#and be stuck ranting about old games lol

[randomnameless]

It's crazy how SoV preluded 3H by making one of the protags have a tremendously contradictory mindset of humanity being better off without gods, while also relying on those same gods to fulfill their goals, the hypocrisy of which goes completely unadressed throughout the game; truly masterful foreshadowing

Who directed FE15?

lol

I've recently tried to think about this "gods BaD" shift in more doylist terms - especially since I've finally played a Squenix game recently and...

FE13 was the FE series last ditch effort, it will either work or end up as the F-Zero series, FE13 worked and FE14 followed suit.

Lolcalisation aside, FE14 had a nice plot and I engaging characters - to some people but not me, different tastes and all - but FE14 and FE13 were still FE games, as in part of the old FE series, aka a niche series. Adding dating sim/interpersonal relationship through avatars might have helped a bit, and yet, imo, it was still the "niche" FE series.

Comes FE15 where we basically have a remake, and can't add the interpersonal thing because Alm isn't an avatar (even if the game spends a lot of time praising his oranges) - how to make the game work? Sure, some weirdo fans of the FE series will buy it, and it was never supposed to sell as much as FE13/14, but if it was a 1:1 remake or just with minor adjustments? It might bomb like the Archanea remakes, and good luck coming after that - will they need another "FE13" to reignite the sales or??

And here I thought about it : FE15 was retconned with the "GoDs BaD" spiel, to make this game more in-tune with what I'd call "traditional" JRPGs where the protagonists often defy a corrupt church and "divine" being.

("Traditional" imo being the Squenix way, because while I didn't play all entries of this series, the Tales series never striked me as being particularly as, uh, vindicative against organised religion, maybe save for Symphonia 1 - Abyss' Church really wishes to help the people even if it is corrupted from within by some dude who doesn't want to let the world die and played by the big bad, Xillia has no church, ditto for Zestiria and Phantasia had Mint and... that's it? - compare this to Squenix's Triangle Strategy and Hyzante being comically EvIl and without any redeeming traits/points when all of the other major parties of the conflict have "token good NPCs" as forced as they are in the game, to make it very clear that they might have done questionnable things like invading and slaughtering civilians from a foreign nation who welcomed them at their wedding, but at least they have "MoRaLs" unlike those bozos in their desert...)

And this "let's make FE mainstream by kicking gods" mentality completely runs at odds with the rest of the FE franchise, and while I know RD basically ends like this bcs "uwu Ike defeated a GoD with the help of another who used the lead of that game as a soul jar and granted him exclusive powers to put her sister to sleep" the morale of RD's story - as seen in the perfect ending but in Ike's speech to Yune itself - is that everyone can and should try to live together, asking Gods not the fuck out to let Humanity alone, but to believe in them just like humans believe in gods.

So FE15 ends as this big, uh, mismatched clash of narrative directions - being a remake it cannot stray too far from the source material and Archanea verse : Dragons and Humans can live together (even if it means dragons must sacrifice part of themselves to do so because fuck them I guess) and dragons can help humans just like humans can, uh, not be asses and not target them because their ears are pointy or when they are weakened...

And we had the new Squenix direction where GoDs BaD and HuMaNiTy fuck yeah, which leads to FE15's hypocrisy : please trust and rely on us Gods/dragons and kindly help us when we're in deep shit, and at the same time "HuMaNiTy FuCk YeAh".

Interestingly, the Squenix direction loses in the post game campaign (the one where we discover Thabes) but is reintroduced in the official (tm) timeline, depicting basically how BaD Duma is and how much of a chad Rudy was, before his very tragic (bring the onions!) death.

But yeah, I agree anon, FE15 was crazy foreshadowing and I guess is part of the reason why Tru Piss has this message "Humanity doesn't need Gods" targeted at... Rhea, aka a Nabatean (while Supreme Leader got there thanks to Sothis' powers!!) because the "Humanity Fuck Yeah" narrative is a staple of Squenix JRPGS, and if FE has to become mainstream, I guess to some devs, it has to copy what sells.

That would also explain why FE16 went so off the rails and forgot the tradition FE series message about coexistence, because what the fuck do you mean by "Humanity doesn't need Nabateans", after parroting for the entire game "Nabateans are to blame for the irrational world we live in" and blame "Nabatean blood" for everything wrong in Fodlan, without ever acknowledging the "evilness that lurks in the heart of men" (who aren't called Dimitri) ?

In a series that, albeit hazaphardly at times (FE8's manaketes feel forced in the lore! and the less is said about Nowi/Panne in FE13 the better we are), tried to push the "coexistence between all inhabitants of the land is the key to peace!" card - this Squenix direction feels all kind of wrong, especially when friendship with the divine beings (dragons) have been a staple of the franchise (Y!Tiki's number of alts, imo, is telling : for better or worse, Y!Tiki is, along with Marth, the figure of the franchise. She is a dragon, and she's a kid who wants to make friends. Sure it brings the loli crowd, but all those dragon children in the different games? They are a direct throwback to Y!Tiki!).

In a nutshell, I'd say the first crack was FE10's writing that made things seem like the Hero defeated a goddess and its subsequent wanking.

But I agree with you anon, FE15's change in direction and retcons were absolutely gunning for that Squenix "GoDs BaD" while keeping the "traditional" FE message which resulted in hypocrisy that showed in the writing but I guess no one really paid attention because FE15 has other issues too (I didn't before happening on FE16... even if I remember wondering why the fuck the game kept on hammering how BaD Duma was when we had people being asses right and left on their own).

FE Fodlan completely ignored the "we can coexist" message - save for subtext you can have where the optional lords who win the war and aren't Supreme Leader can have half/quarter-nabatean heirs through Flayn but her heritage is never ever mentionned in the ending cards - by completely shitting/ignoring the local dragons, they're blamed for everything wrong and don't get their voice to the chapter.

Masterful writing lol

I can't wait for the next game, let it be a remake (pls not Jugdral!!) or a new entry (Engage was developped alongside Fodlan, not after!) to see if IS will continue with the Squenix developments or return to their roots, even if they seem milquetoast, of "humans and lizards can hold hands".

---

NGL anon, during 2020/2021 and the daily "Supreme Leader was right though" threads in SF, I kind of realised that what I took for granted, aka "coexistence between humans and dragons!" being the message of FE in general, wasn't, even in what used to be the most serious board/thing.

FE as a series came to the West through FE7 where Dragons and Humans were at war, but ultimately the cast learns that dragons aren't evil incarnate and the best ending reveals that the big bad went mad because his dragon wife was killed and he tried to reunite with their dragon-human children he hid away for their safety.

So it was kind of surprising to see long-time, or at least not "Fodlan introduced" members of SF parroting the "well they can't live together" by buying the most ludicrous headcanon/fanon arguments you'd find in other series like "different lifespans" - this argument is pretty much non existent in the FE series, and I've never seen it opposed to Miccy's rule in Daien when, as a Heron Branded, she will outlive her citizens, or what, are we supposed to believe that Myrrh shouldn't interact with humans and remain in her forest because she will outlive humans, or is too "different" from them thus wouldn't have the same considerations?

FE13/14 brought the fandom wars of "new fans" vs "old fans", but FE Fodlan? Brought "casual JRPG gamer" vs "FE gamer" which usually boils down to "Supreme Leader fans" vs "everyone else".

Sure, we had the religion hate boner because the dragons in Fodlan verse made a "Church" with catholic imagery which is a deadly sin to some - but the "dragon blood is indeed the reason why everything sucks in the world" being parroted? "Dragons cannot have power over humans because of the sheer inbalance"? What, are you implying Nergal was forced by Aenir to mate with her twice or what? Ninian was oppressing Pherae in the endings where she marries Eliwood, and humans were finally liberated when she died?

Kana is, by nature, someone who will oppress humans because they're part dragon and their blood will bring strife to the world?

So unless IS doesn't fully commit to one narrative - because yes, for all of its flak, FE Fodlan still takes time, when it remembers, to portray Nabateans in a relative positive light when it comes to them as characters and in the general background, it's just that, they're never given a voice when it comes to discussing about the plot - we're bound to have this hypocrisy :

Dragons BaD bcs Humanity Fuck Yeah

and

Dragons and Humanity can coexist and make babies for scalies/monsterfuckers out there because acceptance/diversity is a way for peace.

[writerquil]

Spoilers!

TW! A rant. Mentions of S@ and Abuse

AHEM! Alastor apologist (and apparently now partial defender) to the rescue!

This post is for anyone switching up on my guy after the newest episode. And the switch up originates from that one scene, you know, the scene below.

(EDIT: Sorry for the random censoring lol, I don't feel like going back to edit it and its an old habit of mine).

Yeah, we all know this scene. Basically the one where Alastor lashes out at Husk.

Immediately after seeing this scene I had TWO different reactions, in which consisted of “wow that was cool” and “people are going to twist this, aren’t they?”

And people did! So here I am!

I’m basically going to show a bunch of reactions and concerns to said scene that I disagree with and then I’ll say why!

1. “Alastor is like Valentino!”

Don’t even say that. PLEASE NO.

I like to think that I’m pretty good at letting my liking for characters go the moment that I realize they’re wretched in specific ways, but this never occurred for Alastor.

You wanna know why? Because he is NOTHING like Valentino apart from the fact that they’re both overlords who carry soul contracts. I don’t think I really need to pick apart their personalities because we can already tell how different they are.

The only reason why the two were “grouped” together was because Husk and Angel were stuck in situations both caused by soul contracts and an overlord which caused the two to be mentioned alongside each other.

2. “Husk’s relationship to Alastor is EXACTLY the same as Angel and Valentino’s!”

Nope. Both relationships, admittedly suck, trust me, I’m not discounting either relationship or saying “ok well one has it worse than the other”.

But come on guys, the relationships are not the same. Alastor sucks to Husk, obviously, considering he is forced to do his bidding for who knows how long? But there’s obviously a fine line between the two relationships.

There’s parallels of course, with the chains and the soul dealing. The situations aren’t completely the same but they have similar sources so parallels are bound to occur.

Valentino is an abusive ass whom frequently physically and emotionally abused Angel and Alastor (from what we’ve all seen) can be a jerk who drags Husk into clearly many “favours” such as working at the hotel and possibly many more considering he’s clearly met more of Alastor’s colleagues and friends before.

They’re both forced into things and with their souls under contract, they can’t do much about it. But the things they’re forced to do are significantly different. Once again, this isn’t me saying anyone has it better, because it’s not a competition.

But the relationships are not the same. The two are brought in for significantly different things. Do you really think Alastor is s3Xua!!y abusing Husk whenever he’s brought in? Yeah, no, me neither.

Do you think he’s mentally abusing him too, or that a situation like what was displayed occurs often whenever Husk does come in? Because no. Didn’t you see how startled Husk was? This clearly wasn’t just an average event that happened between the two frequently and the fact that Husk was willing to push Alastor’s buttons a bunch in the first place just shows that he wasn’t expecting it to happen either.

And for the people so insistent on Alastor abusing him like that. I suggest you hide your weird k!nks better.

3. “Alastor tortures Husk frequently!”

Okay and what gave you that idea? Was it the way that Alastor lashed out? Because he didn’t lash out of the blue as you may think.

Husk pushed his buttons and Alastor got angry. Trust me, I love Husk but he played a stupid game and got surprised when he won a stupid prize.

Considering Alastor abusive after pulling Husk to the floor is strange. Trust me, if he was supposed to be abusive, it would be explicitly showed throughout the episodes. And before you say “well it was implied”, I really don’t think so.

And once again, Husk was clearly extremely startled, which means this probably doesn’t happen very often. Which also discounts you all considering him to be similar to Valentino, who displayed hurting behaviour frequently.

Like the most we’d even seen interaction between the two was in the pilot and the recent episode. I think we’d get more display if there was more violence occurring in the relationship.

4. “I used to like Alastor before…”

Then what? You realized he was evil and did evil things? YEAH, he’s bound to threaten someone here and there.

Like if you don’t like him after witnessing his literal evilness then sorry to say, you never liked him in the first place.

I’m sorry for this guys but seriously. You can’t switch up on an evil character for doing evil things. He’s going to threaten people. Just know that when he does, it doesn’t signify he’s abusive or assaults Husk on a daily basis.

[obsessive-valentine]

Just suddenly thought of it, but I'm imagining your Yan!Fae wants to increase the love between them and their lover (the lover will probably be colder after the kidnapping) and he started thinking of a way, What would it be like for a lover who wants to read books but the books in the library are written in a language they cannot read (I think every race or country would have their own form of writing). I think he will take advantage of that to get closer, like teaching them the words and then praising them (he intentionally kisses their cheeks).

Yandere!Childhood-Friend-Fae x Kidnapped-GN!Reader

Fae 100% have their own language and many variations so it can be difficult for a human to grasp, love this idea. He just wants closeness and to recreate the love he had from reader in his childhood but went about it the wrong way lol -let him try win your favour again ❤️

You wanted to hate him but you knew the person he used to be was still in there, you grew up with those eyes and that smile and a part of you missed him.

But his voice is different and hes dauntingly tall, he’s colder even if it’s unintentionally he’s not as relaxed and innocent as he used to be. You can’t bring yourself to think of him like you used to, he’s now your kidnapper who slightly resembles your beloved childhood friend.

Stuck in the limbo of not hating but not liking his presence, a indifference badly masking your fear and mourning for your old life. He could tell you were troubled and expected it from such a fragile human, you always were so empathetic and emotional as a kid.

Before he could begin recounting those memories he snapped himself out of it. “Not getting any damn work done” he huffed to himself before standing up from his desk making the dark wood chair scrape against the floors and closing the ink pot for his pen before leaving the room.

He found you sitting comfortably in one of the various lounge rooms of the house, this one you’d taken to most. The sofas were plush and the room wasn’t to big, the carpet and fireplace made it somewhat homely. He lingered in the door way watching you with amusement as you sprawled out on the sofa dramatically, staring at the carved details on the ceiling.

He wondered what you were thinking, you hardly talked to him anymore and tried to slip away from his company any chance you’d get. “Hello love” he started with his knuckles grazing gently on the door like a quiet knock in an attempt to not spook you. Your head tilted awkwardly to look at him with an expecting face “what are you doing in here?” He continues while inviting himself in.

“Nothing, there’s nothing to do. I can’t go outside without you, no sane person to talk to nor books to read” you ranted turning away from him once again, he let the jab about his sanity slide “Ive got a whole library” he replied plainly. You sent him a nasty glare but he stood unmoving just now with a slight grin sneaking on his face.

The smile made it blantantly obvious he was messing with you, you huffed and went back to looking at the ceiling. “Yes I know you can’t read those books but what I’m suggesting is I teach you” you didn’t bother look at him this time instead answering with silent rejection, you rather not be stuck in a room with your captor for hours.

“Suit yourself” his hand gently ran over your hair “I’ll be downstairs if you change your mind” he mentioned rather softly before taking his hand back and leaving the room.

...

That offer was sounding really nice after another boring hour passed, every evening he’d take you for a walk around his gardens but that was hours away and it felt weird and lonely that he was bothering you much less than usual. You knew deep down that he was playing yet another game with your head, making you come to him but you stopped caring about your dignity when the silence became deafening.

Slowly you tiptoed down the lush carpeted stairs and peaked over the banister during a moment of doubt, ultimately you decide to walk to the door. You didn’t knock, you became to nervous, instead you stood and peered into the crack of the door. Before you could turn around “you okay out there love?”

You pushed the door open fully, the book he occupied himself with was already closed in his lap and he sat expectingly. “Come here” he demanded calmly, when you were close enough he gently pulled you down into his lap “change your mind?”

“I’ll go mad if I can’t read” you replied bluntly. You are glad he didn’t push further, instead he sat back comfortably dragging you with him “The books I read are more academic, probably bore you to death”

He reached over to another book laying on the side table “-this book is probably easier to read, a fantasy” there were no other books in the room, you realised that he’d picked that out for you and was waiting for you to come to him. He’d predicted this and it made heat rise to your cheeks in embarrassment, it was frustrating that he’s always right and knows it.

He pulled it in front of you and began teaching you letter by letter and word by word. The whole time not letting you off his lap, it had been maybe 2 hours of repeating sentences after him, but it went by fast. You were so focused and quite comfortable.

So focused you you wouldn’t question it when his hands began wandering down your sides, or tracing your thighs followed by hums of approval. And it would only get worse as days went on quicks kisses on your shoulders then your nape, cheek and eventually grabbing you cheeks to kiss you on the lips.

That night after a walk and dinner he took you to pick out your own book from the library, and instead of going to bed and read his own book as you drift to sleep you both slowly read the first chapter together at candle light. He even rummaged through his draws to find a delicate metal book mark once you both decide to get to sleep.

...

At some point you’d gotten the hang of reading, but he wouldn’t stop there. No, he enjoyed having you in his lap while he taught you what each word meant or correcting your speech. Instead, one morning he calls you into his study and pulls you into his lap.

“You’re getting much better at reading, you’re going to learn to write it now” he left no room argument and handed you the expensive looking dip pen. He liked this activity much more because he had yet another excuse to touch you, for most of it his hand gently hovered over yours, correcting any mistakes. He would lean close over your shoulder so he could read what you were writing but really he’s just pressing himself gains you as close as he can.

You signed up for more than you realised.

[differenteagletragedy]

hi! just wanna tell you i literally read all of your fics and omg i usually avoid angsty fics because i know it will rip me apart but i read all of yours and i somehow crave more 🥺 but perhaps if your requests are still open, i wanna request something sweet or fluff (rather self indulgent) how about the olba boys' reactions when they realised mc has been really focused for days about something to find out that mc was creating the sims version of them and the boys while making a good hoyse for their sims selves to live in (you can do individual or poly!) I've been playing sims 4 lately and made step 1 cove and mc with their families fjfjfh totally brain still rotting over olba even though its officially over 🥹

-- Let's do poly so everyone can be together for this experience :)

-- You're on your computer for a while, which was fine, but you got zoned out enough that the boys decided to check in.

-- You'd been making your dream house for you and your boys' sim selves!

-- Cove is moved. He doesn't know a lot about the game, but the gist is pretty easy to grasp and he thinks this is so so sweet that you would use your free time and your game to do something like this.

-- Derek knows about The Sims and thinks it's cool you want to play like this. He wants to watch!

-- Baxter wants to see you make his sim now please.

-- Lol if you don't have all the expansions/packs, Baxter needs you to get some because the base game fashion options are atrocious.

-- Derek gets the Big Happy Family aspiration, hooray! Baxter gets the Soulmate aspiration, so sweet! Cove gets something random, whatever you click.

Cove: *pouting* Why didn't I get something special?

You: Hold on just a minute ...

*ten minutes into gameplay*

Cove: My aspiration in life is about grilled cheese?!??!!?!?!

-- Derek takes note of how you've built the house. Maybe if you really like something he can incorporate it into your own house -- like if you build a sunroom and talk about how you like it, a big porch, something like that. He'll remember!

-- Cove wants to see the interactions between the sims. If you make your sim declare your undying love for his then he will die.

-- Baxter, well, is still Baxter.

Cove: Put me in the swimming pool!

Baxter: Try removing the ladder after he climbs in.

Cove: But then I wouldn't be able to get out ...

Baxter: *smirk*

-- Derek is going to want to get this game to play for himself.

-- If you try to plan a wedding for your sims, Baxter is going to trash talk it to death. Just an endless rant of how dumb it is and how everyone is being so rude and nothing is working right.

Baxter: Why is the best man inside the home playing video games during the ceremony? Did the mother of the bride just set fire to the kitchen? The caterer just didn't show up at all?!

-- If you make it to the elderly life stage then Cove is going to be emotional just seeing little sim versions of his family being all old and cute.

Also Cove: Oh look, a vending machine! Let me get some candy!

You: It's stuck, what do you want to do?

Cove: Get it out!

*one minute later*

Cove: THAT'S HOW I DIE?!

[dragonmarquise]

I was reading through some of your tags for the post and some of them caught my eye, specifically when you were talking Abt the ref and Felix thing. Why do you get angry Abt it????/gen I'm not trying to be rude, I'm generally all around New to the fandom and I wanna know why-

Okay so!! Honestly this is a fair question to ask, because anyone particularly new to the fandom or even the game in general isn’t going to know the whole context about this situation.

Short(ish) summary (also spoilers of course!): In the postgame, Red still appears at cypher spots, even though going by the story Red and Felix are the same person, and the red cyberhead was destroyed by the end of the game. Taking it at face value, some people interpret it as Red somehow coming back as a separate person from Felix. Which is a cool AU idea imo!

Unfortunately, a decent amount of people have a heavy preference towards Red over Felix, usually either because they’re too used to Red from playing as him for most of the game, or even because they see Felix as ugly/unattractive in comparison.

So then those people tend to use that AU as a way to replace Felix, basically (in my mind at least) throwing out Felix’s character development from the game in favor of Red. When from the canon story’s perspective, they’re the same damn person anyways. And like, I just find that really rude towards him, and I say this as a person who enjoys that AU too, though evidently in a different way from what other people are doing. D:

Longer rant with more details/complaints under the cut:

There are a few different variants of this AU, just to list a few scenarios:

Red is actually a somehow revived Faux, basically using the red cyberhead to hide his identity. Why he does this can vary: him wanting to actual repent for what happened and trying to start doing so by hiding his real identity, or even just hiding himself as he plots to get revenge on Felix and the rest of BRC.

Red is a copy (either complete or partial) of Felix’s mind during the time he spent stuck in the red cyberhead. Basically that converting the red cyberhead to preserve Felix’s head didn’t remove all of the systems/internals related to a normal cyberhead’s functions. The idea being maybe the Flesh Prince had to do a rush job due to needing to keep Felix’s head preserved as quickly as possible to prevent too much rotting/memory loss. Thus some systems are still there, reading Felix’s mind and later result in Red once the red cyberhead is put back together. I will admit I did talk about this scenario in a previous post of mine!

A fun one from a friend of mine: Red still existing turns out to be because a player of the actual BRC game managed to get isekai’d into the world, with them somehow getting put into a newly revived Red as his new "AI" mind. Then having to navigate the world and maybe even befriend BRC, trying to also convince them that he’s not suspicious (especially given his knowledge of the events of the game). Also dealing with how actually moving around and doing things as a writer firsthand is WAY different from just doing it in a video game, lol

Another one from a different friend: Red is “revived” by the Flesh Prince as a new lacky. Though it’s not “Red” from the game, he just found Faux’s old body and then put a completely new cyberhead on it with a basic AI, declaring it his new minion. Shenanigans ensue, probably. :P

But the one that a decent amount of people seem to prefer: Red being the one to experience most if not all of the game, connecting with the rest of BRC and becoming friends. Felix recovering his memories is still a thing here, and him basically taking the reigns once the endgame starts to defeat Faux for good. But then after that it’s revealed Felix still doesn’t have much of a friendship with the others, because it turned out that was all Red, as a separate mind/AI/etc. from Felix. So then in this version of the AU, Red is part of BRC because of the connections he made, while Felix leaves and goes back to being a solo writer because his only connection to BRC was them helping him recover his memories. It’s using Red as a complete replacement for Felix, even though canonically they’re the same person anyways.

And like… ultimately people will do whatever they want with AUs and stuff like this, I can’t force people to stop what they’re doing or agree with the criticisms I have here. And I will admit, I used to like the last point in a “WHOA that’d be a pretty cool twist!!” way, but then later thinking on it more, and realizing… no, actually, this feels like a shitty thing to do to the narrative, especially to poor Felix.

His whole thing is like!! He was friends but also rivals with DJ Cyber and Faux, until eventually going solo for All City, and even admitting he prefers to work alone. We don’t get details on why he feels that way, but we can imagine a ton of ideas for it: he has more of an ego than he lets on? He didn’t want DJ Cyber or Faux to get hurt during the path to All City, so he decides to just go for it by himself? He still genuinely thinks of them as his friends, but overall he’s generally a more aloof loner kind of person and that’s why he went solo? There’s a bunch of options!

Regardless of his reasons, he went solo for All City. He had a one night graffiti session with Faux afterwards, maybe to just check on him and catch up. But otherwise to me it implies there weren’t going to be too many more sessions like these in the future, be it with Faux or anyone else.

And then, Faux kills him. Faux’s own motivations for that are also another fascinating potential for cool fics/AUs/etc. But that’s maybe for another post. :P

Anyways! Felix is dead, but manages to get preserved and eventually revived as Red. Early on in the game, I believe right at the beginning of Chapter 2, Red decides to go up against DJ Cyber in order to find out about his own forgotten roots. And he actually starts to go off by himself, until Tryce stops him! Then Tryce tells him they’re doing this together as a crew, and the way I see it, Red is probably going, “Wait, you… want to still help me? Even if it means fighting against a guy like DJ Cyber? Really??”

Because! Again, my own interpretation, Red doesn’t have all his memories back, but I think Felix’s personality is still there, just subconsciously, y’know? “I gotta do this on my own, can’t rely on anyone else, don’t want others to get hurt because of me” etc. So this is imo one of the first big steps in Felix’s character development that I feel is going on throughout the game: learning that it’s okay to have your friends help you, and to help them out in return, sticking together until the very end and even beyond that!

I mean, just saying, Tryce and Bel join in with Vinyl and DJ Cyber to keep Mech!Faux open for a final attack during his boss fight. That’s some serious friendship right there, willing to put yourself on the line for a friend!!

So then, to basically say, “No, most/all of that was actually just Red, and Red and Felix are separate people so Felix doesn’t need to stick around with BRC anymore” is like…

Okay, pardon my language here, but it’s effectively throwing out Felix’s whole character arc, and frankly it’s fucking insulting towards him!! Guy has the power of badass friendship and hella illegal graffiti on his side, and some people wanna rip that away from him?! Come the fuck on!!

And to emphasize, I used to like this idea as like, an amazing didn’t-see-it-coming twist. But then thinking on it more, it just really isn’t fair to Felix! At all! Especially since I really do think he has an interesting character arc, going from insisting on doing things solo, to gaining new friends and going All City a second time with, in his words, “a whole crew of the best homies around”.

Literally, he says that at the hideout in the postgame! I’m kinda paraphrasing based on memories, but that’s actually what he says more or less.

Also, a lot of people in the fandom seem to really enjoy this AU specifically as a way to replace Felix with Red in their minds/headcanons/stories. Some of them just ended up very attached to Red because of playing as him for most of the game anyways. Which, y’know, that’s reasonable at least! But then for others, they latch onto this AU because of having a genuine dislike (and in some cases, outright hatred) towards Felix.

From my observations and experiences, if it’s not because they got too attached to Red, it’s mostly rooted in people not finding Felix “attractive”. That’s it, possibly the most selfish fucking reason a person could have for wanting to forcefully throw out a character’s development, like what the hell man.

imo it also reeks of a problem that some other fandoms tend to have: dissing more masculine men in the cast, in favor of the more feminine/twink men. Some people may debate on whether Red/Faux would count as a twink, especially with how the term has been watered down recently (fun fact, it was meant to be mainly used in an LGBT+ context, so specifically for LGBT+ men who fit the appearance!!). But, I hope people reading this get the idea of what I’m trying to point out here. :/

Another thing about how people are trying to use Red to replace Felix: they treat this AU like it’s canon, or that they think it should be canon. Even though it’s not, that’s the point of calling it an AU!! Like I mentioned way earlier, I’m not going to stop anyone from going into this sort of AU, even if I personally have criticism for it if it’s handled in a certain way. But what I’m not going to let slide is people trying to force an AU to be considered canon and the way it should be.

The point of an AU is to have fun with possibilities, not try to reject and replace the original canon completely!! D:

Anyways, this is uh. Pretty long as is. So I want to wrap up with at least what I personally like about the potential for a “Red comes back as a separate person” AU. Which is evidently very different from what most people enjoy about that kind of AU.

I mentioned this in my old post I linked to earlier in this post, but basically: Red is not used as a replacement for Felix, but he exists alongside him and the rest of BRC. They could even become like brothers to one another. Red being the “younger” brother who is (quite literally) new to life and wants to go out there and explore and experience all the good stuff, even in a chaotic way. And then Felix being the “older” brother, still being chill like he was before, yet also more responsible and cautious because of what he went through, thus wanting to make sure Red is safe and sort of be his mentor through these things. Felix maybe even feels like he's the main reason Red is here at all, so then he feels responsible with guiding Red and making sure he turns out alright, y'know?

… At least, that’s more or less what I would want to aim for. Them coexisting and even getting more character development for the both of them! I would take more about the specifics of how this would all work. But I do have fan fics and other stuff I want to do someday to share those ideas more. Thus I will stop here for today, hopefully I will be able to get around to those fan fics and stuff in the future! Maybe.

So yeah, that about wraps up my thoughts on this topic? I probably came off as too hostile at some points, sorry about that. It’s just, I think this particular version of the AU is especially frustrating when it’s coming from people who are clearly only using it to replace the “ugly” Felix with the more “attractive” Red. Sometimes it’s subtle, other times it’s more obvious, but either way it’s just damn annoying for me at this point. :(

[bloomellaa]

Hi I really like your art and I wanted to know how you see Jean and Harry’s relationship after the events. Does he feel anger towards Kim for essentially”taking” Harry. Thanks <3

Thank you !! Well I'm glad you like my art and I have a whole explanation and almost essay incoming so bare with me lol.

Jean isn't angry at Kim because he's been shown admiring him and almost being honored that Kim is even "there" at the end of the game, he has a lot of respect towards him. What would happen reguarding Kim though is Jean having a feeling of jealousy or envy over the fact Kim is able to have such a stable relationship with Harry and even worse Kim seems to have a good impact and influence on Harry where Jean is faced with his own failure and inability to help him during all those years (4). He would end up in a circle of guilt and self-loathing toward that fact, Harry and Jean are really codependent after all. He would love to have what Kim and Harry have since this is what he's been longing for a long time as their relationship escalated pre Martinaise. My guess is, it was fun at first when they met, until it wasn't anymore and became a nightmare over the years. (I could go on about my thoughts on what happened during pre Martinaise and how it ended up being a fiasco for them but I will keep it short.)

I feel like the relationship between Harry and Jean post Martinaise would be tense at first, Jean would be stuck with a "new Harry" that seems to be a half or even a quarter version of the old one. He's not the Harry he knew once, but it's still him on so many levels that it's hard to even digest that, it's a whole process of grief for someone who's not even dead. He would be more distant toward Harry sometimes, sometimes closer, but there would still be that air of uneasiness around as long as they don't talk out unsettled matters on Jean's part. Harry doesn't remember any of it so he's not really the one who is bothered by it directly, however his empathy would just scream at him how much something is wrong and out of place. Jean wouldn't be the one to bring it up in an attempt to protect Harry from his old self. Because he would prefer sacrificing himself in a fear Harry might come back to that old toxic, abusive and self destructive man he was. At this point it's a self inflected wound but Jean would be the type to do that, he mentionned how much they were garbage but somehow he STILL wants Harry back, he just loves the man to no end, he talks about themselves as if they knew each others since 10 years and not 4.

That's why I see him having a short temper with Harry because he still has matters unresolved, it just gets him as a reflex too, always on his guard, is Harry going to go back to how he was ? Of course he wouldn't there's Kim and months passed but Jean is still on fucking edge, years of babysitting a grown ass man and emotionnal abuse don't disappear in a few months.

I personnaly went with the route of having Harry sober for good but being a complete weirdo nonetheless who sometimes has heavy meltdown. In my version of Harry he gets way better with the help of Kim and Kim gets more open about himself the longer he stays with Harry as a new partner. Thing is, slowly Harry will return to be in charge of the Crime Unit giving Jean some slack about being the superior of everyone when actually Harry should have been.

Anyway I hope you liked that little rant I went on about. I could go on and on about what would happen after but basically their relationship as long as they didn't have a serious talk would be somehow unsteady. With up and downs but mostly on Jean's part, and Harry would have a hard time addressing the elephant in the room.

[dramarising-replacement]

Free art threads.

Made a couple of these in the past, and I'm actually considering just.. not doing them on this site anymore? I actually think I'd be better off doing free art for people on Toyhou.se instead.

Cue the rant.

-------

So I'm sure some of y'all are familiar with the "Creative Corner" in the forums, yeah? You can share random art you've made, ask people how much they'd pay for your art, that sort of thing. Then, you got the free art threads. They can be titled things like "Drawing ur dragons :33" and "bored, draw humans. bye." and you'll also see the same couple users posting in those threads, but I'm not here to name-drop lol.

The ones who I have a problem with are the ones who don't read anything. Like, at all. You could spend thirty minutes crafting a decent looking thread, filled with information (but not TOO much, just enough to answer most people's questions) and highlight the "rules" part of your thread that has specific steps to follow for free art. Wanna know what the majority of the commentors on your thread are gonna do?

"[Insert dragon image] Pls draw :)" or "[Link to a page with over 60+ dragons] choose whatever one you want.]" and that's about it. There won't be any mention of any steps you wanted them to follow, (The steps are usually very simple, too. As in, let the artist know the bare minimum idea of what you want. I'm talking about expressions here. That's literally all they'd have to do to get some scrumptious free art.) and that feels kinda invalidating, y'know?

I'm not asking the commentors to describe a whole scene for me, I'm just asking them to give me ONE LITTLE IDEA (again, an expression or maybe if they want a bust) and I'll do the rest for them, free of charge. The art that they'd be getting isn't some random disaster of a sketch, nono, it's fully-colored and shaded. It also doesn't look like something that a 5 year old drew. (No shade to people who draw like that, I was stuck like that for years.) Bro, just do a MINIMAL amount of reading and I'll draw your dragon that has an absurd amount of apparel to tje point where it hurts my eyes.

..It doesn't just stop there, either. I've also seen these people never reply to artists who have given them an absolute masterpiece of a drawing, for free. Bro. You serious? I get that some people are inactive, which I'm not bothered by. But the ones who aren't? ...Ehh, I just think you could at least thank the artist before returning to the void with your free art.

The moral of the story is; Do the bare minimum and read what matters in a post, and thank the artists who draw your dragons for free. Especially the ones who could've easily charged you 1kg+ for the work they've done.

If you're socially awkward, then cool. I get that. If you can't afford to pay artists with fictional pixel money, then go ahead and visit the free art threads. I'm not trying to gate-keep them, I literally make these threads. I just don't enjoy having people put zero effort in their requests and then never acknowledge the fact that I drew their dragon for them. Just my thoughts, everyone views things differently and that's okay!

---

Btw, I mentioned Toyhou.se because I've posted on both before, and while there are SOME similarities in the users' behavior, there's also some notable differences, too.

Common flight rising free art thread comment: [doesnt read text and adds dragon image] thanks if you draw.

Common Toyhou.se free art thread comment: [links a character, goes into a VERY in-depth explanation about how said character acts, very passionate too. Usually reads rules, too.] Thanks if you draw. (gotta stay consistent lol)

Obviously there are some differences in the sites which affect how the users act, I get that. One's a literal dragon collecting game and the other one's focused on writing and drawing characters, it's expected that one would read more than the other.

...But again, free art. Not paid, but free. Someone takes time out of their day to draw your dragon. Just give them a simple "thanks" and go on your merry way. That's all you gotta do. Lets them know their effort was appreciated, and shows that you're a nice person. Win-win.

Please man, just read. Did I mention that these threads usually have a maximum of 100 words? I don't usually type this much. But damn, this just irritated me so much.

Well, that's the end of this rant. Like I said, a few people are obviously going to disagree with some/maybe everything I've said, and that's life. This was a disorganized rant, and that's all it's going to be.

[blackstarchanx3new]

Creations AU, But I obnoxiously over explain it PT 7

Pages 181-210

Some of these pages were lined by my friend AK

@akdrawsandwrites

They've helped me with this AU's art a lot when I got stuck quite a few times. XD

They're playing Minecraft, while Michael goes on an absolute rant about how much he dislikes the other owner's son "Sammy"

Sammy is apparently:

Smug Having relations with William Afton Has friends

All these things piss Michael off for one reason or another.

Presumably to calm the hell down Michael goes to take a bath while Mike hunts for diamonds.

Mike's death glare as Michael rambles as he slays the monsters so they can sleep is so hilarious to me. Just further proof he's good at video games.

Mike ventures out of Michael's room to use the toilet

And we get more context as to why William isn't comfortable around Mike:

Apparently he takes medication for something.

William's just a TAD condescending and rude about it. You know. Because we've seen how this man acts towards his own son lmfao this isn't a surprise he isn't too delicate with someone with mental health struggles. (Even if he kind of tries to be.)

Mike sits down to piss. Lol. Old habits must die hard.

Huh, Michael's got prosthetic robot legs.

Interesting...

Haha he doesn't answer that question.

Aaaaand his arms are robotic too...

HUH.

And I've been goofy about it but his eyes aren't exactly normal either...

And come to think of it...Michael your face is kinda weiiiird looking...

"Kinda scary just how much a man could be a machine"

Michael...

There something you wanna confess too-

LIKE THE FACT YOU'RE A CYBORG-

All of you are screaming at me aren't you? X'D

Oh so much here:

Five years is significant to both of them.

Michael picks up on the fact that it's significant and isn't too nice about that.

Michael's façade of being a bubbly happy guy has broke a few times but this was the most direct time it broke, outright glaring with anger at Mike's lack of response.

Masked with "HAHA Just kidding!~"

He was obviously NOT kidding.

Michael abruptly stops the conversation to go to bed.

Or so it seems as Mike reflects.

Jeremy's brought up again. So we can presume Jeremy disappeared five years ago.

Michael pipes up again to proclaim a few things.

He knows Mike's up to something and isn't hiding that.

Bonnie brought it up so Michael isn't fully in the dark. Also despite acting childish Michael isn't dumb.

I let ya read this segment uncut with my nonsense cause it shows a LOT:

First tho I'm gonna talk about stuff I like art wise:

Michael's design is just nice to my brain. He's just so damn cute in his body language. In terms of symbolism him pushing his hair out of his face could show he's trying to be open with Mike in this moment.

Anyways: Back to stuff.

We keep getting glimpses of SOMETHING going horribly wrong with an animatronic who appears to be in a similar state to Ennard. Only having a mask on an endoskeleton.

This is interspersed through Michael and Mike's conversation of Mike conceding to let Michael help him.

bringing up Bonnie again as a motivator to keep Michael out of this for his own saftey. Mike stays quiet when asked "You're concerned with how Bonnie feels?" Mike's not a "Talk about your feelings" kinda person as we've seen so far. He keeps things in.

Michael mentions a specific incident he THINKS brought Mike here one we haven't seen yet mentioned and I plan to be explored in the comic "Spring Bonnie's friends" because a lot of details in the main AU are expanded upon in smaller side comics: Some kids disappeared and an owner at another Fredbears nearby. And THIS caused Mike to come here to investigate.

As we know, Jeremy disappeared here and Mike's determined to stop it.

The constant cuts and the bloody machinery behind Michael builds up to what has happened If you know FNAF, you know EXACTLY what was behind Michael in that shot hehe.

Michael got a bit of an injury. Ow.

Impaled.

Damn okay call out to Cody I'm sure he'll help.

To be fair Cody's way more likely to hear him than Bonnie in this instance.

This isn't stated in the comic but since regular FNAF fans would know this:

They're in the previously established dangerous "Toy" department.

Bonnie is in a completely different part of the building. But Cody is a creepy stalker who has eyes everywhere in the building:

Cody can see you no matter WHERE you are so it does make more sense to ask him for help.

OH HELLO MR. NO NAME SECURITY GUARD HOW ARE YOU!?

Guess Cody is heading the call after all...In an indirect way...Lazy bear.

Right as the horrible robot catches up to Mike.

That thing is "The mangle"

It's saying it's dialogue from the AR game because I found it insanely fitting for this scene.

It's a busted up robot that wants to be whole and is looking for SOMETHING to do that. Something it ditched Michael for but ran after Mike for.

Mike comes to terms with the hand he's been dealt.

His true goals becoming a lot clearer:

He was looking for a way to die nobody would question while trying to find everyone.

Oh yeah, Michael's alive still.

Nom nom nom nom-

NOT TODAY BITCH. CODY SENT A BOY.

HERE COMES THE BOY

HELLO BOY

WELCOME

HERE COMES THE BOYYYYYYYY-

MR. ROBOT EYEBALLS IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY! :D

That thing he had is a tazer lmfao.

I'd assume he's an angel too I mean just look at him. ❤️

Oh my god.

He's the might seduce your dad type, owners son himself:

Sammy Fritz Emily

He'd kiss anyone. You. Your dad-

Alright onto the outfit thing I mentioned earlier:

All the owners have black ties and black undershirts while people outside of the two families that own the place have white undershirts or in Jeremy Fitzgerald's case a blue undershirt.

Literally nobody ever noticed that detail so I point it out because CHARACTER DESIGN IS MY PAAAAASIONNNNNN~

Okay enough fucking around one of my absolute favorite characters Sammy Emily is finally fully introduced! :D

Golden Freddy manipulation aside, he came to our boy's aid against a hulking robot that could kill a normal person.

Sammy's a badass.

He seems nice. I mean he charged an animatronic no hesitation to save our boy's ass, so maaaaybe Michael's view on him is misguided and clouded by his daddy issues.

What the heck WERE Mike and Michael doing here exactly?

Mike just reflects on what the fuck just happened.

[lowsodiumscifi]

Call of Duty headcanons - "141's favorite first person shooters" (cod not included 😉)

There were way too many shooters to choose from, so I tried to pick the ones that would suit them the best.

John Price - Halo

Price is definitely an X-Box man for sure.

Space guns, light swords and sleek armor

Literally the military in space!!

If anyone were to lead a platoon into battle in space, it would be Price.

He would make an amazing spartan. No joke!

Price and Laswell have a Master Chief and Cortana relationship, and that's wholesome 👌

Be prepared for some salty Halo lobby rants online lmfao. Price will sit back and watch the chaos unfold.

John "Soap" MacTavish - Deathloop

Soap would definitely be an artist, and anything Cedric Peyravernay is a part of, soap will love. Love, death and robots? Check✔️ Dishonoured? Check✔️ Deathloop? You betcha!

Soap does crazy combos with the multitude of powers and guns.

The old timey level design, character design and colour schemes are Soap's aesthetic.

It's crazy groundhog day premise is nutty, and to be honest, so is Soap lol

Simon "Ghost" Riley - Metal: Hellsinger

Rhythm shooters? Ghost lives for them.

Ghost gets in the zone on the battlefield. But nothing compares to playing Metal: Hellsinger.

Ghost is a pretty metal guy. So gunning down enemies to many metal band singers in the soundtrack is perfect for him!

He will get a song stuck in his head while in the field, start humming the tune and it drives the rest of the team insane.

Once Ghost gets to the final boss, and SOAD's Serj Tankian starts singing "No Tomorrow", he cranks the volume to eleven and the whole base is Headbanging 🤟

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick - F.E.A.R

Science experiments, crazy slow motion telepathic powers, creepy little girl ghosts. F.E.A.R has it all.

Gaz loves this dying franchise and it's crazy sci fi shenanigans!

Will definitely play the game with the lights on, and on the hardest difficulty.

The 141 tease him about playing horror games. The boys always making Gaz jump in the middle of playing by scaring him shitless.

[snifflesthemouse]

The Flying Pasta Game...

Before I begin, I just want to say I appreciate every single one of you. You know what makes me the happiest when I come on here? When I see people say things like this, "I don't agree with you. But, I still like to read what you have to say." When I read that, it makes me love you all more. It makes it all worth it. So, thank you ALL!! Now, on to the post.

The Flying Pasta game is a concept of manipulation. That term was created by me, but the action is as old as time. A con throws out a bunch of overwhelming ideas and concepts just to see what reaction the mark gives. Let me give you a real-life example.

If you know this blog, you know this already; I apologize for the repetitiveness. My ex was, and is, a master manipulator, con artist, door-to-door salesman, and a murderer. But, the murdering didn't happen until after I had moved on and he got out of prison, and I lost one of the most special people in my life because of this psychopath. That is a story I don't think I can tell here right now. But I digress...

Whenever he would be in a house trying to sell something, and his usual tricks failed right off, he'd use this trick. What you do is overwhelm whoever you are talking to about whatever.

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE WITH NAMES CHANGED: When the common ways of using logic or reasoning doesn't work, get creative and make it confusing. Confusion gets people easier than anything. Overwhelm the mark with a bunch of information about anything and watch for a reaction. Say you see they have a charm bracelet with seashells... notice it in conversation and use it to tangent on a rant.

So, you see the bracelet while trying to convince these people they need a $2000 Kirby vacuum. They're flat no. No budge. No movement at all. The mark is stuck on no. You see the bracelet, and you say "WHOA! I love that bracelet! I love sea shells! Did you know the [insert some most-likely made up random ocean fact]? Yeah, totally. When I was a kid, [insert sob story about someone to see if they relate]. It was hard. [Insert story about overcoming the hardship]. ..." And this goes on and on.

NONE OF THE STUFF SAID HAS TO BE, OR WILL BE TRUE. IT IS ALL NONSENSE TO TRIGGER ANY KIND OF RESPONSE FROM PEOPLE.

See what this author means? Storytelling is weaponized by con artists. Cons use whatever they can, to be honest. They will make up anything and everything to see what you react to, just to use it against you.

Now we all see why HMTQEII chose the path she did. She knew no response was the only response that could save you. If you do not respond, they have nothing to go on to manipulate. The only real way to absolutely ensure you cannot be conned, is to remove the conartist.

I am not trying to sound hateful, but this is the truth. If you entertain people on the dark triad, you will always lose. Trust this mouse on this one. This mouse has the stab marks and scars to prove it.

Think about it. Every time Jeremy Clarkson tried to apologize, what happened? His words were turned against him. Cons will use your reaction regardless of its type. If you show empathy to a sob story, you're getting got. If you show disdain and disgust, you will get got, too.

THE ONLY SURE WAY TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM CONS ARE TO REMOVE THEM FROM YOUR PRESENCE.

Final note: Con artists feed off of other people's emotional energy like the protomolecule from the Expanse feeds on radiation. Cons enjoy the chaos. Cons get a high from it.

I will be back (hopefully) with another post for the day discussing the historical patterns of Royal Divorces (3/4 of HMTEQII kids are divorced; what can we learn from those divorces?)

I cannot say it enough, especially with what's going on personally... 99.9% of you are wonderful people. The 0.1% of you are in my category, so I assume we'll at minimum have fun? LOL JKJK

Sometimes my sarcasm is lost in my writing style and lately I've not had the time to dedicate as much editing as before. Just about every post I do is written on the fly these days and posted before I can go back and edit. I always promise to go back and edit it, but I never get time. YOU ALL DESERVE BETTER FROM ME, but right now I can't give that as much as before. Once the real world stuff calms, it will be more polished. Gotta go, love you all!

[carcharsaur]

I like doing my little rant posts 2 people read so I'm doin it again this year :] this time I finished something way sooner too

fatamoru... took me half a year to get myself to actually read it but well it's a classic and it's good as hell what can I say (spoilers under cut)

gonna link my longass livetweet thread here for posterity so it's not completely lost in the mire

this felt so targeted though it's legit dumbfounding. I went into it only recalling 1 and a halfish spoilers of 1) michel is the MC and 2) he had trans stuff going on and honestly if anything my jumping at shadows and going HUH WAIT ? the whole time knowing that kinda heightened the experience for me early on. I was about to say at first it was hard to know what parts of the story I should really sink my teeth into but I think that was the intended experience... these stories aren't yours etc... the atmosphere and ost especially is also like soooo crazy good I was worried it'd be hard for me to stay focused on this game without voice acting but I was surprised how well it stuck even if some of the sfx are very obviously old and scuffed none of them took me out of it much (this has been a legit issue for me with some games.. the otomate sound library is really scuffed sometimes LOL) and even when the game was going over the same events, in different contexts etc it never started grating on me so that is a huge W. too many fucking games act like you just weren't paying attention when you were reading and it not only pisses me off but it's just so boring. so this avoiding that entirely was really good. GRIPPING. some of it was so edge of my seat I think I played for like 10 or more hours straight I thought I was gonna die but in a good way LMAO I don't think I have anything interesting or poignant to say about the actual story itself other than despite everything I want jacopo dead, I totally get the point about letting go and moving on and a cycle needing to be broken and it was visceral and moving and so real to me. but also. jacopo deserved all that shit. everything else though I'm just sitting there yelling TRUE AS HELL!!!!!! really loud. I love you michel I love you giselle I'm gonna get u outta there morgana. wait I lied. morgana as the white haired girl. it's not fucking fair.... I wanted to save her... I do think 'she' truly did become part of morgana again though, based just on how scared morgana was of didier at the end, at the cries of being called an unholy witch... a fear that only she held, morgana sort of reveled in being a witch in the course of carrying out the cruelty. but the saintly part of her feared that fall, that complete inversion of her self and the hatred it pointed towards her as well... man : ( ........... : (

I could write an essay specifically on the ways I relate to michel to a like genuinely scary degree the overlap made me sick to my stomach in the best way. but honestly I would be a weepy mess at the end of it so I don't wanna do all that. as an aside though apparently the author(s) have said he's "only intersex, not trans" but man I think that's a stupid as hell delineation to make. he's both. he was assigned 'female' at birth and was raised as a woman and chafed against the social role of 'woman'. IF ANYTHING I relate to him more about not necessarily feeling dysphoric/lacking in regard to his genitals on his own but more about the fact that that somehow invalidates his status as a 'man' being something that torments him. it's a topic that overlaps imo. but the fact the game handles it with as much tact as it does while being as old as it is surprised me. though I could see it being still too upsetting for some because the depiction of the trauma is kind of like. viscerally too real almost. when giselle described her abuse... it wasn't even descriptive in the disgusting voyeuristic way it so often is in other places, but the representation of how it just feels to be subject to that was so real that it really really fucked me up... I'M DOING THE THING I JUST SAID I SHOULDN'T AAHHH but well. it's really good. it's like eating a heavy but hearty meal where it's so good but I can feel it sitting in my stomach and the weight of it just makes me groan. does this even make sense anymore. man.

ok a selection of my fav screengrabs to play me off before I continue in such a manner.

GISELLE PUFFED CHEEKS VERY CUTE

[aquateenpatrolsomethingshowshow]

ok so i dont feel like doing a full on review of the new episode so im just gonna make bullet points of the high lights and things that stuck out to me lmao

((contents spoilers below))

• still love that intro its so fucking awesome

• still loving the upgraded animation its so fluent and beautiful but still maintains that classic “aqua teen” look

• ok but shake is kinda hot in that outfit ngl

• shake looks like literally every millennial in my town and especially the ones that go to the coffee shops in my area lol

• MEATWAD IN THE FUCKING HIGH CHAIR IM CRYING

• “its spelled with a g cuz disney owns it” 💀💀

• “hoverboard” and its the fucking roomba 💀

• this is literally clone high istg with the self aware roombas istg /j

• all the robots had little hands that kinda looked like shakes thats so cute

• his whole rant about drinking the cream had me dead

• “its an easy fix tanner” BFNFCFNGFVX bro has beef with tanner lmao

• “master shaken not stirred” ok but that cream work was fucking bad ass

• bro literally had robots write his movie for him thats literally what it felt like when i would be paired with ppl for school projects and i had to do all the work for them but they still take credit for it 😭💀🙄

• DAMN BRO chill out with the coffee

• “script title” thats so shake

• bro literally just called his characters “boy 1” and “boy 2” 😭😭

• “i dont drink coffee its makes me uhh..” IT MAKES YOU WHAT FRYLOCK?!?! • oh hi theres more robots

• MEATWAD HANGING OUT WITH THE ROBOTS THATS SO CUTE TWO OF MY FAV THINGS TOGETHER AND THE SIPPING AND SWIRLING THE COFFEE AROUND MOTIONS WERE SO CUTE TF

• “a relationship of a gummy bear and candy cane” 🥺🥺🥺🥺

• THE MICHAEL CAINE ROBOT IS SO CUTE I LOVE HIM HIS LITTLE GLASSES AND ACCENT I CANT

• “the movie” at carls 🙄🙄🙄

• MEATWAD COVERING HIS EYES CUZ HES NOT ALLOWED TO SEE THAT STUFF 🥺🥺🥺 ARE THEY TRYING TO MAKE ME GET EMOTIONAL OVER HIM?!?! /nm ((love the nod/continuity of meatwad not being able to see that type of stuff tho))

• MOVIE TIME

• WHY DOES THE MOVIE LOOK LIKE THOSE OLD QUIZNOS COMMERCIALS HELP YALL KNOW WHICH ONES I MEAN 💀💀💀

• LOOK AT MEATWAD HES SHIELDING HIS EYES AGAIN HES SO PRECIOUS I CANT

• “easy with the hands love” 💀💀💀 I LOVE THAT HE CALLS EVERYONE LOVE CUZ HES BRI’ISH

• WHERE DID FRYLOCK GET THE MONEY TO GET A LITERAL IPHONE FUCKING 15?! DAMN BRO

• NO WAY YALL THEY GOT A ROBOT OF THE GUY FROM THE WEAPON OF CHOICE MUSIC VIDEO 😱😱😱 ((/t ik its christopher walken lol))

• HOLY SHIT IS THAT MR FUCKING BUTLERTRON I CANT BELIEVE THEY PUT MR B FROM THE HIT SERIES CLONE HIGH IN ATHF 😱😱😱 /j

• “and michael richards” THE MICHAEL RICHARDS??? COSMO KRAMER MICHAEL RICHARDS?!?!

• “now i can make toast in another city” said no one ever AND BOI WHERE YOU GOING ANYWAY YOURE POOR

• HOW DARE YOU DENY THE BABEY BOY TOAST

• bro literally just killed all the robots 0s and 1s are like robot poison lol

• classic athf to just blow up the house lmao

• DAMN THAT LEAF TRANSITION WAS SO GOOD AND PRETTY

• “sticks and hicks” lmao

• it looks so peaceful up there kinda reminds me of that one og emma chamberlain video where her and her dad go to her grandparents house in the literal woods lmao

• “read some books, play some board games, make some s’mores” that sounds so cozy and im just picturing them all doing that and its so cute

• “no wifi? im going back to the robots” thats an honest to god mood

• IS THIS THE FUCKING TRANSFORMERS?! /j

AND SCENE

ngl the most recent episode wasnt the best out of the 3 so far tbh but it wasnt horrible probably give it like a 6 or 7 out of 10 i also like how they do the credits over the episode it gives them more of the episode to do but also ends in a way thats still very “aqua teen” if that makes sense

also wish they did more with them out in the country and like maybe doing something at a regular cabin instead of the robot in disguise ((which ik was the joke/point of how it ended)) but still that wouldve been really wholesome

[sargeantsarmy]

Idk if you already did but this is your invitation to rant about how We Don't Talk About Bruno fits Dark Pictures characters (if you want)

SCREAMING AAAA

OKAY OKAY a bunch of different Dpa characters talking to the player about the curator. That’s it. Well, that’s what it should’ve been but then I got excited and assigned roles.

More detail is under the cut<3

* Mirabel: Player(you, good sir)

* Pepa and Félix: Julia and Alex

* Dolores: Nick <33

* Camilo: Jamie

* Isabella: Salim

* Abuela: Still not super sure but I was thinking an old guy like Charlie lmao

* Moriano: Jason ehe

* Bruno: Curator

Also the other lil freaks-

* Dead fish girl: Anthony(but it’s his family not a fish😭)

* Gut guy??: Olson

* Baldy lol: Du’Met

And extra info on why I chose each character if you want it:

Julia and Alex: Should be decently self explanatory; he can propose to her in game so like wedding time<3

Nick: “I associate him with the sound of falling sand”, if y’know, y’know. And Dolores’s part after Isabella’s, like he could be talking about Jason, sure(please), or Rachel/Eric. Idkkk

Jamie: I was kinda stuck on this one for a while, but first of all, I lacked tdim characters in this and second, she jokes about her trauma and stuff.

Salim: OKAY HOLD ON listen to the punk version by Matt Copley bc Isabella’s part sound VERY pretty and that’s like the main reason I chose him. He’s pretty.

Jason: Jalim? And possible Kaychek?? Yeah I’m in

Charlie(?? Maybe): Old person(that’s canonically real ackackack)

Thanks for listening to my rant. Sorry my brain is constantly smoking crack(it’s lack of sleep not drugs dw)

[todayisafridaynight]

SO! I've wanted to talk about The Clip all day but felt like I should wait until the tumblr "premiere" (even though I think you were literally one of the first people to see it on Twitter lol). Thank you for defending my honor btw even if I am just Someone <3

But. Yes. Yeah. Yokoyama's absolute certainty in saying that??? Without anything to even buffer it? No maybe. No "don't expect too much." Just point-blank in front of a huge fan (whom I believe he's now going to be working with), a staff member, and a massive audience. As if that part isn't the matter of contention. I WILL be injecting those words directly into my veins for some time.

I was on the verge of choking and/or spewing blood and/or crying before posting it though lol, so I really appreciate the vote of confidence regarding the translation and I love your redraw! The reception as a whole has been really nice, although I wish people would keep it to themselves if they'd rather have Nishiki or Ryuji back or whatever. Not like it's a race, but even if it was, Mine's been in last place for ages lol.

And while I enjoy Y3's writing more than most, Mine's death wasn't some Grand Meaningful Statement, it was the decision of a fledgling studio that never knew if it would be able to keep making these games trying to tell a self-contained story. It did have far-reaching consequences for the series, but those consequences are also... not really relevant anymore?

Like, I can and have argued that Mine's death caused the fall of the Tojo Clan, but the clan has already fallen. So I don't see why some people are acting like revisiting his character would be A Spit In The Face to the saga somehow, but I guess I've never really been against characters being brought back...? A quote from the staff that's always stuck with me from the staff is that RGG is always going for RGG-ism, not realism.

Ranting aside... I honestly don't know if I should be saying this, but there's this new guy working the counter at Survive in some LaD8 behind the scenes footage. Now, upfront, I'm 99.8% sure it's not Mine (I happen to have a 100% accuracy rate so far identifying major RGG characters from extremely blurry images and silhouettes lmao), and I have no idea who it is, whether it's a new character or an old one heavily redesigned or Just Some Guy.

But he's not Kashiwagi. And he happens to have slicked-back dark brown hair with what appears to be an ahoge in some angles. And, unless the materials are temporary, he also dresses A Lot Like the celebrity Mine's design was based on. And his features... line up closely enough to piss me off, even though they don't fully match in the end, which is why I don't think it's him.

I'm in argumentative essay mode 100% of the time which is why I'm saying this in a "convincing" tone despite literally not believing it myself, but like... wouldn't that be something? To just have Mine part-timing at Survive or whatever and no one makes a big deal of it because they don't know any better? If nothing else, I really do think he should get The Bartender Treatment.

I dunno, I might post about it with a comparison tomorrow because it's been on my mind lately, especially with The News, but I really don't want people to get the wrong idea either. Or embarrass myself if it was too tenuous of a link to look that deeply into from the start lol

I remember seeing it two minutes after you posted it, so I can imagine I was one of the first to the scene of the crime (so my friends put it LMAO). AND OF COURSE I- and a lot of us- can't be any more grateful for all the work you do than we already are. I'd go insane trying to document and manage everything you do! especially when you have insane people like me ready to pounce on the smallest thing like I know I'd cry FJLKAJ The least I can do is give a proper title/credit to you when I can o7

If Yokoyama had any remaining hesitance about Mine being alive, then he REALLY would have fumbled by sounding so certain. Like in his old tweet, he certainly sounded more ambiguous, but this time he really had no extra notes and sounded more sure of himself. I won't expect RGG to do anything with Mine, but the concept is still very much exciting and the idea that Yokoyama almost seems earnest about the idea of bringing Mine back for whatever reason is very nice to know :] And thank you about enjoying the art I did! I can't lie in the slightest, since the last ask where you alluded to posting the clip, I had that drawing saved in the back of my head ready to make once you had that posted LMAO

But oohh not to touch drama since I generally try to Not touch it, but yeah I can't act like I haven't seen some people be. ""Interesting"" about the idea of Mine being alive. I won't dive too deep into it, but I think my major issue with the few grievances I've seen is that RGG hasn't done anything with Mine's alive status. As of right now, it's just a thing Yokoyama said, so I don't understand the need to be so angry about it (it's especially weird to say Ryuji hasn't been back when he not only got to be a playable protagonist in Dead Souls, but he was also the protagonist of RGGO- though I suppose I can understand wanting him in the mainline series again. Still, it's weird to act as though Mine's back any more than he is and being upset about it just because Yokoyama said he was alive)...

Moving on though, I'm really curious as to this 'mystery figure' you mean. I've been missing out on LaD8 production material, so I haven't seen this bit myself but I'd love to take a stab at it and analyze myself too. I agree though: if Mine does come back- whether he's working at Survive or anywhere else- I would greatly prefer if he had The Bartender status and was just never really called attention to and only existed in the background

[ncytiri]

10 characters tag!

10 favorite characters from 10 different fandoms, tagged by @p-paradoxa, thank u gav!!!

finn (star wars) - i mean what more can i say about finn that hasn't already been said. truly one of my favorite characters ever, even with all the wasted potential he had, john's performance was just so great to watch and really made finn THE shining star of the sequel trilogy

neytiri (avatar) - my @'s namesake, a defining character in my bisexual awakening, mother to MANY! i absolutely adore neytiri and all of the parts that make her such a beautiful, broken, hopeful character <3

samwise gamgee (lotr) - i can't think about sam without wanting to cry. i see so much of myself in him but also he is the ideal friend!! loyal to no end, kindhearted, strong, samwise is just so beloved to me

essun (the broken earth trilogy) - it's been a while since i read the trilogy but i remember essun being such a wonderfully written but depressing character, from her childhood to her as an adult and so on. she has stuck with me ever since i finished that series a few years ago and i think about her so often 😭

gordo stevens (for all mankind) - MALEWIFE EXTRAORDINAIRE! i mean. yes he wasn't faithful in the 60s but my god was that man in love with tracy... gordo is such a funny guy but everything about him is SO sad... s2 gordo especially, the time skip showing how life has treated him but how he would still go to any lengths to get tracy back :(

jonas kahnwald (dark) - JONAS :(((((((((

shiv roy (succession) - always having to work 100x harder than all the men around her and STILL getting mocked and othered by them just to get ahead of her... shiv roy (and sarah snook) you will always be famous!!

hinata shoyo (haikyuu!!) - my sweet lil volleyball loving angel... he means the world to me...

kirsten raymonde (station eleven) - i need to rewatch to refresh why i love kirsten but something abt her always being so hopeful and trusting but also wary of ppl but full of love for theater as that is the one thing keeping her connected to her old life and jeevan and frank 😭 also her style is so cute and quirky i love it sm

river ward (cyberpunk 2077) - i could rant and rant abt the hate river gets but that is not the point of this tag game lol. for as little as we get of river in the whole game, he became a highlight for me during my first playthrough and i rly loved how complicated of a character he was <3 plus robbie daymond being his VA was another bonus 🤭

i gotta tag 10 other people but i feel like i have tagged too many ppl recently and i dont wanna be annoying so if you see this and also wanna do it, tag me!! <3

[tuxxydo]

Heya! :D For the CODZ ask game:

2) Favorite map(s)?

8) Favorite individual CODZ character(s), and why?

9) Least favorite individual CODZ character(s), and why?

10) Any popular characters you think are overrated?

11) Any characters you personally find to be underrated?

Hi!

2. TranZit and Origins! ESPECIALLY on singleplayer. those maps have some of the best singleplayer experiences for a zombies map, ever.

8. My answer in a previous ask was Russman. So i'm gonna do favorite NPC instead and that'll be the devil dogs you have to feed in MOTD. My cutie patooties! and the hell's retriever and redeemer are rlly fucking cool weapons.

9. My answer in a previous ask was the panzer. So i'm gonna do a PC instead and for that i'm just goin with the SoE cast. Admittedly i don't have a reason besides; they're the one cast of characters i have no connection too. And that goes for any Bo3/Bo4 crew that wasn't primis, ultimis and victis. I'm a very old-fashioned fan who stopped playing zombies at Bo2 (and only got into Bo3 recently and still haven't played Bo3's specific DLC maps) so yeah.

10. Ultimis AND Primis without a doubt. Ultimis was always scene as The Crew™ when you think of CODZ so of COURSE everyone likes them. And then Primis are just retconned-into-better-people versions of Ultimis so ofc they're liked as well (and sometimes liked even more). But all the love that Ultimis and Primis is given was not diverted to crews like Victis—who were a VERY POLARIZING crew when TranZit came out. I was young at the time and even EYE was aware of how mixed ppl felt about victis.

Ppl have come around to them eventually, but the damage was already done. And now Victis' only chance in the story were as the middle men to set in motion they're own demise. And Treyarch felt so apathetic toward them that they aren't even acknowledged in the recent Dark Aether Storyline. Not even a wink or a nod or anything. But yup, let's focus on an older Samantha Maxis who falls in and out of the dark aether without once seeing Victis. Oops I'm ranting lemme dial it back...

Basically. Ultimis and Primis. And Samantha can catch a stray too lol. I don't hate any of these characters, but they're overwhelming popularity definitely influenced the direction of the story (why else do you think Treyarch made Richtofen basically immortal? Also yes I am bitter about victis thx for asking).

11. Marlton.

Now this is rich of me to say cus—admittedly—he's my least favorite out of the victis crew. But i rlly feel like he's the least interesting one. Stu has the zombie-eating cult and richtofen in his head. Misty (despite having 0 connection to the plot with her past like Marlton) actually has a reason to fight against the zombies which is out of revenge for killing her dad (unless that information has been retconned or is just straight up untrue). She also seems to be the leader of Victis, already making her way more important than Marlton. And Russman was connected to Broken Arrow—which not only connects to 115 and the zombies, but it also connects to the avocado and everything to do with tranZit basically.

Marlton, unfortunately, has nothing going for him. He was in nuketown? I guess? That was never rlly expanded on. And I feel bad, cus some of his lines are actually pretty funny. But the only thing he rlly has going for him is his (reciprocated) crush on Misty. The other members have grown to stand out on their own I feel like, but Marlton is pretty much stuck in being "the smart one," and the Russman Broken Arrow shit shakes that cus the only reason Russy isn't as "smart" as Darlington is cus of his dementia