#I LOVE SPEARS SO MUCH delving into their character is so fun to me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

plague-of-insomnia · 3 years

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Lol I *hate* that post. Also like, most people don't read classic lit, and classic lit in general can be critized as being made up of primarily cis, white, straight men. Women and queer authors often have their works shuffled into YA. And fanfic?? Primarily made of of women and queer folk (and queer women). Which... is often what the reasoning is why it's targeted.

Also, children's lit and YA lit are some of the best works I've read. They deal with harsh topics. One of my favorite books from when I was a kid is Gossamer by Lois Lowry. My class read it in fifth grade (so like, 10 year olds) and it dealt heavily with abuse and coping with and recovery from trauma. The book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson also deals with very dark themes, and it's YA. (Also both very good books and I highly recommend each. Look up the trigger lists for them. When I say they deal with dark subjects, I mean it.)

Fanfic and YA are such broad categories, and to dismiss them shows a clear lack of true understanding of literature. Typically, when people say they dislike them, it boils down to bias against queer people, women, and romance as a genre (which was spear headed by, you guessed it, queers and women).

Also, there's nothing wrong with liking tropes. I like tropes. Everyone likes specific tropes. We've all just been copying off of one another since the beginning of art creation, and we will continue to do so. Just let people enjoy things ffs. Reading is for fun and creating fanfic is for fun. Just because I read or write something doesn't mean I want to base a master's thesis around it

[In reference to this post: TL;DR - people who only read fan fic/YA aren’t capable of understanding/analyzing complex themes bc they’re obsessed with tropes]

Oof! @gabedemon, this is all a really good point/addition to why that OP’s point was 😬.

Now I’ll confess I do not personally like YA as a general rule, largely for two reasons: 1) I don’t like reading about teens and 2) for a while EVERYONE and their grandparents were writing YA to try and hitch onto the bandwagon of popular novels turned films like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, et al, and so a lot of people were writing stuff just to try and ride a trend rather than bc that’s what they should have been writing/what their story actually wanted.

However, you are 100% right that there are some amazing novels that fall into that broad category and are worth reading whether you’re 15 or 95 (or somewhere in between).

One of the best novels I read before my headache began (and I stopped reading novels 😞) dealt with some really heavy issues (it was focused on suicide) — and it managed to delve into complex mental illness (like BPD, borderline personality disorder) and suicidality in a really realistic and complex way while not glorifying it in anyway. I highly recommend it, if the topic isn’t too tough for you (general you) to deal with, Suicide Watch:

I definitely think you see queer authors and their stories forced into niche publishers or fan fic (I don’t know if I would say only YA here as I’ve read a ton of non-YA queer published fiction).

I think you have some people who are just “snobs” who think only “serious” “literary fiction” is worth reading and has any depth. Those people have probably never read a really good YA novel (I also recommend Freaks Like Us for one that tackles mental illness in a insightful way) or any fan fic at all. (Or if they have, it’s something like My Immortal.) So they make the assumption that all fan fic must be meaningless drivel (as if there isn’t plenty of that in mainstream, published adult fiction or other media for that matter).

They also forget that people read for different reasons, and like you said, not everyone wants to read something to write a master’s thesis on.

Some “pulp” stories, like the Sherlock Holmes tales, have survived and proliferated across time and languages because people find them entertaining and can identify with the characters in some way. (Ofc some people like to analyze those stories but not everyone does; in fact, most people don’t, and that’s perfectly fine.)

So I think you have the snobs who really aren’t looking at it from a “I must crush queer writers,” though ofc you’re absolutely right about the fact that bias still exists among readers and publishers.

As I mentioned before, trying to publish a novel with a queer MC or romance through one of the big ones is really difficult for the same reason we see plenty of queer baiting in film but very few actual queer stories. Publishers are afraid that those stories won’t sell, will offend and affect sales of other books, etc, etc,

So we see the proliferation of queer stories and writers in fan fic where people are free to write whatever they want. And that’s really wonderful, imo. (But I also hope we finally see more mainstream queer stories and authors/creators as well.)

And as for tropes, honestly that was the dumbest part of the whole argument. Tropes have always and will always exist bc there’s just some things we humans love to see over and over and over again. I’m sure you could label just about any “high” art with a trope of some kind. Just bc something can be distilled into tropes doesn’t mean that’s all it is. I mean, writing programs always talk about things like “the hero’s journey” or whatever and that’s a kind of trope, too.

Anyway, I’m gonna stop before I keep rambling 😅 but yeah I think you make some really great points/additions, and I absolutely think that “all generalizations are bad” 😅😂 and trying to make a sweeping assessment like that is ridiculous.

Kind of reminds me of how much scorn “genre” fiction has gotten (think mystery novels or romance novels or sci fi, etc) because it’s “shallow.” But that has begun to change, and I do think we’re slowly seeing the attitude toward fan fic changing…. Now, if only we could chuck all the antis and their puritanical BS out the door….

#poi answers #gabedemon #literature #fiction tropes #very long post #not kuro

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nullanythorm-ao3 · 4 years

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Hiccup/Hiro/Varian OT3 FFXIV Headcanons

Stuck on my next fanfiction update? Time to bust out one of my OT3 headcanon posts again! The next chapter of Chemistry in Motion IS on the way, I promise you. But for the time being I’m a bit braindead - and being obsessed with playing Final Fantasy XIV with my friends isn’t helping. Instead of Variro and Varian & Honey Lemon sibling fluff, my brain has thought, “Okay, but what if the OT3 either played FFXIV or just existed in Eorzea?” and hasn’t stopped.

So, instead of the Camp Halfbood concepts I was planning on doing next, you get this.

Let’s start with easy mode: races

This part was simple. The only one that really gave me any trouble was Varian, really. I have certain things I associate each of the boys with - and two of those things just so happen to have races in Final Fantasy, so let’s go!

Hiccup is an Au Ra. They’re half-dragon, all-awesome, and Au Ra males are some of the tallest characters in the game!!! Second only to Roegadyn, I think. So Hiccup is TOL. If this is a concept of an AU where they exist in Eorzea as Warriors of Light - I feel like Hiccup’s the type that seems intimidating at first, the tall half-dragon man - but is actually just a soft cinnamon roll who’s hopelessly in love with his two boyfriends, but we’ll get to that part, eventually.

Hiro is a Mi’qote! Maybe because of Mochi, but I just can’t stop associating him with cats. So, naturally, I’m just going to keep doing it. Mi’qote are a moderate, slightly below-average height race. Also cat ears and tails, and the “mission complete” screen after dungeons has male mi’qote do a little happy ear wriggle, and it’s cute. I feel like Hiccup and Varian play with his ears a lot - like, a lot of scratching behind them or rubbing them for cute, fluffy, affectionate moments. He’s small, sassy, and about to get some world-saving s*** done, okay?

Varian. Varian was difficult. On one end I considered Hyur - just a simple smol human (though you can’t really make Male Hyur that short in-game, closer to average height really). But then I thought maybe Lalafell, make him super smol and cute. But actually, I’m going with my favorite race in the game: Varian’s an Elezen. For two reasons. 1) if this is a matter of them playing the game - Varian’s the type I could see wanting to play a character taller than he is, and Elezen are pretty darn tall. 2) As for if they exist in Eorzea, we’ve seen through the examples of Alphinaud and Alisaie that young Elezen can be quite small!!! Varian with pointy elf ears is also adorable fight me. Anyway. I feel like he’d definitely be a “runt of the litter” Elezen. Taller than Hiro, but still on the short side. Maybe it comes from Ulla (if you include 7k in this) being an Elezen, but Quirin being a Hyur or another shorter race that kind of dwarfs his growth a bit?

Okay, so let’s talk roles

Note: roles. Not classes. For the FFXIV uninitiated, one of the coolest things about this MMO is that you’re not tied down to one class. There are several classes within certain roles - Healer, Tank, Melee DPS, Ranged DPS, Magical DPS - and you can swap between those classes freely. There’s even disciple of the hand - crafting classes. And disciple of the land - gathering classes. We won’t talk about those as rolls, but I’ll bring them up when I talk about the squad’s main classes later. For now, let’s talk about the roles they prefer for adventuring, dungeons, raids, etc.

Hiccup is a tank! Tank classes are his first choice, without a doubt. He’s kind of the leader of the squad without meaning to be. He protects Hiro and Varian, and kind of keeps the other two in line and out of trouble with the rest of the party (because these two are SASSY and will cause trouble, trust me), whether it’s only one other person just running a dungeon or a whole raid alliance. In large parties, he’s quick to defer to someone else if they want to be the main tank. He’s not the ‘fighting for dominance’ type. Other than tanking, he enjoys melee DPS and healing, and uses magic DPS the least.

Hiro usually plays ranged DPS! Honestly, his central roles are basically all the DPS roles, but he likes Ranged most because of mobility, and ability to take things out from afar without worrying about his DPS dropping too much from dodging big attacks. Other than that, he enjoys magical DPS for range and Melee for mobility. His least-used role is healing, because caretaker he is NOT. Some of his ranged DPS classes have utility, and that’s good enough for him.

Then, for a well-rounded team, Varian’s main role is Healer. This comes mostly from his tendency to be “support” in most situations. He is, overall, a sweet boy who wants to look out for and help his friends (even if he can be self-centered). He’s definitely the sassy healer that will get passive aggressive with bad tanks in big parties or if Hiccup isn’t tanking. “I couldn’t keep up. So sorry, I’ll try harder next time if you try harder not to over-extend. Okay, thanks”, “The Dragoon is floor tanking? Guess who’s going back to the start of the dungeon because I’m not ressurecting them”, “Hiro, for the last time. We DODGE attacks first, shoot later. If you get hit for extensive damage because of a dumb mistake again I am NOT healing you”. THAT Healer. He’s also the best technical player of the three though (if this is the ‘they’re just playing the game’ situation), so he has the skill to back up the sass. Also, he flirts with Hiccup whenever he clutch heals him, or whenever Hiccup thanks him for heals, and it breaks Hiccup’s brain. Outside of healing, I think he’d like magical DPS and ranged DPS, and tanks the least.

On to actual classes/jobs now!

So here’s how this is going to work. We’ll be talking about the classes in their primary roles. What’s their main class, and ranking the classes within their main role in order of most to least used. After that, we’ll talk about some outlier classes. Classes from other roles they enjoy playing that they might play often or that I think suit them(A note: we’ll only be going over a couple, and no matter what outliers I mention, the role rankings from the previous section are the priority in knowing what and how they play). Then we’ll talk about their crafting/gathering classes of choice.

Hiccup

So, we mostly see Hiccup with a sword and shield, so naturally his main job is Paladin. It was what stuck out in my head, especially since I wanted him to main tank. It’s the balanced, all-rounder tank as well - which I think suits Hiccup. After that, there’s Warrior. Our big, brutal axe swingers. This one’s focused more on his viking heritage. Battle Axes run in that blood, don’t they? Then, there’s Dark Knight. The enormous sword is cool, but Hiccup isn’t really the ‘dark, brooding, edgy’ type. So I don’t think DK would really be his style aesthetically. Gunbreaker is the one he’d use least. It’s a cool class, but the more modern gunblade just doesn’t scream “Hiccup” to me. I think he’d enjoy the damage output, but feels better with normal weapons like swords and axes in his hands.

So the first outlier for Hiccup is something FFXIV fans might see coming. Dragoon. Hiccup with a spear is cool, but this is mostly for the lore. For those who don’t know - Dragoon’s lore is all about dragon slaying. They’re spearmen trained in Ishgard as part of the Dragonsong war - valiant defender of the city and slayers of dragons. Sound familiar? Similar to his actual story, I love Hiccup picking up the spear and being ready to fight dragons - but he’s a sweet bean and still tries his best to broker a peace when he learns how intelligent dragons are.

The other outlier I’d like to discuss for Hiccup is White Mage. The ‘taking from the spirits and nature’ vibe I think really suits his personality. He loves his island, and the dragons that live there, and everything around him. Not QUITE a tree hugger or anything, but preserving nature and caring for its creatures would definitely be important to him. It’s probably his main healer role.

As for crafting and gathering. Blacksmithing and Armorsmithing are probably his central crafts, so he probably does a lot of mining as his gathering class. He spends a lot of time in the forge, after all! I could also see him delving into a little carpentry, what with all the tinkering and mechanics he works with.

Hiro

When I thought about Hiro, my first thought was “machinist”. The steampunk vibe it has fits Hiro being the most modern of the three boys, I think. Also, a robotic/automaton partner/minion? YES. After that is Dancer. He probably picked it up for a laugh, not expecting much, then wound up hooked. He enjoys making either Hiccup or Varian his dance partner and flirting with whoever it is incessantly. With Varian, it’s just a back-and-forth of witty flirting and laughing. With Hiccup, he actively takes up a two-sided flirting front with Varian and well... if Hiccup breaks with just Varian flirting, adding Hiro makes it worse. He plays Bard the least, but still enjoys it. “He’s not much of a singer”, he often jokes whenever he stretches his Bard muscles. In the ‘they’re just playing the game’ universe, I feel like he forgets his song utility a lot and just focuses on doing as much damage as possible. Because that’s kind of his schtick.

An outlier for him would be Red Mage. I think he’d like the quick, easy casting with Dualcast, and the fun melee rotation. He’d be the type that enjoys using Displacement just for the flair - and always gets a talking to from Varian whenever he accidentally flips off the edge of a platform. So, you’re not allowed to play Dragoon, Hiro (he plays it anyway).

And the other outlier is Gunbreaker. Again with giving the guns to the more modern member of the squad. However (and I’ve hardly touched my tank classes so I can’t say anything here), it’s a running joke that Gunbreaker is for “people who want to try tank, but still kind of want to be DPS”, and I love that. It’s kind of perfect for Hiro.

So for crafting and gathering. Hiro would probably be a Goldsmith and Leatherworker. Leatherworker for practicality - because I think Hiro’s definitely the most practical of the three. Goldsmith because he likes to tinker with things and I can definitely see the precision work of accessory making suiting him. Now, normally that would probably mean he’d spend most of his time mining - but there are exactly three gathering classes in the game, so I like to think they’d try to round each other out. So, Hiro’s going to spend most of his time fishing. One, because cats and fish jokes. Two, because it’s just kind of chill and less work (or at least labor) and knowing Hiro I could see him going for that.

Varian

Varian’s main class would most DEFINITELY be scholar. He just seems to gravitate toward my favorite things. I think of all the magic-based classes. The arcanist set would be his favorite since it focuses more on logic and strategy. Scholar, especially, deals with hunting down a centuries-old plague on an ancient civilization and a lot of things I can very easily equate to the black rocks and dark kingdom. Also, he gets to summon a fairy and COME ON. That’s adorable. He probably talks to the fairy (usually Eos), because that’s just him. Second main healing class is White Mage, similar to Hiccup. The nature vibe just seems to suit him. He seems good with animals and the whole natural element just works since he seems to enjoy the outdoors and comes from a farming family/village, let’s not forget! Then Astrologian would be last. He wouldn’t really be into the astrology/future sight but I think he would have fun with the star vibes and (in Eorzea universe) would learn the uses of the future reading and get more invested in it, eventually.

An outlier of mention for Varian is Summoner. I mentioned before that he enjoys arcanima for its focus on logic, strategy, and value of intelligence, so, naturally, Scholar’s opposite would work well with him too. Also the carbuncles make me think of Ruddiger for whatever reason. Look at him! I love the concept of him summoning his carbuncle and it just crawling up his back and wrapping around his shoulders. He summons the Egis too! He knows how to play his job! He just really loves the carbuncles.

The other outlier for him of special mention is Bard. I think he’d like it, because he can be DPS but still give the party utility. Also. Come on, this boy can SING and he’s going to take advantage of it. God-tier bard for his singing voice alone, right here. Hiccup and Hiro low-key get excited whenever he pulls out the bow, because it means they get to hear their boy sing (because even in the universe where it’s just a game, Varian totally sings on whatever method of call they use for a lot of the dungeon whenever he plays bard).

Crafting classes. It surprises no one. He’s an Alchemist. Possibly a culinarian. His gathering class is botanist, the only one left. He spends a lot of time with plants, natural elements, and alchemy to make potions and all that jazz. He is very passionate about his crafting job and is probably the biggest crafter of the group. ALCHEMY!

And now for some miscellaneous headcanons

So, if it’s just the OT3 playing the game - Varian is the biggest roleplayer, no question. He slips into character ALL the time and it makes Hiro and Hiccup chuckle a little, but they always play along. He got the two of them to enjoy the roleplaying aspect, even.

They each have their own squads/groups they play/adventure with, and they almost always change up their roles with those groups.

For Hiccup - he’s basically in a group full of people who want to be tanks. It’s a constant battle for dominance (that Astrid almost always wins, unless she gives a pity win to Snotlout occasionally or lets Hiccup take out of respect for his tanking ability). Most of the time, Hiccup just shrugs it off and goes DPS or healer depending on if Fishlegs is there to heal or not.

Hiro usually tanks for his team. Mostly because Gogo refuses to level anything but DPS, Wasabi suffers from tanxiety and usually either heals or goes ranged, Honey Lemon does whatever Wasabi isn’t doing, and Fred is... Fred.

Varian’s group is well-balanced, but they each have their preferences. Cass or Lance are usually the tank, Eugene’s usually a melee DPS (probably ninja), and Rapunzel is almost always the squad healer (tho she defers to Varian for that role occasionally). So he’s usually DPS in that group.

Still, they work best together in their main roles. Their favorite times are when they’re adventuring together, as much as they love their friends.

Hiccup and Varian occasionally tease Hiro for being the shortest of the group - to which he usually groans and complains. But they use their tank/healer status to prevent him from messing with them because “I can always turn off my tank stance you know”, or “I mean if you don’t want healing, by all means”. He hates it when they do that.

They usually make up for it by giving him a TON of presents, though. They’re both frugal with gil compared to him, so if there’s some new shiny, expensive thing on the market he wants and doesn’t have the money for, Varian or Hiccup can usually swing it for him.

Hiccup likes to surprise Varian with gifts too. It’s the one one time he can make Varian flustered, and he quite enjoys it.

If any Elezen bully Varian for being a runt (in the setting where they’re adventurers in Eorzea), they can expect to meet with the business end of Hiccup or Hiro’s weapons. They won’t hesitate.

#tangled #how to train your dragon #big hero 6 #Varian #Hiro Hamada #hiccup horrendous haddock iii #hiccup/hiro/varian #variro #variccup #hirocup #final fantasy xiv #headcanons #ffxiv au

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its-morphin-time-xiv · 4 years

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Ooh! I'm excited to learn more! Three of Wands, and/or Six of Cups.

ー☆* Three of Wands - do you have any long-term plans for your character?

I do, actually! A few things I suppose, mostly out of purpose and goal rather than plan. But, yeah, i do. Minna is, well, if it hasn’t been notioned or picked up quite just yet, would and will be who this blog center’s around. I haven’t quite yet managed to adjust details and pictures to be more Minna but they are coming.

As to how and why, well, how is by the typical comicstrip introduction i’ve done in the past and why? Well... Minna is a little lot less weighted down by what I’ve done with things through Belladonna. As much as I love my midlander as a character, she is very.... heavy to do things as, if you catch my drift. There’s a lot of history that’s tied into rather difficult aspects of the origin that aren’t... easy to play anymore. It’s not quite fun for me anymore to always be taxed by a character, so... Minna was my out and path forward. Bella will still get her share of love on this platform though, so don’t go missing her too much!

After some placing and pacing and figuring things out logistics wise, Minna will be another chapter and new face in the Ranger saga I have planned as well. So I hope you look forward to it as much as I do!

All of that was a bit vague, but I don’t wanna spoil too much!

I’ll put the second answer below the cut!

◥█̆̈◤ Six of Cups - describe your character’s childhood in as little or great detail as you prefer.

Here!

I tend to go on tangents and really.. just find it difficult to find stopping points but I haven’t really gotten to delve too much into Minna’s childhood beyond a few things so I’m happy I got this one!

Minna’s childhood was actually fairly mundane! She is actually the 4th oldest of her family, out of 6 children! 2 older siblings and 3 younger. However, she is the only one of her family to have left the village and not returned.

Being a Veena, she grew up in the snowy forest mountain village, Kaslan. (Oh yeah, custom village lore... sorta.) Her first years, growing up, she was given string and woodwind instruments to learn and play, in order to properly follow her village culture and tradition. However, she was and is unable to play them to the capacity seen to fit for placement in proper jobs and roles in the village.So, she was given a town-guard status and was planned to be trained in such arts of the spear and bow in order to properly be a guard. Much like her aunt, ended up becoming her aunt’s favorite for that same reason.

Unfortunately, however, at an early age, they had realized that Minna has rather poor memory tracking and memorization skills. During school years, she was found to struggle with some memorization tasks and such. Eventually, her teachers found that having her practice with memory games to help her pass her tests, like numericals, speaking classes and training! To be a village guard, one must be proficient in speaking local common for travelling merchants and such.If you think she was bullied and made fun of for her memory issues, you can be damn sure about that. Does she remember it though, that’s another matter. (she doesn’t.) There are things that she does remember though, like her family. They made sure that Minna remembers them rather well, and they did fight to protect her against those that sought to bully her during the school years.

Since learning through memory games was her forte, she was also given photographs of certain events, people, and places to help her with things. And that practice has been maintained, so if she’s seen taking pictures, it’s more than just because she’s a photographer!

I hope that’s a fair start on her childhood for a few things! There’s more, of course, but I suppose we could be here all day if I had myway of it.

Thank you again! I hope you enjoy these answers.

@pugsleybro

#pugsleybro

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zydrateacademy · 6 years

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Review - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I never cared much for Zelda. My gaming life began with the likes of Unreal and Quake, later exploring the more intriguing worlds of Morrowind and Final Fantasy X. I was late to the nostalgic craze of Mario, Metroid, Pokemon and the likes of Zelda itself, though my brother would always gush about them as the years went on, while I delved into the Elder Scrolls and Assassin’s Creed franchises as my typical “favorite games” listing. Yet on a fateful evening outing with the family, I found myself with a brief demo of Breath of the Wild. Having a controller in my hand for the first time in probably a decade, I fell in love with the brief ten minutes I had with Link and his new world. It became an immediate Christmas wish, which was immediately fulfilled by my family within weeks of this request. My family was very excited that I wanted to try a Zelda game at all. So let’s get to it.

Link immediately awakes as much of a blank slate as I am, with nothing but amnesia and a female voice (quickly revealed to be Zelda herself) to guide him. We’re given something called a Sheikah Slate which looks like the lore’s own version of a Switch or iPad, and it basically serves as the game’s major MacGuffin that powers most of your abilities, map systems, and everything else. Apparently it’s an important device, as every major character and city leader immediately recognize it. From what I can understand in context, the device was in the possession of a team of champions that apparently died a hundred years prior. They fought against “Calamity Ganon”, the game’s major antagonist. You’re shown the castle off in the distance, but in the beginning Link is stuck on a massive plateau, and you need a wind glider to make it off alive. The old man helping you trades one after you learn the game’s four basic abilities, and the whole plateau serves as the tutorial. We get a stasis ability (for locking objects in a time field, of which you can manipulate its momentum), two different bomb types (one that rolls and a square for better control depending on terrain), a cryogenic that allows you to create ice blocks over water (which I often use to cross rivers) and a magnet (which does exactly what you’d expect it to). Other than the open world Dark Souls-esque combat, they serve as the game’s primary mechanics and they’ll each be used to solve every puzzle and find every chest throughout the game. Sadly the game neglects to teach you how to cook, and I had to resort to google for that. Seems like it’s an oversight, but it’s one of the more fun mechanics, throwing a bunch of your gatherings in a pot to eventually see what might happen. It encourages experimentation which I enjoy, but if all else fails, throwing five durians or bananas in a pot will go a long way in of itself. The world opens up very quickly, as is usually advertised and mentioned in reviews. You can, in theory, immediately haul towards Calamity Ganon itself if you’re sneaky enough. I’m sure some YouTubers have already cleared it (quick research tells me it can be done in around 40-50 minutes), but more casual players would likely be crushed instantly. Instead you’re given several tasks, such as taming four Divine Beasts, massive mechanical creatures that roam Hyrule. They’re currently controlled by Ganon but you can retake them and they’ll all help during the final fight.

Beyond that, the world is ours. I admit I was feeling a bit dry of this genre after having around a thousand hours on Skyrim and a few hundred on the various Fallout’s, it’s a literal breath of fresh air as I found myself with a very simple goal: nab all the towers. In typical fashion more expected from the likes of Ubisoft, there are several towers to climb that unlock the maps of entire regions. I don’t mind this so much as it helps me get the lay of the land as well as a clear goal on the outset. I’d be very lost without them.

I have never been used to Zelda’s style of gaming but I have taken full advantage of the tools the game has given me. Chief of which being the open world itself. A vast majority of my gameplay has mostly been collecting different armor sets so that I can better face a variety of situations and weather conditions, and there’s a ton of gameplay to be had with that goal alone. In the first town that you are directed towards, there was a fairly expensive (for a starting player) stealth suit. I farmed some enemies which helped a lot in learning how to use a controller again, and the stealth bonus helped me nab some DLC armor which I used for a majority of the early to mid game, dozens of hours due to their helpful bonuses. While looking to afford that initial outfit, I ended up running into a shrine or two, and found a little tree pixie (called Koroks), which help to expand my inventory. The simple goal turned into its own micro-adventure and that’s something I very much appreciate about this game, though that does have a problem attached to it, which I’ll mention later. If my readers know me, then you know I’m a stealth player. Hilariously there is a stealth mechanic on this game with a little noise meter next to the minimap but the game wasn’t really built for it. You can sneak in enemy camps while they sleep and steal their weapons but it’s not always an ideal tactic. There’s no clear indication of detection ranges so if you alert an enemy, all you’ll see is a question mark on their head and you have very little to do with that information. A bush does not conceal me, for example, for the simple fact that it’s not considered a ‘solid object’ by the game’s standards.

That does lead to another problem. The stealth mechanic is part of the alleged “play your way” that doesn’t always work. In terms of exploration, it might. There’s a lot you can do, like plugging balloons on bombs to make them float around, or throw metal weapons at enemies during a lightning storm. There’s so much to do with the world itself, but I found very little purpose in doing any of that except for water cooler conversations of “stuff I managed to do”. You CAN use a leaf weapon to blow the enemy off the cliff, but why bother if you can two-shot them or even use one of your infinite bombs to accomplish the same goal? So why would you want to waste to much time and potential health and food items finagling with the controls which you could just press Y a couple times and make the problem go away? Not that I mind the combat over much. It has the usual fare of dodge, parry, block, flurry and a variety of charge attacks that can be kind of fun to use. I like how enemies often have their own large variety of weapons and that will change how they fight. A lizard with a bow will very often try to keep at a range from me, doing a backflip which causes me to sprint to close the gap, only for them to do it again when I try to take a swing. The same enemy type with a spear however, can be quite aggressive poking me at a range, but staying at just the right distance to piss me off. It’s a lot of fun, though. I was rather afraid of puzzles upon my initial interest of this game, and has been a large part in keeping me away from the franchise. They tend to make me feel stupid if I take too long to solve them, but there is an extra level of “hurrah!” when I manage to figure out exactly what I need to do. There is another complaint attached to this however. As I completed a few dozen shrines (there’s something to the effect of 120 total) I noticed the rest usually require some gimmick to find or unlock. There’s one I’ve yet to discover because I need to be on a platform during a blood moon, the game’s respawn mechanic. The problem is, you can’t force those and they show up roughly every three hours of game time. So I imagine one of my last shrines will be me standing on that damn platform while I watch Youtube or play something else.

There’s also a few puzzles that demand use of the motion controls, which can be incredibly fickle and frustrating. Some are better than others but I found it to be more annoying than anything and I hope they minimize that mechanic in the future. I’ve still had to resort to video guides. The Divine Beasts act as the game’s “major” dungeons preceding a boss fight, and to get to the boss, their entire body acts as a mobile puzzle. One of them has three cylinders in its midsection that can turn four times and there was far too much going on for my brain to handle. I managed to do the flying beast and water elephant on my own (with some pointers from my brother but not to a full on guide’s extent) but some of their innards are just a bit too complex to me. The other complaint that I alluded to earlier, is world density. Yes, there’s a lot of nooks and crannies that will often hide a shrine, treasure, and a variety of weapons and upgrades. It can be profitable at times to simply pick a direction and start running, but this only works to a point. Between my position and my current goal (a tower, an armor piece, a town) there might be a single shrine, maybe two, on my way to find. There was however, a lot of pointless running. I heard a Let’s Player mention that they suspected the world was built first and was just filled it in with things later. Frankly, it shows. Yes it’s cute to find a stump or pile of leaves just slightly out of place, hiding a Korok creature but once you get back to running there’s a lot of open plains, fields, and vertical mountains to climb with very little to do in between and nothing to show for it except a padded hour count. There was some controversy over the durability of weapons. I barely had much of a problem with it. Jim Sterling infamously bashed it which earned a fair amount of ire (which is not foreign to him) and even tried to negate the common compliment of “It forces you to adjust your strategy!” Still, I’m inclined to agree with that defense. Relying on a single type of weapon could make the combat stale pretty quickly, but there’s still some high level weapons I wish stuck around for longer. I did manage to acquire the Master Sword which is a permanent weapon that can run out of ‘energy’ and gives itself a ten minute cooldown but that’s very much a late-game item to acquire. Before that you’re basically stuck with a horde of guardian axes and knight’s claymores. I have run into the odd situation of having two or three weapons left but I discovered that shrines respawn during blood moons, so I simply found myself in those “Major Test of Strength” shrines which give you a single enemy with predictable attack pattern, serving as a miniature boss fight to help you get used to the combat mechanics. They drop two or three fairly decent weapons and a lot can be done with them. It’s just another thing to do in a fairly enjoyable game.

I also wanted to compliment the game’s way of leveling itself up. It’s essentially tied to story progress and Divine Beast slaying. Each mob has a few different variations, color coded for your convenience. Usually starting brown and going up to blue, then black and others. Each harder than the last, usually just wielding more powerful weapons and having a fair amount of hitpoints. Since a lot of my gameplay was exploring, getting towers and collecting armor, the game never advanced too quickly for me. I’d have a few scattered harrowing fights but the game did a good job of making sure I could take my time with it. The early game throws a few blue Moblins at you which are fully capable of one-shotting your measly four hearts, but I feel that was a sort of observation test for a player to absorb. It forces you to think about what your facing, change weapons and strategy. In practice, it just made me terrified of the color blue for a while. The game only starts throwing the tougher enemies at you once you defeat the bosses accompanying the four Divine Beasts. As the game’s major dungeons, completing them is often a test of everything you’ve learned and is as good a marker as any for “this player is ready for tougher enemies”. I am very pleased with this kind of development, as my first ten hours was spent killing jello blobs and bats for their parts so I could sell them and afford more arrows. The game never really went “Okay, time for the tough stuff” when I’m still using a wooden goblin spear. I don’t expect I would get much out of the game’s Master Mode, serving as a sort of New Game Plus except without anything you’ve earned, and is basically just a Hard Mode. The DLC has plenty more to offer which I will explore eventually but it sounds difficult, and I’ve never been any kind of Hard Mode player. Still, I was afraid of this game and I’ve been doing just fine in it so the DLC may not be as intimidating as I think. In conclusion, I’m having a lot of fun in it. It may not have lasting replayability (though I can think of a few ‘corrections’ to my early game to help things along) and after so long, I find there’s very little to actually find as I climb snowy mountains and angrily wait for a thunderstorm to pass. I’m far from done with it though, not while I still have goals in mind. I do have my sights on beating this one, and for a newer-aged millennial gamer, finding a Zelda game that I actually enjoy is an accomplishment on their part. I understand BOTW is a major genre shift for the franchise, and I hope they continue the trend if they want me as a returning customer. Until then, this game is very, very good.

#Zelda #Breath of the Wild #BOTW #The Legend of Zelda #Gaming #Switch

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fyrapartnersearch · 6 years

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Yo; It’s been a while since I’ve put up a roleplay ad, but since most of the ones I’d been continuously replying to sort of gradually stopped communicating with me (Which isn’t a terrible thing, I just want to write), and I’ve gotten into a few more subjects and fandoms since my last post, I’m gonna say fuck it, we’re doin’ it again. Cutting straight to one of the most important information pieces; I’m nineteen years old. I’ve seen a lot of ads requesting ages 21+, so I just wanted to make it clear that I’m legal, but If you prefer drinking age and above for any reason, I am unfortunately not your gal. Otherwise, I wish I didn’t have an age limit to roleplay partners, but since I do enjoy putting smut and adult themes into my roleplays, whether it be PWP or into a long-term story, I’m gonna have to set the bar at 18, or above.

Age rules aside, I'm lookin’ for three categories of roleplays, all completely chill with me;

Canon/OC (DOUBLE-UP ONLY):

I’ve got quite a fuckin bit of fandoms for this one; most of my roleplays, in all my 7+ years of experience, have been canon/oc-- It’s just plain enjoyable to me, creating characters you get attached to and pairing them up with characters you’re already attached to. I really love seeing everyone’s different portrayals on characters they make, as well; who they’re compatible with and all the like. It’s pretty safe to say I’ll probably be doodling a lot from whatever we end up creating; I’m a fervent shipper.

I’m up for a really nice and intricate long-term plot with character development just as much as a PWP short-term, so contact me for either at any time; even if you want to start up a long-term and later in decide you’d like to create a short-term on the side. I’m a flexible roleplayer, I love everything. And that includes kinks, too, so if you wanna throw an idea out in the character-bedroom, than shoot for it, there’s a pretty much 100% chance I won’t turn down anything you offer, as long as it isn’t mpreg. Nothing against you if you like it, you do you-- just not my cup of tea. Double-up isn’t limited to two characters on each side, either; I love adding in side characters and such, so we don’t just have to play two characters each and that’s it. Throw in somebody for a scene at any time if it makes sense to the situation, have fun with it.

m/f, m/m, f/f, whatever you want or decide to do for your pairing is fine with me. Oh, and I really would prefer partners who enjoy OC interactions if possible; I really enjoy all sorts of relationships in roleplays.

Fandoms (CANON/OC):

[Homestuck]:

I’ll Play: Anyone. I’ve been in this fandom for years, and am very well-acquainted with all the characters. Beta, Alpha, Trolls, Cherubs, Midnight Crew, just ask.

I’ll Take: Dave Strider, John Egbert, Sollux Captor, Cronus Ampora, Terezi Pyrope, Karkat Vantas, Gamzee Makara, Kanaya Maryam

[Tokyo Ghoul]:

I’ll Play: Again, Anyone. Well-acquainted fandom.

I’ll Take: Juuzou Suzuya, Uta

[Ouran Highschool Host Club]:

I’ll Play: Anyone in the anime; I know there’s more characters from the manga, but I haven’t read it, yet.

I’ll Take: Kyoya Ootori

[Pokemon]:

I’ll Play: There are… So many characters in pokemon that I don’t even know if I CAN say I’ll play anyone, but I’m a very big fan of the games and universe, so honestly, just ask for anyone and we’ll go from there. I can always look up characters if I have to, but I don’t think I WILL have to.

I’ll Take: Cheren, N, Guzma, Wally, Lillie, Ilima

[Invader Zim]:

I’ll Play: Zim, Gaz, Tak, Gir, Professor Membrane, Red, Blue, etc.

I’ll Take: Dib

[Diabolik Lovers]:

I’ll Play: Yui Komori, Ayato Sakamaki, Laito Sakamaki, Shu Sakamaki, Reiji Sakamaki, Subaru Sakamaki, Kanato Sakamaki, Cordelia

I’ll Take: Kanato Sakamaki, Laito Sakamaki, Reiji Sakamaki

DISCLAIMER: I’m totally willing to delve into this fandom, But I warn you I’ll probably make a character that’s somehow logically capable of beating the shit out of any of the vampires, because I have this weird love-hate grudge on this fandom and want to make a strong female that can put them in their place. Otherwise, feel free to request whatever you want for your side. As of this point I’ve only seen the first season, but maybe I’ll get around to forcing myself to watch the second and I can offer more characters to play.

[Black Butler]:

I’ll Play: I’ve seen every season of the anime, and have been through quite a bit of the manga; up to when Ciel brought Sieglinde back to England with him, so request anyone you like, and I’ll probably be able to work with them.

I’ll Take: Alois Trancy, Grell Sutcliff, William T. Spears

[Attack on Titan]: I’ll Play: Anyone within season one of the anime.

I’ll Take: Levi Heichou, Hanji Zoe

I’m sure I’m missing some, so if none of these appeal to you, than request others and we’ll talk.

Canon/Canon:

I don’t really do this too often, but recently I’ve gotten way too into certain ships and others reappeared from the depths of my brain; so I’ve definitely got to put this here, now. There’s only certain fandoms I’ll work with, but if you’re interested in any of them, please do feel free to contact me. The same rules apply here; Short-term or Long-term, Any kinks, Lots of doodles, etc.

All I ask is that you don’t make any character OOC.

Fandoms (CANON/CANON):

[Homestuck]:

Ships: Too many to count, so just talk to me-- but I’ll list some here just for idea sparkers; John Egbert/Terezi Pyrope, Dave Strider/Terezi Pyrope, Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Sollux Captor/Aradia Megido, Dave Strider/Kanaya Maryam, Karkat Vantas/Kanaya Maryam, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam, god there’s so much just ask.

DISCLAIMER: I have characters I really don’t enjoy together, as well, like Dirk and Jake, or John with any dudes (especially the striders), but otherwise, request to your heart’s content and I’m sure we can find at LEAST one ship we share mutually.

[Nier: Automata]: Ships: 2B/9S

DISCLAIMER: I’m still in the middle of playing the game; I’ve only just beat Route A but I love these two so much that I just had to put it in just in case. If you’re alright with working with me, here, I promise you I play it like crazy and I’ll learn a lot more from this day, on. I’d prefer to play 2B, as well.

[Pokemon]:

Ships: Guzma/Plumeria (there’s more ships in this fandom, of course- I’m just into this one the most, right now. Team Skull is hilarious.)

[Attack on Titan]:

Ships: Hanji/Levi

OC/OC:

This really has the same general rules; I’m fine with m/f, m/m, and possibly f/f, but I do prefer the former two, and on terms of m/f I enjoy playing as the female a lot more. I also tend to enjoy playing dominant females. This is a completely sandbox category; If you have ideas for plot contact me, and I’m 1,000% down to put our characters in any world anyone could want. Slice of life, dark plots, mobsters, smut-oriented, fantasy, sci-fi, anything you want to do I’m cool with. I tend to make OCs on the spot for what I think works well with a plot, because It’s one of my favorite processes about roleplaying-- and I do use faceclaims.

If any of this interests you, contact me. I’m a thirsty motherfucker for writing.

E-mail: [email protected]

Discord: Sparky #4225

#oc rp #multiple paragraph #para #semipara #oneline #short term #long term #email #messenger #pokemon rp #smut rp #submission

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notpreparedblog · 4 years

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Return of the Bonemancer

So, it’s been quite a long time since publishing Path of Diablo: Part II. In that article, I was ready to dive into Hell difficulty with my good ol’ Ravens Druid. Unfortunately, interest kind of dropped off once I reached Hell. The difficulty of course spiked, it became more tiresome to play, so I decided to hang the pelts up and wait for the interest to come back to me.

Surprise, the interest came back to me. Diablo II: Remastered has been heavily rumored for a few years now, more so in recent months. I’ve started to notice that just like I want to re-watch Lord of the Rings every time I see something Lord of the Rings related, whenever I hear something new about Diablo II, I get that itch again.

I felt that Path of Diablo never really got that full shake from me, so in I dove again. This mod of the game has now reached it’s 18th patch, dubbed Flint, three patches past my last article in this series.

I feel like whenever I re-start Diablo II, the go to character is always a Sorceress to utilize Teleport and make things quite a bit easier. I ended up changing that formula with a Druid the first time with Path of Diablo, so I took the same approach this time.

In my time of playing Diablo II, I never really gave the Necromancer much attention. At various times, I did have a Poisonmancer, Summonancer and Bonemancer, but they were really just made out of boredom and they were never long lasting.

After reading the more recent patch notes, I saw something amazing.

Yes. Bone Spear shoots two additional spears every cast. I had my new character. With the increased damage from the very first patch and the additional spears in patch #18, it didn’t even feel like a debate. I always loved Bone Spear as a skill, it just never felt like a heavy hitter on its own. You always had to cast bone walls to block enemies in, then in a way, slowly damage them with Bone Spears, not the most dynamic or exciting gameplay. Here, the potential was much greater for a fun spin on an old skill.

Normal, Nightmare and Hell

This would typically be the point to where I speak on how leveling overall went as a Bonemancer…with my three Bone Spears. Honestly, that story would be incredibly boring. It was fantastic. I can’t really point out any specific moment where I had any sort of difficulty. The usual points of fear like the Chaos Sanctuary or Hell Ancients were just blips on the radar and before I knew it, I had defeated Baal and started aiming to clear maps, Path of Diablo’s new end game.

Three Bone Spears are definitely better than one.

In terms of gear, I aimed for a few basic rune words to help things along. The rune word ‘White‘ is a staple among most Bonemancers, and is easy enough to obtain for anyone only requiring two runes; Dol and Io. The great thing about White (aside from its already +3 Poison and Bone Skills and +2 Bone Spear bonuses) is that you can find an open, two-socket wand with + Bone Spear already built in, giving you more of a skill bonus to your bone spear.

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‘Spirit‘ is also a no brainer for a lot of builds at least early on before finding better gear and creating more expensive rune words. It does require a four-socket weapon or shield, but there are plenty of cases where you can actually use the socket quest from Larzuk in Act V to receive those four open sockets. In a shield, you receive +2 to All Skills, faster cast rate, faster hit recovery, resists and more.

Endgame for Path of Diablo is similar to Path of Exile in that we have maps to run. I started to delve into Tier 1 Maps on this Bonemancer (out of 4 Tiers) but haven’t gone much further than that at this time. Maybe I will detail that aspect of the game in a later addition to this series.

Loot Filters

One great aspect of Path of Diablo, is the ability to implement a loot filter, similar to Path of Exile. In Action RPG’s like your Diablo games, loot is incredibly important. It’s vital that you try to maximize your characters equipment at all times. Even more important if you’re playing online, you want to know what is valuable so that you can sell or trade those items away to increase your wealth.

There are a variety of loot filters that are available to the player and they can be found here. Each filter is incredibly simple to implement with following the directions on the previously linked page. I’m using the Pure Karma filter myself, but each has their benefits.

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Quality of life is also increased with this loot filter. Instead of ‘Greater Healing Potion,’ popping up and filling your screen as a common drop, you have a red symbol (and blue for mana and so on). Higher ranked runes are now blasted with symbols on your screen to make it as unlikely as possible to miss them. Since ‘Spirit‘ is a ridiculously good rune word, things like your typical white Crystal Swords will now say ‘Spirit Base’ beforehand so the player knows that they can just throw that weapon into Larzuk’s socket quest and create a Spirit rune word.

Extra Bowazon Action

Outside of plowing through Hell with the Necromancer, I decided to start a Bowazon. Why? Two different items; Arctic Bow and Hailstorm, unique arrows. With both of these items equipped, and both having a very low level requirement, I’m flying through normal difficulty while shooting five cold arrows per shot. It effectively gives you a cold infused multi-shot.

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Is this something that’s long lasting? No, of course not. Arctic Horn has a level 2 requirement to use and only has a damage range of 9 – 21. I’ll soon be shifting to Kuko Shakaku and some sort of fire arrow build, but this is an example of new things that Path of Diablo offers, especially for older players.

Just the idea of having a new experience with a Bowazon in normal difficulty was enough for me to roll the character and give it a shot. A similar thing happened with the Necromancer. Just the idea that I can shoot three Bone Spears instead of one every cast made me want to create that character so that I could have a new experience within Diablo II.

The result of having both Arctic Horn and Hailstorm equipped; five cold arrows per shot.

Path of Diablo isn’t flashy like your Median XL‘s or Eastern Sun’s, but it does a very good job of many changes to the base game without making Diablo II not feel like Diablo II.

I’m sure that I’ll keep adding to this series over time as I get that renewed Diablo II feeling that always seems to swell over me. For now, I’m content progressing with my triple Bone Spear Necromancer.

As always, check out the following links for previous articles and resources related to Diablo II and Path of Diablo;

Path of Diablo: Part I

Path of Diablo: Part II

First Thoughts – Diablo II: Median XL Sigma

Diablo Immortal

Official Path of Diablo Subreddit

Official Path of Diablo Wiki

How to Install Path of Diablo

Path of Diablo: Part III Returning to #pathofdiablo to check out some Bonemancer action! #diablo #diablo2 #pathofexile Return of the Bonemancer So, it's been quite a long time since publishing Path of Diablo: Part II…

#action rpg #amazon #d2 #d3 #d4 #diablo 2 #diablo 3 #diablo 4 #druid #lord of the rings #necromancer #path of diablo #path of exile #pc games #pod #poe #remaster #sorceress

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sage-nebula · 7 years

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Five questions you want to answer but haven't been asked yet! ;D

99.) Pokemon Cards, Games, or Show?

Despite my unyielding, unending, unstoppable love for Alan, the games will always come first for me. (Of course, he’s had a shout-out in the games as well, so … ;D) The games are the entire reason why I was interested in watching the anime in the first place. The games are the reason why I was interested in the cards. As much as I love the anime and have a lot of opinions about it, the games always have and always will come first for me. The games are where it all started. Without the games, we wouldn’t have any of what we currently have. Without the games, the anime wouldn’t exist. Without the games, the hundreds of manga series (because there are a lot, which is why I get so aggravated when people talk about “the” manga when referencing PokéSpe) wouldn’t exist. The games started it all, the games are the source of everything. The games will always come first.

After the games, though, I do pick the anime. And then the cards, I guess, but I haven’t cared about the TCG in a very long time, outside of still being salty af that my biological mother threw out my card album (that had, among other things, my holographic first edition charizard card, and sentimental value aside, those still sell for upwards of $300 on eBay; I wouldn’t sell it, but damn, she threw away something so valuable out of pure spite and stupidity, I just). So for me it goes games, anime, and … everything else, haha.

98.) Pokemon main series games, pokemon ranger games, or pokemon mystery dungeon games?

The main series games come first, obviously, for all the reasons started above and more. I love the main series games. While of course I have some criticisms about some of them, and while of course there are some things that could be done better, I still adore the main series games and very likely always will. I love most everything about them and I can’t foresee that changing.

But that said, I also really, really, really love the Ranger games! Or at least, I really loved the one I played, which was Guardian Signs. The gameplay was a lot of fun, I love the concept of the Rangers and the Ranger Union, and how they differ from ordinary trainers but still do so much good in their own unique way. I love how they “capture” pokémon by not actually capturing them, per se, but rather by using their capture stylers to convey their feelings to the pokémon, calming them or soothing them and then asking for help from them. I also love the instances where this is done when rescuing pokémon from the poachers / villains. They send pokémon out to attack you, as any trainer would, but instead of battling and knocking their pokémon out, you use the capture styler to soothe and convince that pokémon to stop attacking. You, in essence, help that pokémon see that they don’t have to battle for this awful person! To be honest, having a device that can allow you to communicate with a trainer’s pokémon like that could be used for nefarious purposes, if put into the wrong hands, but capture styling is not as easy as it looks and I imagine that Rangers have to undergo tests and rigorous training to be certified. Regardless, I loved all these aspects, as well as the overall atmosphere, the story (even the silly bits!), and the characters … and I adored the Sign aspect of it, how you could draw, well, guardian signs with your styler in order to summon legendary pokémon. Did you know, Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs had Soaring long before ORAS! And you didn’t have to Soar on one of the Latis (though of course you could, and why wouldn’t you?), but rather, you could Soar on any flying-type pokémon you had bonded with during a “capture” session. It was great. And you could rampage across the countryside on Raikou, or Entei, or Suicune, just by summoning them with your styler. You didn’t own them, of course, they weren’t captured in a little monster ball, but you could summon them if you needed them for aid just by drawing their sign in the sky. (Or, er, if you wanted to get across Oblivia faster, but … >_>;; ) It was great, and that’s the kind of legendary pokémon partnership I’m okay with, rather than the utter nonsense of capturing one to use for battle.

Anyway, I really want to replay this game, and I might do that soon, but I really loved it! I wish we could get a new Ranger game sometime this century, but alas … T___T

(Meanwhile, I don’t see the appeal of the Mystery Dungeon games. At all. I never have. I tried to play the first one, I really did, but I was so bored I completely forgot I owned it after a little while. I’m glad people enjoy them, more power to them, but they’re not for me, and I wish we could chill out on getting new Mystery Dungeons to instead get at least one new Ranger game instead, but alas.)

97.) Gym Leader, Elite Four, or Champion?

I’m not entirely sure what this one is asking, if it’s asking which one I’d personally want to be, or which position I value more highly, or what. But either way, I guess my answer is Champion … but in the way I see it, rather than the way I think most people interpret it.

In all my years in this fandom / way of life, I’ve seen most people interpret “Champion” as simply “strongest trainer, gets lots of accolades, gets to sit on a throne and be cool all day”. And I can’t blame people for having that interpretation, because—in an effort to make this series accessible to kids, which is not something I am faulting—Pokémon has not delved very deeply into politics. Again, just to make it extra clear, that’s understandable; kids aren’t here to play a game that dives deep into policy and procedure, even though Gen V really toed that line and confirmed a lot of the beliefs and headcanons I already had, even without explicitly saying so. But either way, I refuse to buy into the idea that the Champion is just there to be strong and take challenges. A Champion is more than that. A Champion needs to be more than that. Setting aside that this world has to at least try to have some form of functioning government in some way, if someone is going to hold the position of Champion—if they are going to be the ones that people and pokémon look to in times of crisis—then they need to earn that. In my view, a Champion is someone who not only handles all the policy and procedure that comes across their desk as it comes across their desk (fulfilling the executive branch, as well as tapping into legislative and judicial when the time calls for it), but they’re also a protector. They’re the very tip of the spear that is used to protect their region and all of those within it. In How to Train Your Dragon 2, Hiccup says, “The alpha protects them all,” and that’s the Champion, in my eyes. If the Champion is the strongest trainer in the region—and that’s something that all Pokémon media seems to agree on—then it is the Champion’s duty—their obligation and responsibility—to use that strength that they have to protect all of those within their region who may not be able to protect themselves. Regardless of anything, regardless of the danger or crisis, regardless of whether the people and pokémon in that region love them or hate them, they have to protect them, it’s their job. “It’s not about what they deserve. It’s about what you believe,” Diana says in Wonder Woman, and that, too. That’s absolutely true of the Champion. The Champion, as the strongest there is, is the one who must put themselves between their region and any oncoming danger. They need to be the ones looking out for the people and pokémon. They need to be the ones fighting for them, both in terms of literal fights (battles) and metaphorical ones (legislation, politics, et cetera). That’s their duty, first and foremost, before anything else. They have to be ready, and willing, and able to do it.

So to try and sum this ramble up, in my eyes, being the Champion is completely empty, meaningless, and worthy of scorn of all it amounts to is praise for being The Very Best™ and adoration from fans. That’s not what it should be about. If the only point to being Champion is to sit on a throne and look pretty, then I’ll pass, thanks. Being the Champion should be about being the people’s and pokémon’s champion. It should mean protecting those who can’t protect themselves. It should mean fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves. It should mean standing up, saying “no” when someone threatens innocent lives, and doing what’s right even when everyone else just runs away. (Thanks for letting me paraphrase you, Rose Tyler.) It should mean taking that skill and that strength you have and putting it toward what’s right, even and especially when it’s difficult, even and especially when you might not get thanks or recognition afterward.

Being Champion is not about accolades. It’s work. It’s incredibly difficult work, available only to a select few, but that’s what makes it so important and meaningful. That’s why I hold that position in such esteem, and also why I’m so selective about which characters I think could potentially do it, and do it well. It’s not just winning badges and tournaments. It’s so much more than that. So, so much more.

84.) Drought, Drizzle, Sand Stream, or Snow Warning?

And now for a shorter, less intense answer—Drought! Specifically, the Drought ability on my ‘Zard Y, which I then use to immediately Solar Beam any foolish water-types that thought they could take my dragon down. ♥

76.) Reshiram, Zekrom, or Kyurem?

Reshiram! In pretty much every single way, haha. Superior typing (dragon/fire), superior design, and I also prefer what Reshiram stands for (truth) over the others. Reshiram is right alongside Victini in terms of favorite Gen V legendaries. ♥

#pokemon choice meme #ryttu3k #if anyone ever wondered why Alan is such an obvious fit for Champion in my eyes #then reading this post is probably illuminating hahaha

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selfinsertbartender · 7 years

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D&D Pride

I’ve seen a bunch of people celebrating their LGBT+ tabletop RPG characters this month both on here and on twitter, and I wanted to get involved! Seeing as I don’t have much in the way of artistic talent, I figured the least I could do is list the LGBT+ characters I’ve played in the past and some of their exploits, from earliest to most recent!

It was while I was making this list that I realized I’ve accidentally made almost every single character that I’ve played for more than just a couple of sessions queer. Oops? Anyways, full character info under the cut!

* Ramiel Uroven - Asexual Ramiel was my second character of my first serious D&D group (I changed characters several times for various plot reasons)! Growing up on his family’s farm outside of the Human capitol city, Ramiel always admired the Paladin Corps and was eager to become a knight when he grew up. Upon reaching the age when he could be certified, he was barred from joining the Corps after it was discovered that he was technically a Tiefling (in 3rd edition, Tieflings were humans with demonic ancestry; in Ramiel’s case, his great-great-great-great-grandfather married a succubus, making him just 1/64th demonic). Ever the upbeat young man, having been denied his dream of becoming a Paladin, he decided to do the next best thing: turn around and join the anti-Humanist Theroubrian Empire as an Antipaladin in service of Hextor, the god of war and chaos (keep in mind, at the point where Ramiel joined the party calling them “morally gray” would have been generous). He didn’t join out of any sense of solidarity with the Cult of Hextor’s dogma, he just wanted to be a knight. He eventually went on to become the Avatar of Hextor (after a series of like, four nat twenties in a row?? it’s a long story) and was promoted to a General position in the Empire’s army. He eventually parted ways with the party after some... personal differences (he was ordered to kill the two leaders of the party for betraying the Empire, and he’s nothing if not loyal). A more recently rebooted version of Ramiel had him have distant Fae ancestry instead, He was actually successful in becoming a page for a local lord and starting his own knighthood training, but he was kicked out after it became clear he just stopped aging. In this version he was still asexual but more homoromantic, as he’d had a sort of illicit relationship going on with his lord.

*Ariel Ophanim - Pansexual/Nonbinary After fleeing from the Theroubrian Empire, the party joined up with a group devoted to keeping the world’s forces of good and evil locked in a stalemate known as the Defenders of Balance (note: this campaign was a good year before The Adventure Zone even started!). Assigned to watch over the new recruits upon their induction was Ariel, an Aasimar rogue and long-suffering right hand of the leader of the DoB. Ariel was the image of a covert field agent: sneaky, no-nonsense, and very, very pretty, and they knew it! So imagine their disdain when they were instead assigned to babysit a wild bunch of ragtag asshole newbies for their first real mission. The leader of the DoB had taken Ariel in when their home had been ravaged in the war between the Humans and the Theroubrian Empire, however, so they felt that they owed it to the leader and reluctantly accepted the assignment. Ariel filled a much-needed leadership role in the party and even managed to herd the group into completing some respectable work for the DoB investigating claims that their former employers were attempting to open a portal to the Demonic Plane. Ariel ended up sabotaging the ritual to summon the hell portal when they threw themself in front of Dimitry, an NPC ally with whom Ariel had a burgeoning romantic relationship, and became the ritual’s sacrifice in Dimitry’s place. Ariel’s sacrifice still opened a portal, but instead of dragging everyone present to the Demonic Plane, it instead dumped the party, Dimitry, and Cree (the succubus wife of the leader of the Theroubrian Empire, responsible for opening the portal and killing Ariel) into a pub that existed between planes.

*Saoirse (aka “Yew Mann”) - Gay Within the extraplanar pub the party met a knight in antique armor and a horned helmet claiming to be a human paladin of a long-dead god. This knight, who claimed to be called ‘Yew Mann’, joined the party as they went hopping between planes (which actually consisted of our group playing a bunch of oneshots of other tabletop games using our characters) looking for a way back home. When the party got suspicious about Yew’s refusal to remove her armor with anyone else around, it was eventually revealed that she was not, in fact, a human paladin. She was actually a young Rakshasa sorcerer from the Demonic Plane named Saoirse who fled to the inter-planar pub after her lover, a female Tiefling, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. She took on the form of her lover to appear less obviously demonic, and at the pub she made friends with an old paladin who came from the Material Plane at a time hundreds of years before the present. After hearing his tales about humanity and the paladins and their heroism, she desired to live as a hero in the Material Plane herself. She received the old paladin’s armor and spear with the intention of disguising herself as a human once she figured out a way to get to the Material Plane (which, of course, is when the party arrived....) She told all of this to Cree, the Theroubrian Empress, in confidence, and in return Cree started to convince her to accept herself. Their friendship would eventually save the human Paladin Corps from a Theroubrian attack, as Yew pleaded with Cree to call off their mind-dominated Terrasque (again, a long story). After the Theroubrians retreated, Yew decided to leave the party so that she could serve on the Theroubrian council and act as a sort of moral compass for Cree and the Emperor.

*Ewan Saxton - Gay Real name Ewan Uroven, he was Ramiel’s younger brother and was forced to hide his familial ties (and his heritage, as a Tiefling) in order to be accepted into the Paladin Corps’s college of magic. At first Ewan struggled to adapt to his new environment and at learning how to harness his magic, but a boy his age named Tomar began to help him. While Ewan struggled with most schools of magic, with the help of Tomar he found that he excelled at Abjuration and made it his goal to become a great antimagic wizard. Ewan only got so far as to share a kiss with Tomar before his relationship with Ramiel (younger sibling of an enemy general) was discovered and he was forced to flee the Paladin Corps capitol with the party. During his time with the party there was an attack on the Paladin Corps in which the mage college destroyed, leaving Ewan uncertain about the status of his boyfriend (our campain went unfinished shortly after this). *F.E.I. - Bisexual/Trans* Born under a different name, FEI was the youngest of six children of a Kenku adventurer-hero and a former petty criminal. She wasn’t the most well-behaved kid, and she took her affluent childhood for granted up until the day that her mother took ill and died soon after. FEI’s father, who could never quite leave his criminal behavior in the past, stole all of her mother’s fortune and abandoned his children, forcing the six of them into becoming criminals themselves in order to fend for themselves. This tragedy drove FEI down a dark path, until she fell in love with a girl who taught her that she had to live her life to the fullest. This, along with her mother’s dying encouragement to be truer to herself, drove FEI to leave her home behind and start anew, living as a woman for the first time in her life in a new city and with a new name. Initially she intended to leave her criminal past behind her, and despite predjudices against Kenku she managed to join the local city guard. However, her shame and self-loathing still remained in the back of her head, a lack of self-worth which, like most Kenku, she felt could only be medicated by the accumulation of wealth. Thus, despite her desire to leave that life behind, she fell into a gang of Kenku criminals called the Blackbirds. FEI currently works as a corrupt mole within the city guard, though perhaps the appearance of a group of dangerous assholes within her city might push her into abandoning her criminal activity for good and finally follow in her mother’s footsteps. And that’s it for the LGBT+ characters! The canonical ones, at least. I have a handful of others, all of whom (aside from one) I really only played for a couple of sessions and didn’t get much of a chance to delve into their stories. But in the spirit of D&D Pride, fuck it, let’s queer them up too. *Ernbrecht Stonefist - Asexual A Dwarven druid of the stone and the middle son of a noble family. He adhered to a strict set of rules and guidelines while essentially serving as his family’s “eyes” to the world outside of the Dwarves’s island. My very first character of my first serious D&D group, he didn’t remain with the group for very long (because he wasn’t very interesting/fun to play with a brand new party). Glad not to have the burden of the expectation to produce heirs, since he won’t be gettin it on with anyone anytime soon.

*Sirocco - Aromantic/Agender A half-Giant cleric of Varuna, god of the celestial seas. Varuna whispered to Sirocco and told them to baptize the world, that all may join Varuna in the celestial seas beyond the planes. In reality, Sirocco was a cleric of the water and madness domains, and Varuna was actually just some demi-fiend fuckin with them and making them drown people in their Bag of Holding, which was filled with water (the DM let me get away with this because he thought it was hilarious). Didn’t get a chance to play them long (campaign got interrupted by summer break), but they were a lot of fun. Their crowning achievement was single-handedly digging out and creating a river, building a village alongside it, and starting a cult (all of which was constructed above another player’s lich dungeon. Long story). Doesn’t care for romance, too busy being a vessel for their god.

*Weone Harksted - Gay Literally only played as her once, so I don’t even really remember what I was going for. She was a Dwarf cleric of light and I’d interpreted that as being a “sun mage” or something. She was an avid scholar and had some horrible ancient secret book and was more than prepared to destroy a civilization to get to the bottom of that mystery. Also, she likes girls now.

*Musca - Bisexual Ah, Musca. My big, beautiful Gnollish bard. Such a kind heart. Such an indomitable spirit. Also, he swings both ways. I’ll find a group that will let me play as you one day.

#dndpride #tabletop stuff #tabletop #long post

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spicynbachili1 · 6 years

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Soulcalibur VI review | Rock Paper Shotgun

Developer: Bandai Namco Studios Writer: Bandai Namco Leisure

Launch: Out now On: PC From: Steam Value: £50, $60, €60

That is Hooves. He likes to stab and parry and slash and communicate in an alien tongue about how good he’s in any respect of these issues. Hooves additionally enjoys setting people on hearth, and paralysing individuals with horrifying runes, which has led some observers (me) to dub him “Horse Geralt” after the hero of The Witcher three. Unbeknownst to Hooves, he is a clone of the Witcher. That’s proper, poor horsey doesn’t even know who daddy is.

Though this backstory of Hooves’ is my very own dumb invention, it’s no extra fanciful than any of the opposite tales in preventing sport Soulcalibur VI, a rampant, fun-loving area of swordplay and silliness.

To get one thing out of the way in which: I’m a preventing video games dabbler. An indignant wee toad, not a champion. I wouldn’t swear on a replica of Road Fighter II in court docket, however I benefit from the odd bust-up in Tekken 7 or For Honor or Absolver. There’s a tense satisfaction in memorising the appropriate button-slaps for a vaulting deathkick or a flurry of needle-like pokes. And much more satisfaction in stunning your self, and finishing up these dance-like combos in the course of sloppy battle towards some nervy skeleton in a giant costume. However extra on the odd warriors of this explicit preventing sport in a second. First, we should contemplate the constancy of its stabbing. That’s crucial.

The fundamentals are easy sufficient. There are horizontal assaults, vertical assaults, kicks and a guard button. It’s simple stuff, largely. Every character’s movelist is split into totally different pages. A single web page provides you all their predominant assaults: the slashes and lunges and heelstomps you’ll discover most helpful. It’s a strong introduction to every swordsperson. Maxi is a dandy who likes to hit individuals with nunchaku, for instance, after which he does a somersault, most likely from pleasure. Xianghua is a lady with a wobbly sword. She is blood kind B, and likes to carry out the next strikes: murdering you.

There’s additionally an honest tutorial constructed into the “Libra of Soul” mode. This can be a sort-of-RPG through which you journey round a map preventing pc enemies for factors. It’s largely good for studying the fundamentals by preventing an AI sensei early within the journey, who tells you the best way to parry correctly. All these educating strategies and coaching modes make the sport really feel like a great place to shuffle into the Soulcalibur world, and for a Tekken boy like me, that’s largely true. However being a Tekken boy, I’m additionally immunised towards a sure flaw of 3D fighters: terrible storytelling.

The story mode here’s a dangerous anime folded upon itself a number of occasions, like a soggy origami crane. Every character will get their very own paper sculpture of cringey dialogue and scatterbrained plot on prime of the vanilla marketing campaign. For loreheads, perhaps there’s something in these tales, however there wasn’t for me. And I’m guessing even followers care little about Xianghua’s quest for the sword of legend, or Kilik’s quest for the sword of legend, or Taki’s quest for the– you get the concept. The actual thrill is within the sidestep, the parry, the launcher.

Right here’s the place it will get complicated. Coming from Tekken or Road Fighter, the hidden sport of rock-paper-scissors-guard-throw-break-parry-reversal-counter leaves me a bit feverish. In multiplayer, the sport throws all its weight at you quickly sufficient. Making an attempt to take care of the onslaught, I delved deeper into the coaching modes, and shortly lumps of jargon have been sticking to my eyelids like gore. Deadly hits, guard impacts, reversal edge, run counters, soul cost, reverse impacts. Razzle dazzle preventing sport terminology. It’s nothing a diehard biffer received’t have the ability to swallow in a single gulp, however a slowpoke similar to I wants a little bit of time to sup.

However studying is nice. And you may solely actually study within the ring. Right here, glowing results and pop-up notes spotlight the risks. I do know when Nightmare (giant, impolite man whose solely good friend is a sword with a watch) spouts flames that he’s charging up an unblockable assault. I do know when Seong Mi-na (unremarkable lady everybody within the village needs to marry) twirls her pointy Guandao above her head that she is “soul charged” and can now do extra-damaging strikes. I do know when Cervantes (zombie pirate and creator of Don Quixote) strikes me with a crimson slash it means a “reversal edge”.

This can be a good ‘un, the previous reversal edge. It’s a cinematic second through which every participant has to decide to a single assault, or carry out a feisty dodge. It’s nice stuff, particularly whenever you each go for a similar transfer, clanging off one another and leaping again in a panic, earlier than taking yet another hectic guess. It’s a bit extra sophisticated than rock, paper, scissors. However mainly: a sideways slice will beat somebody attempting to kick you, a kick will beat somebody attempting to hack into you with a vertical hit, and a vertical chop will beat somebody swinging from the facet.

However when this and different strikes are all combined collectively by a well-trained participant, I fall to items. Which means two issues: I have to get higher. And that is extra sophisticated than it first seems to be.

Right here’s the place the “fight classes” are neat. These are small “the best way to” manuals for every assassin. They’re dry textual content dumps however in addition they break down the essential technique for every character. I thumbed by the recommendation for stick-swinging Kilik, for instance, and discovered the best way to maintain foes at vary with a handful of staple strikes: extensive, sweeping swings of his bo employees. Positive sufficient, after I went into an actual battle with that mentality, it labored. Wanting by Horse Geralt’s fight classes, I see that some strikes whip out his silver sword, which does extra harm to opponents pumped stuffed with soul cost. In different phrases, a great way to place down a raging bull of a participant.

These are the small print you usually have to search for in YouTube movies stuffed with impenetrable chess-like notations. I like these movies, however I’m glad to have some fundamentals defined within the sport itself, as a result of I’m an fool. 4 paragraphs in the past I wrote a couple of Guandao. I had no concept it was known as that. I needed to look it up by googling “chiense spear” [sic].

However I’ve been dancing across the true great thing about Soulcalibur VI lengthy sufficient. The character creator is the true star of this sport. It’s a feast of potentialities, providing you a bunch of fantasy races to base your character on, then forcing you to repeat and paste the preventing model of a predominant character into their slider-born physique. I’ve made a complete gang of lizard lads, and photographed them as in the event that they have been indulging in some reptilian stag do. I’ve created total Halloween boybands, mummies in waistcoats, orcs in hotpants, a skeleton with a bandana.

But all that is nothing in comparison with the hideous creativeness of the internet-at-large. Any individual has made Marge Simpson. Any individual made a Xenomorph. There’s Zoidberg and The Hulk and “Sexy Venom”. There are such a lot of good issues. Right here is Spiderman preventing a fully-functioning Magikarp.

The moment-to-moment preventing is robust stuff. While you and an opponent get right into a string of blocks and geese and parries, it takes on the power of a lethal tennis rally, and that’s all I actually demand from a preventing sport: a handsome injection of adrenaline. But it surely’s the preposterous and fantastic character creator that makes the entire thing stand out, offering sufficient daftness to take the sting of that adrenal hit. For lengthy stretches, I put aside the shoulder-hunching stress of ranked mode and simply frolicked in informal rooms, preventing shapeshifters and stone individuals and elves and inappropriately proportioned rabbit girls. Though, that model of fighter isn’t restricted to participant creations.

Leeriness is hard-coded into this sport. Girl swordsters duel with boobs akimbo, nipples perking by their leotards, asses clamouring to flee the claustrophobic boundaries of a HD monitor. Pull off the appropriate strikes and you’ll hit your opponent so arduous that their garments come off or deteriorate, and although this impacts all fighters, it’s arduous to not elevate a sceptical eyebrow at such a schoolboy characteristic, seemingly designed to let gamers lech a glimpse at Sophitia’s sideboob. None of this takes away from the clashing of spear and dagger, the standard of the preventing itself, however it nonetheless feels immature and embarrassing.

This lizard with a dick is ok although.

In all, I’m happy by my scrappy fights, and my tutelage of Hooves the horse man continues. One unhappy factor to notice is that £50 is a excessive worth, a fandom worth, and that’s a pity. As a result of the character creator, thorough tutorials and RPG-ish story modes are an open-armed invitation to people who would possibly usually run away from preventing video games with their arms flailing. I think about lapsed followers too, these bizarre vampires and demons and nightmarish Sonics would possibly assume to themselves: “I used to like Soulcalibur. Possibly I might…” However then they’ll see the worth tag, and all that good will and Dreamcast nostalgia will vanish like a closed browser tab.

If that’s you, I can’t blame you. You could possibly purchase a smelly armchair from Greg down the highway for £50, and also you’d most likely get simply as a lot adrenaline and problem from getting that into your third flooring house as you’ll preventing one other terrifying Voldo to the demise. However the second this goes on sale, good friend, the very second it drops its guard – you slice open your pockets and let it bleed. Since you’ll by no means have a good friend like Hooves.

from SpicyNBAChili.com http://spicymoviechili.spicynbachili.com/soulcalibur-vi-review-rock-paper-shotgun/

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kyloren-sithlord · 7 years

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RULES !! Post a song that reminds you of your muse and then tag 6 people whose songs you want to see!

tagged by: @stxrkillcr

I Found - Amber Run

I love the deep dark feeling that comes with this song. I’ve actually written a fic based on it before. It sort of seems to show his problems, his inevitable fall to the dark side, or his fall from power. I see it as sort of a relationship between Kylo and the force, because the Force is a dangerous and terrifying beast, no matter how much the Jedi like to say it can be controlled. And those that delve too deeply into it tend to lose their minds. I also have applied it to Kylo’s relationships, mainly the toxicity that is kylux.

And I'll use you as a warning sign That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind And I'll use you as a focal point So I don't lose sight of what I want And I've moved further than I thought I could But I missed you more than I thought I would And I'll use you as a warning sign That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be Right in front of me Talk some sense to me [2x] And I'll use you as a makeshift gauge Of how much to give and how much to take Oh I'll use you as a warning sign That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind Oh and I found love where it wasn't supposed to be Right in front of me Talk some sense to me And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be Right in front of me Talk some sense to me [3x]

WHAT ARE YOUR MUSE’S AESTHETICS?

[ COLORS ] red. brown. orange. yellow. green. blue. purple. pink. black. white. teal. silver. gold. grey. lilac. metallic. matte. royal blue. strawberry red. charcoal grey. forest green. apple red. navy blue. crimson. cream. mint green. grey green.

[ ELEMENTS ] fire. ice. water. air. earth. rain. snow. wind. moon. stars. sun. heat. cold. steam. frost. lightning. sunlight. moonlight. dawn. dusk. twilight. midnight. sunrise. sunset. dewdrops.

[ BODY ] claws. long fingers. fangs. teeth. wings. tails. lips. bare feet. freckles. bruises. canine. scars (mental; physical). scratches. wounds. burns. spikes. feathers. webs. eyes.hands. sweat. tears. feline. chubby. curvy. short. tall. normal height. muscular. piercing.tattoos.

[ WEAPONS ] fists. sword. dagger. spear. arrow. hammer. shield. whips. poison. guns. axes. throwing axes. whips. knives. throwing knives. pistol. pepper sprays. tasers. machine guns. slingshots. katanas. maces. staffs. wands. powers. magical items. magic. rocks. mud balls. words. bat.

[ MATERIALS ] gold. silver. platinum. brass. copper. lead. diamonds. pearls. rubies. sapphires. emeralds. amethyst. metal. iron. rust. steel. glass. wood. porcelain. paper. wool. fur. lace. leather. silk. velvet. denim. linen. cotton. charcoal. clay. stone. asphalt. brick.marble. dust. glitter. blood. dirt. mud. smoke. ash. shadow. carbonate. rubber. synthetics.

[ NATURE ] grass. leaves. trees. bark. roses. daisies. tulips. lavender. petals. thorns. seeds. hay. sand. rocks. roots. flowers. river. meadow. lake. forest. desert. tundra .savanna. rainforest. caves. underwater. coral reef. beach. waves. space. clouds. mountains.

[ ANIMALS ] lions. wolves. eagles. owls. falcons. hawks. swans. snakes. turtles. ducks. bugs. spiders. birds. whales. dolphins. fish. sharks. horses. cats. dogs. bunnies. praying mantises. crows. mice. lizards. unicorns. pegasus. dragons. rats.

[ FOODS/DRINKS ] sugar. salt. candy. bubblegum. bread. wine. champagne. hard liquor. beer. coffee. tea. spices. herbs. apple. orange. lemon. cherry. strawberry. watermelon. vegetables. fruits. meat. fish. pies. condensed milk. desserts. chocolate. cream. caramel. berries. nuts. cinnamon. burgers. burritos. pizza. rice. ambrosia. soup. stew. whiskey.

[ HOBBIES ] music. art. watercolors. gardening. smithing. sculpting. painting. sketching.fighting. writing. composing. meditation. cooking. sewing. training. dancing. acting. singing. martial arts. self-defense. electronics. technology. cameras. video cameras. video games.computer. phone. movies. theater. libraries. books. magazines. cds. records. cassettes.piano. violin. guitar. electronic guitar. bass guitar. harmonica. harp. woodwinds. brass. bells. percussion. playing cards. poker chips. chess. dice. mahjong. motorcycle riding. eating. climbing. running.

[ STYLE ] lingerie. armor. cape. dress. tunic. vest. shirt. boots. heels. leggings. trousers. jeans. skirt. jewelry. earrings. necklace. bracelet.rings. pendant. hat. ballcap. crown. circlet. helmet. scarf. brocade. cloaks. corsets. doublet. chest plate. robes. bracers. belt. sash. coat. jacket. hood. gloves. socks. masks. cowls. braces. watches. glasses. sunglasses. visor. eye contacts. makeup.

[ MISC ] balloons. bubbles. cityscape. light. dark. candles. war. peace. money. power. clocks. photos. mirrors. pets. diary. fairy lights. madness. sanity. grief. happiness. optimism.realism. pessimism. legacy. loneliness. family. friends. assistants. co-workers. enemies.loyalty. smoking. drugs. kindness. love. hugs.

you can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to. put your mp3 player, itunes,spotify, etc. on shuffle & list the first 10 songs & then tag 10 people, no skipping !

REPOST & DON’T REBLOG !

1. Simple Machine ~ Guster 2. Vagabond ~ MisterWives 3. Gives You Hell ~ The All-American Rejects 4. A Cup of Coffee ~ Julian Moon 5. Wings ~ Birdy 6. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody ~ Fergie 7. That’s All ~ Genesis 8. My Girl ~ The Temptations 9. Devil’s Dance Floor ~ Flogging Molly 10. Gun ~ Mas Ysa

CHARACTER STRENGTHS.

RULES: bold the characteristics that apply to your muse ! Tag your friends !

CHARACTER FLAWS. RULES: bold the characteristics that apply to your muse ! Tag your friends !

Repost! Don’t Reblog! Last Movie I Watched: – Top Secret! Last Song I Listened To:Blood in the cut ~ K.Flay Last book I read: – Eragon ~ Christopher Palolini Last Thing I Ate: Chicken Salad croissant. If You Could Be Anywhere Right Now: In the mountains of New Zealand on a sheep farm Fictional Character You Would Hang Out With For A Day: Aslan from the Chronicals of Narnia. I feel like he would fix all of my problems.

Pick any of them and tag me! I love reading about your muses. tagging: @huxyou, @imncone, @derbefehl, @serratedlight, @starslayer, @firstorderelite, @gxneraliisms, @askarmitagehux, @rogueofren, anyone else who wants to do it!

#{ omg this is sooo much stuff }#{ took me like 30 minutes }

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njawaidofficial · 6 years

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Here’s What The Original Cast Of “Queer Eye” Thinks Of The Netflix Reboot

https://styleveryday.com/2018/03/24/heres-what-the-original-cast-of-queer-eye-thinks-of-the-netflix-reboot/

Here’s What The Original Cast Of “Queer Eye” Thinks Of The Netflix Reboot

Jai Rodriguez, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley, Ted Allen, and Kyan Douglas at the 2003 premiere of Queer Eye.

Scott Gries / Getty Images

When Jai Rodriguez sat down recently to watch the Netflix reboot of Queer Eye, he was somehow able to totally disconnect from his role as the culture guru of the original Fab Five and just enjoy himself as a fan. “And I fangirled out — hard,” he told BuzzFeed News. “I loved it.”

For Rodriguez, watching the show also underscored just how much time has passed since the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy first debuted. “Being out in 2003 was political. You being out was saying something,” he said. “Whereas now it’s not really as big of a deal.”

“We were talking to the guys of the new cast and they were like, ‘Were any of you married on the show?’ And we were like, ‘Are you kidding? We weren’t legally allowed!’ Such a different time,” he said.

When Queer Eye first premiered on Bravo in 2003, it was a bold new reality show featuring a cast of five cosmopolitan, openly gay men who were plucked from total obscurity and transformed into international stars. The showed arrived in a United States where 59% of people opposed marriage equality and “don’t ask, don’t tell” was still the law of the land. The most prominent gay characters on television were in Will & Grace.

And, yet, Queer Eye was a phenomenon.

The show’s premise was simple: Five gay men with different skill sets — ranging from cooking, to fashion, to home improvement — were tasked with sprucing up an unsuspecting and usually unkempt straight guy, taking him from drab to fab.

But Rodriguez and his fellow hosts Carson Kressley (fashion), Kyan Douglas (grooming), Thom Filicia (decor), and Ted Allen (cooking) soon became household names, helping to make over what the country understood about gay people and masculinity.

While the show irked some in the LGBT community for its reliance on the stereotype of gay men being experts in fashion and decor, it was an immediate hit for Bravo, earning the cable channel its highest ever ratings. NBC, Bravo’s parent company, soon took took notice and aired the show after Will & Grace to millions more viewers.

“Queer Eye may be the talk of the water coolers in America’s big cities,” the Chicago Tribune soon declared, while Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper said it was “the most talked-about new program of the new TV season.” The New York Times credited the show with helping give rise to a “metrosexual moment,” while noting it was prominent among the gay-themed shows finding a wider audience.

Soon, the Fab Five were everywhere: They were interviewed on The Tonight Show, making over then-host Jay Leno; they attended the 2003 VMAS, watching Madonna and Britney Spears kiss on stage; Liza Minnelli presented them with the “Biggest Gay Heroes” honor at VH1’s “Big in 03″ ceremony; and they were even parodied on South Park. The show was soon airing in 170 countries, picking up an Emmy in the process.

Rodriguez, Allen, Filicia, Douglas, and Kressley in 2004.

Andrew Kent / Getty Images

But when word leaked in January 2017 that Netflix was planning on rebooting the reality show almost 10 years after the original ended, many were initially reluctant to embrace it, fearful that too many years had passed and too much LGBT progress had been made to return to an outdated show.

“Netflix is reviving another small-screen relic — and, we fear, all the problematic stereotypes that come along with it,” wrote TV Line, asking whether the reboot would set gay rights back a decade. (Fittingly, just months earlier, the same fears were raised when it was announced NBC planned to reboot Will & Grace.)

Yet the Netflix reboot, which premiered last month, has proved immensely popular with fans both old and new — in part because of the changes producers made from the original. “The original show was fighting for tolerance,” says fashion expert Tan France in the reboot’s opening episode. “Our fight is for acceptance.”

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With its emphasis on self-care, body positivity, and joy, Queer Eye (“For the Straight Guy,” was cut from the title of the reboot, which features an episode with the Fab Five making over a gay man) has been popular with critics and on social media. “Queer Eye manages to combine all the brain-dead fun of the original … with an underlying and rather profound examination of masculinity,” wrote Eleanor Margolis for the New Statesman. “On top of that, it has a trait that, in these certifiably Dark Times, we can only appreciate: pure, uncut positivity.”

Members of the original cast are also fans of the changes Netflix has made to the series, including its more racially diverse cast (France is a British-Pakistani Muslim, Karamo Brown was the first openly gay black cast member on MTV’s The Real World). “I love that the cast is more diverse. I love that the people that they’re making over are more diverse,” said Douglas, the original grooming expert. “I love them. I think it’s a great show.”

They also applauded the reboot’s attempts to deal with complex subjects such as religion, race relations with police, internalized homophobia, and heteronormative views of LGBT relationships. With excitement, Rodriguez said the Queer Eye reboot is “allowed to tackle issues we were not really allowed to delve into.”

The reboot also shifts most of the action from New York to Georgia, the same state where an Augusta station manager once refused to air the original Queer Eye until 2:30 in the morning due to scenes he believed “crossed the line of decency with blunt sexual innuendo.”

The new Queer Eye cast (from left: Karamo Brown (culture), Jonathan Van Ness (grooming), Tan France (fashion), Antoni Porowski (food and wine), and Bobby Berk (interior design).

Carin Baer / Carin Baer/Netflix

Rodriguez said the new show works because it’s more accessible and allows the new Fab Five to be vulnerable, rather than comic book heroes answering a clarion call as depicted in the original’s credit sequence.

“We were superheroes who were meant to be perfect. They never showed us flawed; they never showed us making mistakes,” Rodriguez said. “This new version isn’t like that. Sometimes they’re in tank tops and shorts. They’re just relatable, they’re easy breezy; they’re not the gays that are better than you — they’re the gays who just want to help.”

“Our show, if you remember, everything was designer, high-end,” he said. “I had to wear a blazer in every episode.”

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Both Douglas and Filicia, the original grooming and decor experts, believe the new Queer Eye has been embraced because it’s arrived at just the right time.

“It’s been a little bleak,” Filicia said. “I think there is a strong reaction to the show because it has a great lineage, a great history, and I think that people are ready to feel good about things again.”

Douglas described the reboot as an antidote to the “strange, difficult time” the country is going through.

“The underbelly of racism is so clear for anybody who decides to see it and homophobia and transphobia,” he said. “This new Queer Eye is the antidote to all that in some ways — it’s like, thank god there’s still some queer people in your living room.”

Allen, the original food expert, said both his version and the reboot help viewers see gay men as real people instead of caricatures.

“I think that when a conservative family sees this group of five happy, successful, accomplished people devoting themselves to helping somebody who’s a bit of a mess, it humanizes us,” Allen said.

He and Kressley, the original fashion expert, believe that although society has evolved, and important LGBT progress has been made, the new version is just as necessary as ever.

“Even though we have made great strides in our community with marriage equality and many more advances in trans rights, at the end of the day, there is still a lot of homophobia and a lot of people that have not been exposed to gay people,” Kressley said.

“It doesn’t matter what era we live in — visibility is so important because … little queer kids need to see flamey people like me and Jonathan [Van Ness],” Kressley said. “It’s okay to be any kind of person you want to be; it’s okay to be who you are. I think that’s why it’s important that it’s back.”

Douglas, Kressley, Filicia, and Rodriguez at last month’s West Hollywood premiere of the Netflix reboot.

Emma Mcintyre / Getty Images

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thotyssey · 7 years

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On Point With: Flippe Kikee

This petite country gal turned big city broad is known in NYC nightlife for her charming squeak, winning smile and super-femme looks. But she’s actually more of a fully realized character than merely a heightened version of herself in the way that most drag personas are. Learning to live with tragic loss has only made her stronger, and her ongoing drag evolution ensures that she’s a consistently exciting entertainer to watch. Come to the flip side with Miss Flippe Kikee!

Thotyssey: Wassup, Flippe? Did you catch the Tonys the other night?

Flippe Kikee: No! I'm a bad drag queen. I grew up with a great love of film, so I'm a Screen Queen! I appreciate theatre, I just don't keep up with it. That night, me and Jupiter Stone were actually at a screening of Marilyn Monroe's Some Like it Hot. We've dubbed ourselves the Boozy Blondes, so Marilyn is our muse.

You’re in good company, I didn’t see it either. I was watching Twin Peaks! And by the way, I recall that you make a great Marilyn. You were in full Monroe geish several years ago at the old Boots & Saddle, breathily cooing “Happy Birthday” to Honey Davenport.

OMG! I remember that. Drag is all about character acting. Flippe is a character; I put a lot of thought into her personality when I thought her up. Doing other people like Marilyn or Britney Spears, who I channel a lot, is a chance for me to delve into a non-Flippe character. Marilyn's voice is the most fun thing ever as an actor. It's so light and playful, yet sexy. You can say anything and get away with it as Marilyn.

So, how would you describe the character of Flippe?

She's one-half ingenue, one-half ballsy broad. I grew up in the south, surrounded by strong-yet-elegant women, so I try to have that. My mom was very that, and also playful... even innocent, in a way. I try to give Flippe that same balance. Whimsy, wisdom, whiskey and a dash of fireball for spice. That's what Flippe is made of. Delicious! I have to say that I have seen a lot of drag queens in my day, but you were the first to actually give me pause as to whether or not your were a cisgender lady! I am sure you've gotten that a lot. I used to get it more. I've actually taken steps to heighten my drag aesthetic a bit to clear up that confusion. But then, I also don't mind the question. Drag is all about crossing and blurring gender lines. So honestly, if the audience questions that, it's the biggest compliment ever! To clear it up definitively, I am a boy--I'm just pretty at it.

Also, it doesn't help that I have the voice of a Kristen Chenowith wanna-be Muppet. But that's another story.

You dealt with a lot of unhappiness and tragedy in your youth.

Tragedy yes, unhappiness no. I had a generally pretty good childhood, especially considering I was a pretty femme boy in a conservative small town. All of that shifted in my early 20's, when both of my parents passed away. It was definitely a dark time, but it was also a catalyst for growth. I had to grow up, like, overnight.

Part of that involved moving to NYC. I had always wanted to, but just didn't. Losing my parents was a wake-up call. Life is short! I miss them every day. It's been 10 years, and I'm tearing up writing this. It never leaves you, the loss, but neither does the love. I'm more me now, living here, doing what I do because of them--because of their presence, and their absence.

I'll never not talk about it, because I think it's important to remember. It makes me proud. They are my war story. My scars. I actually got a pair of tattoos in honor of my Mom and Dad this past New Year. So, I literally now have scars.

Sorry, that got really deep. This is when I'd take a shot and make a joke on stage! Keep it real, queen, that's why we love you! And it takes an incredibly strong and wise person to come through that, and be such a source of light!

So, on some level were you always an entertainer? I'd say I was always a character. I can actually be quite shy, unless I'm comfortable with people. So I tended to be the quiet kid that just thought things, yet didn't say it. But with my friends I was the first to crack the joke, or put someone at ease.

I think that's why I do drag. I need the costumes, the makeup, the wig. It's my armor. When I'm all dolled up there is a level of distance, of safety. I get a pass. Out of drag I'm very non-Flippe--unless I'm with my inner circle. It's a self-duality that works with the duality of drag. That sounds like it could be difficult to navigate sometimes, though.

For the most part, I don't overthink it. It's a natural shift that happens. The second I'm in pumps and a wig, Flippe just comes on. There is definitely a process that helps, but I think it's subconscious. So much of drag, like any art, is instinct. I just trust my instincts--my "voice"--and it just happens. Which I'm fine with. I could never be Flippe 24/7, she is exhausting. But, she is a great outlet for [my boy self] Charles. It's very cathartic.

How long have you been doing drag, exactly? Were you at it before you came to New York?

Actually, no. I never did drag before NYC. A lot of people have said that my look has a touch of Southern Drag, but I think that's just a product of growing up there.

I started dressing drag in 2010. I didn't see myself as a performer--I thought I was more the host/personality. That didn't last long; my first show, I was a co-host with Honey Davenport. She made me a performer, if only by giving me permission that I wasn't giving myself. You can't work with someone like Honey and not become a better performer. About a year into our show (2013ish), I got my own solo show. It was at Boots and Saddle--or as I think of it now, Boots Camp! I learned a lot about performance, work ethic, delivering consistency, and true sisterhood. I think I'm lucky that I started in that kind if environment. I know drag can be intense and catty from stories, but I've really not been a part of that.

I once heard some other queen declare that your first drag name was Flippe Burger!

LOL! I've never heard that. That sounds like attempted shade. But as long as people are talking about me, it's all good. Plus, I mean, I definitely have some meat on my bones. And I do love a good burger! Who doesn’t? I liked your Boots & Saddle presence. You had that solo show, and you had the show with Honey and Kareem McJagger, and you DJ’ed some of the other shows. The rapid turnover rate for drag shows at that bar has become kind of notorious. Do you think that’s, I dunno... strange?

I don't find the turnover strange. Shows come and go, time slots shift. It's part of performing. I was there for almost three years. It’s easy to stop evolving when you are in one place too long. I embrace the change.

What was a personal highlight of your time there?

Drag suicide, hands down. So much of drag involves intense preparation. So, sometimes it's good to just let go and see what happens. Honey and I (and later Kareem) always embraced the Kiki of this improv moment. I also found numbers that I otherwise may have never tried. It's one thing to surprise the audience--but when you surprise yourself, that's s great feeling as a performer. Lots of queens hate drag suicide! I think the queens that hate it are afraid to look a fool. I am a fool. I have no shame. It's 30 seconds, I can let go for that long! Plus, it is like improv--you have to be able to roll with the punches. I've worked with queens that were intimidated by it. I always said the same thing: "We are men in dresses, it's not that serious."

On that note... there seems to be a lot of squabbling and hurt feelings in nightlife lately--a lots of silly fights and shade about nothing. Has the Trump presidency just driven everyone completely crazy? I kinda know what you mean, but gratefully I'm not really a part of it. I see statuses and comments on occasion, but honestly I just keep pumping down my lane. I think that the political climate has made some people feel unheard, so they are venting in social media. The problem with that is, a Facebook post is a conversation opener, and most of times these queens don't want a conversation. They just want to spout their opinions. Opinions are like lip syncs: we all do it, but some are sloppier than others.

True! I just watched a cute video you made a few years ago, a song parody homage to Buffy. Are you a Buffy buff?

I adore Joss Whedon, and still have a big girl-crush on Sarah Michelle Gellar. Buffy is defintely one of the greatest kick-ass girls of all time. It's funny, I did the Buffy video for Halloween that year. This past one I was Supergirl, and I've done Princess Leia a few times. Apparently, Girl Power heroines are my thing.

And you made a cute appearance in The Paisley Fields’ video for “How Low” recently. Was that fun?

Well, I got to dress up in my most Dolly Parton look, there was free food, and I got to be a film actress for a day without having to memorize lines. It was pretty great! Plus, I love The Paisley Fields’ music. That's a great part of being a queen in NYC: all the other artists I get to collaborate with.

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You sing a lot in your shows, and you competed in two seasons of "New York’s Next Top Drag Queen," which is an all-singing competition. Were you always a singer?

Yes, to my parents regret, as a child. I was always singing. In the car, in the shower. Anywhere. I love music so much. It provides such a common ground for people. We can't agree on much, but we can agree about Beyoncé! I only did lip sync numbers for a while--then a few people heard my voice and pushed me to try live numbers. It was another case of me waiting for permission from someone before giving it to myself. Now I like to do both. I'd never only lip sync, and I'd never only sing live. I've been hosting karaoke for over a year now, so the live singing is handled. I'm about to launch a new show in July (details to come) so then I'll have the chance for lip syncing and drag suicide again! Rockbar is where you've been the Thursday night karaoke queen this whole time. What's the key to being a good karaoke host? Not everybody can pull it off! You can't take it seriously. People are very vulnerable singing in front of others. You have to be able to make them feel safe. I remind everyone every week, "This is not a competition. And, it's definitely not an audition, ‘cause I already have the job!" So I just try to keep it fun. I'll try songs I've never done. Sometimes they work, sometimes not. But when they see me not sound perfect, it makes them feel safe to get up there and sing, for fun! Also, side note: starting July, karaoke is moving to Tuesdays.

Something else is coming up at Rockbar before that change... next week, in fact: The Big Gay Pride Drag Show on Tuesday, June 20th! That’s where all of Rockbar’s house queens, and some special guests, perform a massive show and raise funds for Planned Parenthood. First of all, how much do you enjoy being part of the Rockbar family? So much! I really love everyone that I work with, queens and bartenders alike. There isn't drama, we just all have fun together. I work the slot with Joey, my favorite bartender ever (though my liver won't agree)!

And yes, the Big Gay Pride Show! I'm so excited to be a part of it. I don't get to see all the others girls a lot cause of schedules. So it'll be nice to have a big Rockbar family show.

There’s a pretty good chance that I am debuting as a drag queen that night, as I’m co-hosting it with Rockbar manager Jason and Queen of Everything Witti Repartee. Any advice for me?

Have fun! No matter what you do. If you aren't enjoying it, no one else will. It's really the only must. After that, just do what feels right for you. Every queen has an opinion on drag, but that's just their opinion on what drag is for them. Your drag--whether you're a pro, a Halloween queen, or just a one timer--should be all yours! I know it sounds cliche, like "Just be you," but,sometimes cliches are true.

Thank you for that wisdom, I’ll do that! In other drag news, the Drag Race Final Four is still the Final Four! Who's your pick for this season’s winner?

I really love Peppermint. But honestly, at this point they are all impeccable. They each serve such different POV's that I’d be happy with either of them. I'm more about the Drag, less about the Race! I agree completely! Okay, so finally, here’s my new favorite closing question: what is the very worst thing about drag for you... and what's the best? The worst is shaving. I hate it. I can deal with everything else, but if every inch of hair left my body I’d be so happy. Maybe I should start a Gofundme for laser removal! The best part would have to be the freedom. It's art that I get to self-produce. I can be whatever I want to be for four minutes: the girl next door, a siren, a femme fatale, or just a tenor in a dress. I love that. The only rules are mine.

That, and the free booze. Bottoms up, Tops in! I’ll drink to that! Thanks, Flippe!

Flippe Kikee hosts karaoke at Rockbar on Thursday nights currently, and Tuesday nights starting this July. (10pm). For updates on new shows and appearances, follow Flippe on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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fentonizer · 7 years

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Achievement from the comfort of your pyjamas

Horizon Zero Dawn is a “good game.”

Strap in, folks.

Horizon Zero Dawn is peak “video games.” It is all things to all people. It is an open-world, action-adventure-rpg with resource gathering, crafting and stealth mechanics.

If you were to send one game into space so that if an alien civilisation found it they would know what human beings thought video games were all about, then Horizon Zero Dawn would be it.

None of this is praise, by the way. Not really. If you asked me to give it a score I would say that the game gets seven points out of ten points. Or I would say that it gets three and a half stars out of five stars. Or I would say that it gets sixty-eight percent (because the number sixty-nine is a meme and should be avoided in these circumstances).

Let’s take a step back. Let’s talk about open world games in general.

Open world games are a genre of video game that are as popular as they are maligned. Like most genres (of any medium), it’s kind of hard to pin down key facets that a game has to have to be open world, but I’ll try- if instead of walking the circuitous ground level path to your objective, you awkwardly try to jump up steep hills, trying to catch a piece of geometry your character can stand on, there’s a good chance you’re playing an open world game.

OK, let’s take another step back. Video games are an interactive medium. the most popular games are about either sports or shooting people with weapons. Conflict, basically. Conflict is inherently the easiest thing to make a game about as you can lose, so it’s easy to give the player a lose-condition and therefore motivation.

There are other ways to motivate the player, of course. You can tell them that there are one-hundred of a thing and they have to find a lot of them, if not all of them. This is a pretty base motivation. You could put something really difficult in the game, something that takes study and mastery to succeed at. The problem with this is that it’s much harder to make a system like that than it is to put one-hundred of a thing in a space.

Open world games often rely a lot on finding lots of a thing. I don’t know how I can say this without being rude, but open world games are generally a time sink. Without a well crafted world that you want to see, there’s no more depth in finding one-hundred of a thing in a hedge maze, or block of flats. Moreover, the only difference between an open-world game like this, and a linear story based game (something like The Last Of Us, which is more similar than you’d think) is the extracurricular padding.

Experience points is another good one to motivate people. Start at level 1, kill an enemy, get 10 experience points. Get 100 experience points and you can get to level 2, and then you’ll be strong enough to fight the thing that gives you 12exp. Get to level 5 and you'll have enough points to learn a new skill! Pretty great, huh?

Crafting is good as well. There’s a very popular game called Minecraft that, as well as lots of mining, had lots of crafting. You get some wood and that makes sticks and planks, and with some sticks and planks you can make a shitty pickaxe that can get you a few stone. Some stone gets you a better pickaxe and then you can mine coal and turn enough stone into a furnace, put the coal in it and smelt copper, and so on. The player is enticed by a branching tree of options as they find more and more things, and they are encouraged to explore and forage to build up supplies of these items.

Horizon Zero Dawn has all of this, which is why people like it. Problem is, it never gets out of the kiddie end of the pool with it. It’s the base level amount of a system, and it’s obvious how shallow it is after an hour (that’s why I said “kiddie end of the pool” because that’s the shallow end. Please fund more of this writing on Patreon).

Crafting is just some of a thing to get more space to carry stuff. That’s it. Then you can stop crafting. Levelling up gives you 10 more hit points, and 1 skill point to spend on a skill tree that is basically useless beyond 5 incredible skills that make the game a cake-walk (Double arrows/triple arrows/sneak attack/better stealth/more resources). There’s no weapon customisation beyond some modifications, but there’s no strategy here, just find the best ones (purple, because fucking obviously) and slot them in.

The story is the usual “chosen-one” power fantasy that gets bonus points for at least being about a woman. Robots threaten the world, oh no. Try to stop them ok? Second act (hugely telegraphed) plot revelation, third act triumph, post credits sequel bait. Knocked that shit out in a weekend, mate. It doesn't successfully say anything or mean anything to anyone, despite trying very hard to send a message about the dangers of hubris, or trees being super. If anything, the takeaway message is that humanity is a collection of bumbling savages and should have been consigned to extinction at the first opportunity.

To be fair, games are about systems. At least, all the games people play, are about systems. Maybe, if you want a good story, then do something like read a book, you fucker. A good story in a game is hard to come by, mostly because it’s very difficult to mesh an interactive medium with linear story telling (and even harder to do non-linear story telling).

Systems and mechanics are what keep people hooked, and differentiate the medium. But a game where the systems and mechanics can ultimately be “solved” are boring. This is the best weapon combo, this is the best armour, these are the best mods for the best weapons and best armour.

There’s some good time to be had with the gameplay, as you learn the combat. You can scan enemies and see their components, and you have you actually learn how to fight things. They’re not simply big bubbles of hit points, with a red spot on them that does double damage. There’s fuel tanks you can rupture, or you can shoot off their weapons, or tie them down, or lure them into traps, or apply statuses. And that’s fun! it really is. At least three of the aforementioned three and a half stars I would give this game come from fighting things.

The combat is good because you have to learn how to be good at it. You have to have a plan and an approach. You can’t waltz in with you spear and start whacking shit as you will lose, and personally I think that’s great. Well, fighting the machines anyway. Fighting humans is a clumsy mess, as they are actually blobs of HP with a head that takes lots of damage.

The rest of the game makes me super sad though, because it’s full of all these gamer-contrivances. It’s full of real menial shit that is only in there because most gamers (at least the most vocal ones) are time-rich kids who need something to do. So give them exp to grind, give them a map full of shit to tick off a list, none of which does anything.

Give them main story quests, side story quests, AND THEN errand type quests. Make them walk to a place, start a quest, walk to another place to talk to a person, click the now mandatory button that highlights the things you need to interact with before going to a third place to kill some dudes, before finally going back to the first person who tells you “thanks” and then to fuck off as dispassionately as the whole affair started.

Make every ledge the player character can climb obvious so when you need to scale something vertically, you’re just doing a dot-to-dot that is impossible to fail. And then make other waist-high walls insurmountable because whoever was meant to come around and paint this edge in worn white paint didn’t get here yet.

The world is large but ultimately uninteresting. There’s no sense of place or sufficient landmarks to encourage you to learn where you’re going. You rely entirely on fast travel and the numerous on-screen arrows to get around, never once did I feel lost or small, I felt the opposite. I felt like the centre of the universe, I felt like the whole place was built just for me. Which, again, comes down to the bizarre decision to make climbable objects so obvious, it breaks my immersion, because “a creator” has clearly done something.

It makes me sad, genuinely sad, because this is a “good video game.” People like it because of these things, not in spite of them. They like it because they can sit down for 3 or 4 hours and they will feel like they've achieved something... All I see, for the most part, is the total waste of time that video games are. They are the illusion of progression and achievement. They are the chips of the cultural world; objectively better than nothing at all, but ultimately of no value. No amount of “Triple-Cooked” BS is going to stop them from just being chips (triple cooked = triple-A, support me on Patreon).

If this is the height of games, if this is a masterpiece, then we truly are doomed. We don’t need to strive for better, for more meaning in our games, what we need is a dozen shallow systems that a player can indulge themselves in between school, work and masturbation breaks. That’s what gets the big bucks after all, a psychological trick-room where you’re lauded for “achievement” from the comfort of your pyjamas. You did it! Who’s good player?! It’s you! Yes it is!

And I know, I am being hugely elitist, this is a personal attack on you and the thing you like, and that makes me reprehensible. Maybe I’m just doing this to be contrarian or to be noticed. If this game had gotten bad reviews, I’d say I loved it.

A lot of people put a lot of hard work into this game and I respect that. It frequently looks stunning and... well, I don’t want to delve into consumer advice as a deflection here. It’s fine. The game is fine. It’s a fine game. Did I feel tested or challenged, did I feel I had to improve myself to overcome? Rarely. Do I feel like I learned something, anything, about the world, myself, my fellow man, or even anything about “video games?” No.

7/10. 3.5 Stars. 68%.

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