliberately through a 'what if autism' angle, my opinion is currently 'he sometimes got overwhelmed and spiralled into meltdowns' What is it Pétion calls it? Something like 'getting carried away by his darkest imaginations' I dont have the source right to hand lol

Ppl reacted strongly to this behaviour, often percieving him to be a 'coward', getting weirded out by it, in the case of people like Roland or Petion, using it against him in later arguments as to why his opinions and leadership shouldnt be respected.

For me, having been in situations of being misjudged over meltdowns (that are difficult to control, and in a strange way quite 'seperate' to my overall character), what I see when I read these accounts from others is the opposite of a coward. I see someone who persists through these moments -that on at least one occasion are affecting him so much he is physcally shaking- he persists anyway, and is very brave to keep going (and maybe much too headstrong) in spite of his moments of spiralling, and struggling to deal with situations other people are generally tackling calmly.

Anyway I plan to explore this as we move through the story. But first I want to address how others are percieving these moments of panic, and I hope its perceived that *my stance* is neutral and empathic. Sorry for the long ramble. Meltdowns are a strange, sensitive topic anyway, and its maybe extra sensitive to apply this concept to someone who was real, who we can't ever know everything about for sure. I always hope you enjoy my interpretation!

[ideas-on-paper]

Incorruptible Chap 4 pt 4

Perhaps a little hint of future conflicts to come- Brissot's unabashed confidence doesn't mix well with Robespierre's unfiltered anxiety.

[ideas-on-paper]

Just some personal experiences about autism, meltdowns n stuff

Tbh, I'd say Pétion's description of "getting carried away by your darkest imaginations" isn't entirely inaccurate - when I'm stressed out and get overwhelmed by negative feelings like fear or anger, it's very much like that to me, and I have a cascade of negative thoughts crashing down on me.

I don't know if other autistic people feel the same way or if this even qualifies as a meltdown in the classic sense, but one thing that was really eye-opening to me was the statement that it's a widely held misconception that "autistic people don't have emotions" - in fact, they often feel emotions more intensely than neurotypical people, but express them in a different way. (Again, I've no idea to what extent this represents other people with autism and I don't even remember the source of that statement, but to me, it was extremely helpful in understanding myself better.)

If you want my humble opinion on what a coward is, I don't think a coward is a person who shows fear - all of us get scared at some point in our lives. To me, a coward is a person who sees a chance, but decides not to take it out of fear that something might go wrong - and from what I've seen, Robespierre was not that.

Also, I just wanna say: I don't think it's wrong to hold the opinion that a historic person was autistic if the signs are there - autism wasn't invented the day the term to describe it was, just as there were queer people before the term "queer" was a thing.

Incorruptible Chap 4 pt 3

Robespierre is spiralling 💔

I made a little ramble below about meltdowns/autism/etc feel free to read or not read~

So how to put this- I'm using a combination of observations from different events of how Robespierre reacted in stressful situations to inform this scene... But I want to approach with a sensitivity that Robespierre wasn't given by most friends n collegues.

Imo, since I'm writing this story deliberately through a 'what if autism' angle, my opinion is currently 'he sometimes got overwhelmed and spiralled into meltdowns' What is it Pétion calls it? Something like 'getting carried away by his darkest imaginations' I dont have the source right to hand lol

Ppl reacted strongly to this behaviour, often percieving him to be a 'coward', getting weirded out by it, in the case of people like Roland or Petion, using it against him in later arguments as to why his opinions and leadership shouldnt be respected.

For me, having been in situations of being misjudged over meltdowns (that are difficult to control, and in a strange way quite 'seperate' to my overall character), what I see when I read these accounts from others is the opposite of a coward. I see someone who persists through these moments -that on at least one occasion are affecting him so much he is physcally shaking- he persists anyway, and is very brave to keep going (and maybe much too headstrong) in spite of his moments of spiralling, and struggling to deal with situations other people are generally tackling calmly.

Anyway I plan to explore this as we move through the story. But first I want to address how others are percieving these moments of panic, and I hope its perceived that *my stance* is neutral and empathic. Sorry for the long ramble. Meltdowns are a strange, sensitive topic anyway, and its maybe extra sensitive to apply this concept to someone who was real, who we can't ever know everything about for sure. I always hope you enjoy my interpretation!

[ideas-on-paper]

You wish you were this fabulous.

Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus)

East Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and western China

Status: protected in India, Nepal

National bird of Nepal, symbolizing peace and harmony

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🏳️‍🌈Happy Pride Month :D🏳️‍🌈

[ideas-on-paper]

To all Lies of P fans playing Overture right now: Would you say the DLC is more enjoyable in NG+ or a base run?

Because it looks like I'll start a new run before playing the DLC. (I could access it in my current save game, but I don't want to because it's the "bad ending" run.)

The main thing I'm concerned about is the scaling; I've been pretty much steamrolling everything in my first NG+, and I don't accidentally want to take away from the challenge of the DLC bosses.

No spoilers though, please!

[ideas-on-paper]

OH. MY. GOD.

LIES OF P OVERTURE OUT NOW.

You were right, @bloodbrown and @venigni!