#and esp i like when games work with you to create your character esp in rpgs where you make your guy

[quenthel]

like there is a lot to say abt fandom that is negative (crowd mentality, lack of nuance, bullying, stark belief in societal norms so it becomes a very traditional space etc) but i think the main reson its not for me is bc a lot of ppl just use "canon" as something to be disregarded. which is like (morally) completely fine i just do not get it bc like... the story whats its in like... the actual written text the things happening is surely the thing to like abt any actual... uh... story? right? so to disregard it all to just idk play around in it to me is just not appealing at all. like at that point i would just move on and write my own original story heavily inspired by the original thing...

[infizero]

you guys dont understand how much splatoon means to me. you will never understand

[written-with-blue-ink]

Pokemon Characters and Date Ideas

Basically: what dates would these Pokemon characters do with you? Characters: N Harmonia, Leon, Grimsley, Rika & Prof. Augustine Sycamore

N Harmonia

Was honestly showing affection and did private, one-on-one hangouts together even before you two started dating

It was around this time he got more affectionate in your friendship. Resting his head on top of your hair, deep eye contact (which he was often really bad at), and braiding/playing with your hair or vice versa. 

It wasn’t until you “officially” ask him out and he cocks his head to the side like a confused puppy and goes “I thought we already were?”

Confusion ensues.

As for dates, N is a really quiet and private guy. He doesn’t like being out in public or in overstimulating environments.

Most of the time dates are hikes, picnics, exploring, all that the fun outdoorsy stuff where he gets to shine in his element. 

Occasionally y’all go to Nimbasa City and go on the Ferris Wheel or play at the arcade in the Amusement Park which you both find enjoyable. 

But his favorites are on late nights when neither of you can sleep. 

You two will just go to Dragonspiral Tower and stargaze at the top of the ruins or watch the local wild pokemon do their thing. 

It’s quiet, it’s fun, and he’s with you. What else could he ask for?

Leon

Dense boy, you probably had to beat him over the head with a book to get his brain to understand (mostly bc he keeps accidentally friend-zoning himself)

Has never really dated before? 

Like, Rose set him up on dates because it's good publicity but he probably hasn’t gone on a real date.

He has money, all these brand partnerships and stuff. He tries to do really classy stuff when y’all first start dating but it leads to him being clearly uncomfortable and you getting fed up and explaining you like him for him and to do fun stuff together.

Mostly home dates from that point on or outings that don’t feel like “dates”. 

Game nights where you two play video games are super fun. Some days are challenge days where you see who can do the best run on a Roguelike or who can win the most rounds of a battle royale type game

Some days are cozy co-op games where you solve puzzles and create things…

Y’all’s favorite thing to do together though is just walk and get lost. Esp with Leon’s terrible sense of direction, you two find weird hole-in-the-wall places that are so much fun.

The best one you found was a great hole-in-the-wall traditional kantonian ramen bar that was on the edge of going out of business. However, due to you and Leon talking about it so much with friends and posting about it online, you saved the shop from going out of business.

Grimsley

Your first date with Grimsley wasn’t really what you were expecting in all honesty

He took you out for lunch at his favorite Kalosian cafe then took you to a bookstore and had you both pick out different books for each other, then went to his house and read while old records played in the background

Of course, the book he picked out for you was one of Shauntal’s (because gotta support your friends/little sister figure)

It was so different from what you were expecting but so sweet at the same time. 

Most common dates are drinks at bars after long days or flower viewings knowing you would like them

He also takes you to his favorite spots whenever he visits Alola with you.

But the most fun dates are when the two of you go to Castelia or Nimbasa to the casinos

You both are given the same amount of money and the challenge is who makes the most in time for your dinner reservation

Whenever the two of you see each other during these you have a habit of teasing the other about who’s in the lead. 

In the end, the winner pays for dinner (much to the chagrin of the other)

Rika

She’s the one who asked you and was super casual and blunt about it

Picks you up after work and takes you to the store where the two of you talk about what to make for dinner.

The two of you go back to her place and begin cooking together, smiling and chatting the whole time as the two of you get distracted by cutting veggies and being in each other’s company.

From then on dates were mostly cutesy, one-on-one time for the two of you.

Crafts while watching movies are the most common, sewing, embroidery, sketching, it's just fun and relaxing

Ceramics classes too, wet clay on your hands and you rub it on her face. Only for her to cock her brow and smirk as she cups her face with her filthy hands and kisses your nose.

Her favorite dates are the ones when you get to help her at the Academy. Running after-school activities or working in the library

It combines her admiration of her students and her love of you… her two favorite things

Prof. Augustine Sycamore

Honestly over the moon when you accepted to go on a date with him

The man is in his late 30s/early 40s and his last relationship kinda fell apart really badly 

*cough cough Lysandre cough*

So he was out of the dating scene for a while and didn’t exactly know what to do when you said yes

Like, his brain crashed and did a hard reset. He was not expecting to get this far…

He gives all his employees off one day and decks out the backyard of his lab with string lights, and sheets, rummaging around the attic of the lab, and a call to his favorite restaurant.

When you arrived you saw the backyard completely transformed into a cozy outdoor movie spot with takeout and snacks prepared at a picnic table

It’s super sweet

Besides that, you two go on “research” dates together. It’s mostly pokemon watching and taking notes on what you find.

The little sketches he does of the pokemon you find absolutely adorable!

[iraprince]

Absolutely love the Infodump on Cookie she's so good. however!! I remember you made a trio of characters for this game and were torn about which one to play, then decided the other two could be his attendants.

How are those two, what are they up to?? Have you done much with them in the game so far? (And even if not, wanna give us some tastey information about 'em?)

💜

oooh yes! those two are sir velvet the unsmiling (it/she), and damned-if-i-do/dandy (he/they). let's pull up their art (esp now that i have crispy clean new scans!!! i think i have only ever posted this art as shitty phone pics prior to this)

ANYWAY. it turns out that even though attendants are a built-in part of the noble sweetheart playbook (cookie's title) and you're SUPPOSED to be using them... for me in practice, when i'm actually playing the game, i just keep totally forgetting lmfao!!!! :') rping with my other party members and chasing quests and stuff is so engaging that my brain is totally booked with just being cookie, let alone two additional npcs, so sadly dandy and velvet have not gotten a ton of screentime in the current campaign

BUT that really just makes me eager to one day play them properly in a different campaign, whether that's them each taking their turn as player characters like was originally intended, or when i'm GMing a campaign of my own (i'm trying to write up something for my friends, but i have no idea when it's actually gonna happen bc i'm so busy rip... but when i do, cookie and her attendants will def be npcs)

i honestly don't have MUCH i can say abt them, bc since i haven't played them much i also havent developed them much... i suppose i can give summaries tho!

in terms of vibes velvet is very much like, "guy who is brooding so hard that it stops being mysterious or having any gravity at all and is mostly just making people wonder if she's like? okay?????" like there is only so long you can spend with your back to the rest of the group clenching your fist and muttering to yourself before people just start kind of glossing over it and being like "oh haha that's CLASSIC sir velvet the unsmiling!!!"... mix this with a heady dose of "[nasal voice] UM, you forgot to collect the homework" and somehow you have created a creature ideal for wrangling cookie's effusive elaborate scatterbrained whims, somehow, most of the time. velvet is really similar to a different Brooding Goth Knight character i have wherein my formula is "make a character who looks extremely fucking sicknasty badass, then never ever ever stop making fun of them ever"

dandy is cookie's quartermaster, and so unlike velvet (who's usually assumed to be traveling around with cookie, even if i am constantly forgetting to roleplay that it's doing that) he mostly chills at chateau gorgeous looking after his liege's affairs and making sure the ppl who live there are fed + sheltered + generally taken care of. they are pretty much velvet's exact opposite in terms of temperament; EVERYTHING gets velvet's hackles up, NOTHING phases dandy. i need to be careful bc i am starting to arbitrarily ship them just from typing this. anyway, dandy is largely non-verbal; they're able to speak if really necessary, but they would just rather not, and if there's really no way around it they'd rather just sidle over to cookie and whisper it to her, and then let her communicate whatever they want to say to the rest of the group on their behalf; if cookie's not around, you're just gonna have to figure out how to communicate w him otherwise. which always works out fine bc dandy is very patient and used to getting along in silence!

that's about all i've got rn... i will def post it here if i come up with or draw anything else that's fun tho :) ty for the ask!

[lovelyelbowleech]

Ahhh I just stayed up way too late for someone with a job and responsibilities like laundry and groceries to be doing this, but war game/war crimes had me in a chokehold. I really appreciate all the threads you’ve been weaving an the creative ways they’re mixing together to create new dynamics and twists . I also love the how the humorous beats balance out the very mature take on war. As someone who works with torture survivors, I appreciate how your depictions felt (tragically) realistic and respectful to gravity of the human right violations. I also appreciate howuch time you’ve given sokka and zuko to be unwell in unpleasant ways, not just convenient for falling in love ways. Just fantastic scenes of healing and being upset. Also I do love all the different facets of Zuko we see based on all the different lens people see him in, all of them working incomplete information. I for one am curious to see how zuko will be seen by the team Azula, those who perhaps have had the most years build up an idea of who he is and how that’ll accentuate what has and hasn’t changed. I could keep going forever about all that I’m curious about but for the sake of your inbox, I’ll simply stew on it and trust that the next chapter will pose even more questions for me and take the story to another supremely well written twist( loooove how many actors are duplicitous and fueled by more than one motivation) (( also love that so far I think almost every POV has had their “I will kill Zhao” moment because whew consequences and also what a fun way to show ripples of his actions))

Thank you for this lovely ask! Sorry its taken some time to reply, I've had some stuff going on 😬

Its always good to hear when people find my depiction of trauma and torture realistic and impactful (that feels like a weird thing to say!) so thank you very much for letting me know!

I love outsider POV because you get to see canon characters through someone who is not in the know. Its very entertaining to write! And Zuko (esp in this situation) is such a fun character to do that with, as there are many layers and deceptions going on. I think Team Azula's interactions with him, if and when they happen will be really enjoyable to write 😂

Thank you again for this lovely ask, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on things! ❤️

[klanced]

Katie Klanced i wanna hear your ace attorney opinions soooooo bad my main joke is that it's just vld for those whove grown up lmao (esp on narumitsu/wrightworth!)

WHAT

WHAT?

I DID NOT BECOME OBSESSED WITH ACE ATTORNEY IN 2012 JUST FOR YOU TO SAY ITS “VLD FOR THOSE WHOVE GROWN UP”

somebody hold me back ive never felt so violent before

Anyway ace attorney is one of the games of all times I’m so serious. I love it so much. My cringe confession is that phoenix wright is one of the reasons I want to become a lawyer and I am only slightly embarrassed to admit it.

Honestly idk how to properly describe the appeal of this franchise. If you really liked those early 2000s Nancy Drew Detective games / desktop mystery games then this is THE series for you. I think it really weaves together story and puzzles in a way that actually forces you to think. And the payoff when you do figure out that key contradiction in a case is PRICELESS. The MUSIC that plays when you start turning the case around!!! 🔥🔥🔥

Maya Fey is fr one of the greatest characters of all time and sometimes it feels like AA created her completely by accident. Honestly this game has no idea how to treat its female characters so prepare to constantly be disappointed in that aspect. This is why fanon stays winning 👍🏼 though TGAA does a much better job in this regard. Ugh TGAA is so goddamn good I need to finish the first game w Emma already

Anyway Klance honestly has nothing in common w Wrightworth beyond the red/blue thing. Wrightworth is so much better it’s not even funny. Also the Wrightworth rivalry is of a completely different nature. Even at their most antagonist, Wrightworth were still rivals that were ultimately working in tandem to uncover the TRUTH. Beating each other in court is just a bonus.

I don’t see any solid VLD -> AA pipeline. I don’t think klance fans grew up to become Wrightworth fans. I think Wrightworth is just a ship people with good taste naturally gravitate towards

[prpfs]

hi ! 🩷 my name is birdy and i'm 21 + they/them !! i'm currently looking for a casual descriptive rp for a couple fandoms (on discord [oc x canon doubles and oc x oc]). i range from a semi descriptive to very (i don't know what newer terms mean because i. am a little out of touch with the broader rpc). i also tend to give replies once or twice a week depending on motivation and how work is going. i do often need to take breaks and have some memory issues </3. i did also lose my job a while back and . have not been doing so well but i am trying to be more active!

most of this is copy and pasted so if some stuff doesn't line up. well ‼️

but, all those warnings aside, i have been writing for almost ten years now and love to plot and chat ooc !! i love making moodboards and playlists and using pinterest !! i love getting mutually excited about each other's ocs and when i'm doing well i love to create things that add to the universe! i have no real hard limits (+ i love dark content) and i am willing to write most characters unless i feel i really cannot do them justice. if i accidentally did not respond to your last like or have ghosted you feel free to poke me or send me a reminder text !! i got a little overwhelmed a while back so i am sifting through things.

-stranger things (mike wheeler x my oc for my side, would love to play hopper, billy, alexei, joyce, nancy, will, or jonathan)

-original (i said fandoms but i would love some small town horror or southern gothic! 2000s youtube type horror as well)

-the ballad of songbirds and snakes (would love love to play sej or lucy gray)

-the boys (jordan li x my oc + i would love love to play sam!)

-game of thrones/house of the dragon (would love love aegon ii/undecided x my oc or to play rhaenyra or even aemond. tbh any of the women <3)

-the secret history (lovelovelove camilla x fem oc)

-older anime esp shoujo (think brothers conflict, ouran highschool host club) or others (diabolik lovers, soul eater, naruto, black butler, etc)

-i also write characters from various novels and am willing to read one (or watch a movie if you'd like a muse from a niche fandom, i have some of my own)

-sally face (sal fisher x my OC <3 i love playing larry)

Generally just feeling nostalgic fandoms rn!

like if you're interested and op will reach out

[yandere-daze]

Anon who sent the multi account ask here- I TOTALLY SQUEALED WHEN I SAW YOU ANSWERED MY ASK :'D Looking back I 100% rambled a lot, and I'm so sorry, but I loved your input and thoughts! ;~; I think it's interesting how the characters don't start out as self aware but gradually remember who you are and the times you've shared.

I lowkey have to wonder if it could open the door to the idols becoming (somehow) even more obsessed with the player 🤔. Like- once they find out that you're fond enough of their world to get the game twice or three times over! To them it could seem like you love them the same way they love you, no? So it only makes sense to be even more cutthroat and vicious in order to get close to you! Like a trigger of sorts for even stranger behavior on their end (for lack of a better term). After all, you just adore them sooooo much! Esp your favs. I know of ppl who spend 100+ or more dollars for their idols and cannot stand not having them in all their accounts. That'd for sure create some airs of superiority.

That aside, I also wanna to say thanks!!! I hope in the future you can humor my self aware au ramblings again >< I just love AUs that are collaborative like this.

Ahh I´m glad to hear you liked the way I expanded on your idea! It always makes me happy when people say that they like what I write, naturally ^^ And don´t worry, rambling is fine because it gives me more to work with!!

gn reader

tw yandere, possessiveness, implied murder(?)

And you´re certainly right about that! You downloading the game several times proves that you didn´t just get it on a whim but that you´ve actually grown to care about them so much that you couldn´t bare to part from them!

And it gets even worse if you still put all the dias you have into your favs on all of your account because in their wishful thinking they´ll absolutely take that as a sign that you must simply adore them if you´re willing to go through so much for them <3

You´re even spending money? Oh, they really wish you didn´t need to but the gacha system and the other characters are trying to prevent them from getting home to you early so at least they´re happy to see that they´re the only one you would spend this amount of money on

Oh, maybe you made multiple accounts just so you could keep going for their cards? Aww, you´re so cute, they just know that you love them as much as they love you! Why else would you put so much of your time into a game? There must be something here that makes you keep playing and they really hope that it´s them

But of course, with you having more than one account that just means they have to be even more on the defense because all the other idols are just itching to get their chance and make you pull for them on a new account. They may have been beathen the first time around but they´re not going to allow it a second time!

So feeling threatened, your fave is sure to get even more intense, maybe even trying to find a way to remove certain lines of code so that their rivals are simply going to disintegrate into nothingness.

You wouldn´t mind, right? Obviously they are your favorite and you don´t need anyone else but them. They´re enough for you just as you are the only person they ever want to look at ever again!

So just let them love you properly without any distractions <3

[blanketorghost]

「I'll make you the hero of your own story...」

Ok so Malleus trapped everyone in an alt reality/dream world where everyone is happy, right?

Ok so what if WHAT IF

The dream worlds have all the child NRC students inside a childhood dream with a fairytale twist to it?

We do have child (silhouette) sprites of most students, esp the overblottees, so WHY NOT get the child reveal??

Also you have to fight the children. 🫡

I want to draw all of the NRC kids/overblot squad with this imagery in mind but since I'm in a Yuu backstory funk, he is the first doodle I did of his own fantasy world.

This is an altered memory of Yuu's with his two best friends— Junji Onigawara and Nana Sakurai— during the Sanja matsuri when he was 10 years old.

Yuu often could only experience festivals as a performer, so being able to spend the last day of Sanja with his only two friends at the time was very meaningful to him.

Junji and Nana are from Yuu's neighborhood and therefore are from lower-income households; Junji being the son of divorced parents and Nana the oldest of 5 siblings in a single-income household. Even though the class disparity was so obvious between the three, they would become life-long friends.

Not being able to do anything to help his friends and family was something that weighed heavily on his mind, and as such, he used to spend the allowance his grandparents gave him on other people instead.

So I think that in this perfect fantasy world Malleus creates, he would give Yuu the chance to splurge and give everyone what they wished for but couldnt have because of money issues; from the pretty kansashi and yukata Nana always gushed about to the overpriced festival food Junji used to drool over.

Looking back, it's a very childish wish to have— thinking he could solve the financial rift between himself and his friends with just one good night, but at least he can dream.

Id like to think his own little fantasy world would be modeled after Momotarō, with Idia + gang being the titular characters while the festival is a version of Onigashima, given I relate each of the kids with a type of Yōkai (Yuu=Kitsune/Floral, Junji=Oni/Water, Nana=Nekomata/Fire).

Nana and Junji would work as mini-bosses for the area, whilst Yuu would be the final boss (which was looking for a "strange-looking cat").

I also think that their fighting styles would be reminiscent of traditional japanese/festival games like Otedama/Temari for Nana, Hanetsuki/Kingyo sukui for Junji and Tohsenkyo/Shateki for Yuu.

I also thought that they'd keep their masks until they're defeated!

I still dont know if I want them to have their grown-up designs for fighting or if I will literally just make Idia beat up some kids but I'll think about that later jdbcfj

[manonamora-if-reviews]

Elsinore: After Hamlet by Jinx/Lapin Lunaire

============= Links

Play the game See other reviews of the game See other games by Jinx or follow @lapinlunaire-games

============= Synopsis

The year is 2021—or maybe 1602? Hamlet the Younger has just tragically died and Fortinbras the Younger, King of Norway and newly-conquered Denmark, has a lot of cleaning up to do. Elsinore: After Hamlet is an interactive fiction exploration of William Shakespeare's Hamlet as a plague text and a reckoning of Asian American identity during these trying times.

============= Other Info

Elsinore: After Hamlet is a Twine (Harlowe) game. It was the first game from this author.

Status: Completed Genre: Isekai, Adaptation, Slice of Life

CW: blood, death, violence, illness, bad puns, explicit language, panic attack, mention of racism, animated text (not toggable).

============= Playthrough

First Played: ??? Last Played: 08-Aug-2023 Playtime: around 2h (most endings) Rating: 4 /5 Thoughts: Is Life adapting Art? or Art adapting Life?

============= Review

Staged during the pandemic, this story will take you on a strange adventure, where reality and hallucinations become one. As you try to finish an essay on Hamlet, your crippling thoughts keep going back to your worries about "these trying times"... until you are transported into a cold and mourning castle. Will you be consumed by your hallucinations? or claw back to reality to finish your assignment?

Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.

I should probably preface this review by saying I've never read Hamlet (or Shakespeare's work) outside of lone lines or loose adaptations (I think the Lion King/Dune applies?). And while I know there are murders, betrayals, unrequited feelings, madness and monologues galore, the game does not punish you for not knowing the intricacies of the text. Because the story is set after Hamlet's death... and it is not really about Hamlet either.

E:aH uses Hamlet as a framing device to explore the themes of grief, the fear of and hopelessness about death, and identity (esp. Asian American), when living through a global pandemic. During this period, many of us have experienced grief and hardship, from not being able to meet people, to losing family members, seeing one's health worsen, or being subject to violence from others... And within its 15k+ words, this game creates a snapshot filled with anxiety and uncertainty. Yet, amidst the depressing setting, the prose is parsed with humour, little gems bringing levity to the story.

The story happens in two folds: you working on your assignment, trying to suppress worries about your loved ones and the state of the world, and your hallucinations(?) set in Elsinore, imagining events following the end of the play. Both somewhat mirroring or criticising the other. You struggle to find something meaningful to say about the the text, while Horatio scolds you for downplaying their agency as people. A "plague" starts in Elsinore, which you notice from a servant coughing. you share comforting words to Horatio and compassion for his situation, recalling times of struggles during the "war" against COVID and the violence some were forced to endure because of their ethnicity.

The game feels like a critique of the text, through the added character of Petra challenging the crown while passive Ophelia goes mad, or a critique of some reading of the text, like with the comments about the relationships between Horatio and Hamlet. The critiques are sometimes a bit more blunt, with the player character roasting Hamlet for derailing his father's quest (meeting his demise) or his poor treatment towards other characters (esp. Ophelia).

While the UI strayed very little from the basic Harlowe base, it does utilise the enchantment macros in an interesting manner, often enhancing the player character's feelings, a few even added to the hallucination assumptions (especially when ignoring the first sign). Some of the strangely formatted text will hide the way to advance through the story. I wasn't particularly fan some typed text (a bit too slow) or timed ones (wait a bit too long), and one hidden link was biiit too obtuse to find - but it didn't detract my overall enjoyment of the story.

But as every story, this too must end. So let's finish with the endings. The game has 7 possible endings. Some easier to get than others; some longer than others; some good, some bad, some neither. I reached the shorter ones more easily than the longer ones. Depending on your choices, the story will confirm these hallucinations were just a dream or will let you believe you are still trapped in Elsinore; you may reach a bittersweet end where your heart lightened, or one sharing the same fate as Ophelia. Out of those, I think I preferred the ones where the isekai theme was the more obvious, regardless of how forceful the return to reality is, as it mirrored best the start of the game and felt more like a closing the circle moment.

[maxknightley]

what’s it like making a soundtrack for a tabletop podcast you’re on, where you’re not the GM?

how it generally works is:

for character themes, I go to the player in question (if it isn't me) and I go "okay I'm gonna try and hit such and such vibes and include such and such samples from your eidolon's namesake." and then I do that and I show them the draft and if they like it and Luke likes it I go ahead. this is in some ways "the easy part" (because a character leitmotif is a more specific vibe than just A Tone) and in some ways "the hard part" (...because a character leitmotif is a more specific vibe than just A Tone)

for non-character themes it's basically just. Luke is like "okay I need motifs for X Y and Z" and then I do those and he gives me feedback as the draft progresses.

in either case, I like to fool around with leitmotif whenever possible - I really got wacky with this in season two, with various themes that reflected or drew on each other -- e.g. "Familiarity," which adds elements of Quentin and Virginia's themes to a remix of Chili's theme -- mixing multiple samples together into one song, etc.

other than that it's pretty much the same as any other commission but there's A Lot More of it because of the scale of the project. I'd say it's comparable to making the entire soundtrack for a mid-sized indie game.

the one thing that I'd say is Very Different about making a soundtrack vs. making a single song is that I have to keep in mind how the songs will sound in relation to each other. so far the biggest challenge on that front has been Ska; it's very easy to create different vibes within a genre as broad as "pop" or "rock," and Disco is a really broad and wobbly category in some ways (esp. if you factor in stuff like italo-disco or funk or house and early techno), but it can be tricky to create a song that's "ska enough" without hitting a lot of similar beats. eventually I just went "well whatever I'll just use a pretty broad definition" which is why you get stuff like Naomi's theme, which is... well it's definitely got elements of rock and elements of reggae but I dunno if it's what most people would think of when they hear the word "ska" lol.

all that being said: it's fun as hell. I love working on music and it's really cool figuring out how all this stuff fits together, how I'm going to craft a lot of different vibes while also making it all feel suitable as character themes, you know? thank you music.

[warriorofthesky]

starting this with the disclaimer that im a newish player (started in march) and am mostly here for the story. and i'm not a destiny doomer and am in fact counting down the days for the showcase, pretty happy with the seasons ive played so far and deeply in love with the game's world and characters. i'm having a lot of fun, i'm usually pretty annoyed at how negative this community is and ignoring destiny players on reddit and twitter was probably the best decision i've made since i downloaded the game.

HOWEVER

(tldr: destiny is a great game but a frankly terrible product. also i will compare it to ffxiv bc it is my frame of reference, sorry in advance).

(also very, veeeeeeeery long. see this as less of a "this is what i think about the state of the game article" post and more of a "i've played this game for 4 months, here is what i think about it" one.)

i dont even know what to think about the state of the game article bc i feel like im here only by happenstance, i dont care about what 95% of the player base does (that being, you know, the looter shooter part of the game) so for me the only bad thing is gambit's funeral

the whole more rewards thing simply doesnt work with me, it does not tickle my brain, im usually excited about stuff i get only bc it was hard and/or fun to get them. you will never catch me dead farming anything. you will, however, catch me dying 123123 times trying to solo spire of the watcher bc im too socially awkward to find a fireteam and overall allergic to using a mic🫠so, you know, i just dont care about 70% of that post. i acknowledge that.

but it DOES feel bad to see them go "oops, we couldnt make a new set of armor this time. btw, we arent making any of them anymore" like bruh, read the room💀is now really the time to not deliver on promises. esp when you go out of your way to shove micro transactions on our faces

it is fortunate that im also mostly immune to microtransactions bc they are all too expensive for me but they are just EVERYWHERE. i come from ffxiv and i dont even remember the store exists while im playing there. sure, ffxiv is subscription based while destiny is free to play but i'm sorry. ffxiv's free trial has more content than destiny's free to try ever will (i'd even go ahead and say ffxiv's free trial has more content than destiny ever will since destiny is fond of cannibalizing itself). especially now that they extended it to stormblood/lvl 70. depending on how much you play daily, you can spend months in ffxiv without spending a single cent.

i began playing destiny in march and immediately had to pay for shadowkeep bc what the hell was i even going to play after the first week otherwise? i keep trying to get my brother into destiny, but it is hella expensive, not to say anything of ridiculously confusing story-wise. the other day we had a big oof moment bc im trying to use dungeons to lure him in and didnt realize we had to pay for shattered throne or grasp of avarice. he didnt have the forsaken pack or the anniversary pack. i was out of money, he was only vaguely interested, and we only learned later that prophecy is the one free dungeon in the game. destiny is not free to play as far as real content is involved.

so it feels shitty to have the store shoved in your face SO much ALL the time. you have season passes and then events with their own season passes (so to speak) and then most of the cool stuff is also paid and like, ok, this is already bad, but you gotta remind me of them all the time, game? really?

it creates this massive dissonance between that the game is showing me and what i see from the many devs i follow on twitter. they are passionate people, they love what they do, i 100% believe they are doing great work within the structure they are in. but the game feels like a cash grab. its absolutely bonkers to me that the game goes out of its way to tell you that you can now buy stuff in its store. aren't you proud that now you can spend who knows how many dollars in this product of ours?? arent you??

????? okay?

and it's not just the microtransactions, it's the timegating too. my first weeks of destiny were spent with me having the thought of "god, imagine if it was like this in ffxiv. people would be SO mad squeenix would be apologizing until 2030" every other day. out of cores? too bad, you have a daily limit at rahool. out of prisms? same thing. like sir. i'm a new player. i want to at least have one set of armor masterworked. you are not convincing me to play more, you are convincing me not to give a shit. im broke af in game and out of game now lol congrats to me!

and there is more! want to do this weapon quest thingy for witch queen? too bad, not today. want to not be fool with stasis in pvp or pve? too bad, come back next week for more aspects. this chafes, yall. especially as a new player who barely has any idea of how any of these 1231231 systems work. you are not convincing me to play stasis next week. you are convincing me not to touch stasis for the next 3 months.

i will keep sighing and complaining about ffxiv's weekly capped tomestones but by god i've seen hell and it is not in ffxiv.

this state of the game that is basically telling pvpers and all four of us who enjoy gambit that they can't and won't do more feels like shit even to someone like me who actually likes gambit right now (i couldn't care less about maps lol) and who barely plays any pvp. where is all the money going? why are you shoving eververse on my face all the time then? why are you timegating me to hell in an attempt to get me to play more and spend more? why?

i do not agree with the idea that this money is going to marathon only and that is why there isn't much pvp development to speak of. that would be really stupid because destiny is bungie's main source of income and it will only be okay for them to not give a shit about it anymore when and if marathon becomes a hit and a not a moment before. however, i'm also a league player and even though i play much less now i've kept up with it and it's pretty obvious that after 10 years of being riot's only game league isn't the priority for the company nowadays. valorant is.

poor one out for legends of runeterra while we are here.

this does not mean league is abandoned. it just isn't the focus anymore. it has a consolidated player base. people are used to how it works and how content (champions) is released. there is very little financial incentive to do more than necessary. whatever is going on with bungie is... honestly normal, even if it isn't fine by our definitions. and again, i don't think it's even marathon. i think it's the executives' pockets honestly lol because what does "we don't have the resources" even mean? i know hiring more people and throwing them at the game is not the answer for quick solutions. i'm not a gamedev, but i'm a webdev working in a startup. last year we had a small influx of trainee devs and it was HELL for a few months. i'm a junior myself and i was about lose my mind if i got interrupted one more time to answer a question from the trainees again. new hires mean everyone's work will be slower for some time. but the thing is that it usually goes back to normal. i havent had a trainee interrupt my work in months now. it feels pretty incredible.

so why doesn't bungie hire more people? it will slow things down for months and months but it will pay off eventually, right? except i don't know if that's true. are more pvp maps going to bring in more money? is not shooting gambit dead going to bring in more money? probably not. again, the executives' pockets are the issue here. what i think is happening is that it isn't worth it to hire and train more people to make content for something that doesn't bring in money. and we could argue about how pvp and gambit being healthy is good for the game, how that would bring in more people or make people play and pay more, yadda yadda, but i don't believe the decision makers at bungie believe this and they might have good reasons, so what can be done? nothing, i guess. it's not like i know better than them.

so, on one side, i understand why people might be a bit miffed at the game. it feels like a cash grab. it feels like is trapping you into playing. however, i believe you are still responsible for your actions and perfectly capable of not playing if you are not enjoying it. i wish the destiny subreddit would take a chill pill and touch grass bc those people are not okay right now. but i think it's disingenuous to act as if the game isn't ridiculously greedy. because it is. this game is greedier than league and league is super greedy already (and league actually is free to play, unlike destiny).

raging at the devs will not change this. harassing the devs won't change this. they are not the ones making these decisions, especially the devs you find on social media going about their day and taking care of their lives, which are none of our business.

in the end, you kinda have to make peace with destiny-the-product or you will have a miserable time playing destiny-the-game.

i've made my peace with it. i engage with the content that brings me joy and ignore everything else. and look, the state of the game wasn't all bad. it was actually fine overall. i still find it weird that it doesn't address the real issues people had with the season (deep dives doing triple duty as simple deep dives, exotic quest and catalyst hunting was the big oof of the season for me, honestly. sometimes i just want to do a deep dive and not get roped into whatever else is going on - or the opposite, i guess. i still havent gotten the catalyst) but i gotta believe they will take the feedback when making the next seasons/expansions.

and they are finally getting rid of the ridiculous nonsense that is acquiring stasis. right after i managed to drag all my characters through all of that, sure, but at least now i can finally delete my awoken titan and make an exo one because i won't have to go through it all again. and they teased changes to the seasonal model or at least how seasons work. i'm pretty okay with what we have now, honestly. if anything i just wish the story stuff wasn't so... short. there was also something about making sure new players are caught up and that made me perk up because, please, bungie. i'm trying so hard to get my brother into this game. help me out. please.

and, the most important thing for me, final shape will conclude the saga, no seasons necessary!

just that made the whole state of the game post worth it for me. once again, my condolences to pvp players and i will mourn you, gambit, but i'm here for vibes and the lore and story, and 10 years of league of legends made me immune to shiny things on the store and 2 years of ffxiv made me too lazy to be tempted by timegated stuff. you can not kill my joy in any way that matters @ bungie's executives

the one thing i wish bungie would change (since i believe the game is too deep into microtransactions to ever be free of it) is how they communicate with players. it's not even the frequency (we have twids, as the name says, every week after all) it's just... the tone. i don't want them to give a piece of their mind to the insane people frothing at the mouth on reddit and twitter and youtube, but it's like they are speaking to an imaginary player and the (normal, well-adjusted) players are speaking to an imaginary bungie. we are not in the same wavelength at all. riot and rioters speak more to league players. of all companies out there, out of all communities out there, and riot does it better.

i understand keeping the devs safe, especially after the clusterfuck that happened recently. but it's still weird that bad actors are the deciding factor when engaging with the community. i don't know what the solution is but it does feel pretty bad overall. and its hard to take bungie seriously when most stuff they spit out is riddled with corporate speak. very little of it feels genuine.

again, i love the game. i love the characters. i love the universe and i love how queer friendly it is. ive spent the last weeks soloing dungeons and having an absolute blast, even if spire is kicking my ass really hard right now. getting the new exotic felt magical. and i've spent an ungodly amount of time theorizing about final shape and reading, watching and writing about this game. getting new veil containment stuff every week and theorizing with the community is really fun. i got the first book of the destiny anthology and i love it so much. hell, the game got me to write fanfic and only two pieces of media actually managed that (pretty easy to guess the other one at this point). i love my time here. i'm not leaving unless the story takes a nosedive of epic proportions and no, i don't think lightfall is as bad as people say. in fact, it's the second best expansion and i will fight you on that.

but destiny is not a good product, not by a long shot.

[the-s1lly-corner]

*tagging this since a lot of reoccuring folk who interact or ask things dont follow me (no hate I get it!!)

Oh oh also! I feel the need to bring this up since I'm getting loads of new followers from my spot/Jonathan x y/n ohnn posts!

Future admin note; TLDR below IS the entire post because it summed up everything I needed/wanted to say better than the initial ramble and I'm too silly to reword it into

Not being a TLDR

TLDR since a lot of it is admin rambling and getting off topic; this is a multi fandom blog that primarily centers around the admins current hyperfixiation (due to how strong the admin experiences brainrot), but defaults to creepypasta content when the admin either

A) doesnt have a particular rot

B) is embarassed of their current rot (I'm cringe and not free)

C) the fandom is very obscure or small

On average a hyperfixiation for the admin can last from a few weeks to a few months, and usually when one dies it can take a long time to reignite if at all. Because of how intense their interests get, it can become incredibly difficult for the admin to write outside of the current fandom.

Basically I just wanna warn you guys that I'm uncertain how long I'll be writing for spot and for how long my hc lists for him will remain decent quality and I want you guys to know ahead of time before the spiderverse rot inevitably dies <\3

It won't be an outright ban on spot writings though!! I'll probably rework my pinned to have two lists; one for main interests and a side for characters I'm comfy writing with

The only real thing that will change is a fluctuation in passion and posting frequency

I will say when my spiderverse fixiation dies I can almost guarantee that it'll be revived when beyond comes out

That's just a fact, whenever a new part to an old interest is released it always comes back

Seen it with the owl house (the finale episodes coming out), seen it with Fran Bow (creators getting REAL active with releasing character stuff and merch recently), Overwatch (I blame ramattra for bringing back that one. Before that the last time I touched OVW was in like. 2016? So literally when the game first came out) and probably a few others

Those are the only two examples I can think of

Anyways

Yeah!! Thats really all! I guess I'd just feel guilty if I suddenly had a visible attitude shift in passion and hype around spot <\3

And I dont want to throw any one off with that random shift when it comes, esp because so many of you like my silly rambles

As of now the interest is fairly strong so yall dont gotta worry yet!!

So yeah!!

Remember to drink water and get plenty of rest, take your meds and have an amazing day!

TLDR for the TLDR that turned into the entire post;

Admin is autistic (/srs) and bounces around fandoms a lot as interests come and go, said interests sometimes totally consuming their entire brain to the point they cant think/create/interact with anything outside the hyperfixiation, and when a new fixiation comes in the old one dies leaving behind little to no incentive to create for it

Admin really doesnt like how their brain works for this but :(

[pinklocksoflove]

( not going on anon bc it feels disingenuous, esp in light of recent jelly donuts who abuse that feature ) My fav thing about your character designs are how distinct each one is from the other. And how much genre variety you seem to have too. You e seriously designed machines and magical girls and that's not a feat I think I could pull off easily. And it's great to see you posting art of them and constantly getting ideas. Whether you are doing it in rp, art, video games, etc. You are always creating and its genuinely just a nice thing to see someone being so creative. It's probably not my place to say this but people who show up on anon to try to make it sound like you are here to impress anyone or who feel the need to guilt trip you or put down your art when you're here to relax and have fun are transparently jealous of something. Thanks for sharing your work on here, lots of us enjoy it.

I really needed to hear this. Thank you so much

[general--winter]

Could we please get general relationship headcanons for Futaba from Persona 5?

author's note: I love Futaba, she is me. I am her. Genuinely my favorite P5 character. No it's not Yusuke even though I only have a giant print of him hanging in my room-

rating: general

fandom: persona 5

pairings: futaba sakura x gn!reader

word count: 772

warnings: canon-typical content

summary: What would it be like to be in a relationship with Futaba?

Ohhhhh, Futaba. As shy as she is, she wants to be with someone just like her. Someone who is withdrawn, willing to spend many, many days cooped up playing video games with her, and has the same goofball streak and a heart of gold. She wants to be able to screw around all day with you and just act like a bunch of goobers. While she wants a withdrawn partner, though, I think someone who is extremely outgoing would suit her just as well. A person that can be the “she asked for no pickles, sir” of the relationship, if you will. Futaba the schemer and her partner, the executor. A power couple made in hell. The world shall fear them.

When she first meets you, probably on the streets of Akihabara or when she goes back to school, Futaba would understandably be incredibly nervous and anxious. It’s in her nature. But she made a resolve to go out, make friends, and bloom into her own person after her experience with the Phantom Thieves. So that’s exactly what she does, and she meets you, the person she falls for, hard and fast. Maybe literally. Like, trips into your arms literally. And if you’re not chicken, ask her out here. She will not do it herself, Futaba would be perfectly content stewing on her emotions to stay in her safe space and keep the friendship she already worked so hard to create. So it’s on you to read the signs. Would she run away from you after you ask? Probably. But she would come right back and explain, accepting your offer for a date.

No ifs, ands, or buts, your first date is at the arcade. She has to school your gaming skill, just to make sure you are worthy of being her equal in the relationship. I don’t think she’s actually cruel, though, so if you get stomped she’ll just tease the shit out of you about how much you suck. Get ready for a lifetime of butt whoopings in Smash Brothers. Since you two were friends before dating, though, your meetups would quickly move to either your house or Futaba’s. Ordering delivery food or running to Leblanc to get curry to devour on the couch with bags up chips and soda is incredibly common with you two. And you know what? Futaba wouldn’t have it any other way. Literally, don’t take her to that fancy restaurant. She will hate it, keep it simple and private! And buy her gifts from Akihabara every time you go. She will fawn over everything you get her forever.

Speaking of gifts, Futaba’s love language is gift giving, as well as words of affirmation. We see with the protagonist that Futaba really needs verbal encouragement to go through with her plans, and you best believe that for every time you are there to cheer her on, she will return the act tenfold. She’ll be your personal cheerleader until the end. Also, Futaba strikes me as the type who would go out and buy you the dumbest thing in existence just because she thought of you when she saw it. A mug that looks like your favorite animal? Your cabinet is already overflowing, but you will find room for it.

The Phantom Thieves are her personal protection squad, so do everything you can to impress them or they will not let you around her. Not that they don’t trust Futaba to make educated decisions about who she hangs around with, but she’s definitely a bit more vulnerable to people taking advantage of her due to her social inexperience. Not to even mention Sojiro. Hoo boy. All of the father stereotypes apply here. He knows what harm can come to people in relationships, especially with their first love, so he’s overprotective as hell. But I have complete faith that you will be able to earn his respect, especially since Futaba has been so happy since starting to date you. Anyone who helps make his daughter happy is a good person in his eyes.

Overall, prepare for chaos in a relationship with Futaba. Every day is going to be something new. A new story about her hacking exploits, about what she did to get in trouble at school, or what her friends did that caused utter chaos once again. The chaos is comforting, though. You know that Futaba will always be at your side and that she’ll be there to put a smile on your face when you can’t do it yourself. You’re gonna be the one ordering the food and making phone calls, though. She’s totally not sorry.

[petruchio]

curious if you have any Thoughts on haymitch as a character because i've always found him esp interesting. the reveal that he was actually working with the rebels was amazing. also the fact that the parallels between him and katniss aren't obvious at first.

i feel like SC likely intended for haymitch to function as sort of "counterexample" to gale, possibly so that men from the seam don't all fit into the same (excessively violent, poc-coded) archetype. they both show anger toward the capitol, they're both willing to start a war, they're both perceived as unfriendly/abrasive. iirc the descriptions of young haymitch (before/during his games) were also somewhat reminiscent of gale -- defiant, handsome, good at finding "loopholes" in one way or another. but in the end, haymitch is willing to value ending the cycle of the games over punishing the capitol, and gale isn't. of course, gale was never in the games, and he hasn't worked with (and developed trust with) rebels from the capitol nearly as much, so in-universe it makes sense, but what Else do the parallels between them mean?

i feel like this balance of archetypes isn't entirely successful because gale is presented as So clearly unsympathetic starting from the beginning of mockingjay. katniss's choice is ultimately presented as being between gale's and peeta's points of view, not anyone else's, so haymitch's role feels less relevant. at the same time, haymitch is presented as being "part of the family" at the end of mockingjay, so it's complicated.

i’ve written about haymitch a few times before. here’s one about his impact on katniss as a rebel, here’s one about his and katniss’ relationship. also here’s one where i directly compared his take on rebellion in twelve to gale’s. (side note but this is why i get annoyed when people act like gale was the only rebel/government hater/anti-authoritarian in thg… it’s not a particularly illuminating take and it isn’t supported by the text. gale is one character and he has one perspective. and the text points out why and how he’s wrong/misguided multiple times over the course of the trilogy. like honestly if we want to idolize a rebel in thg who hates the government, i’d rather we went with haymitch.)

i mean haymitch influences katniss and her ideology far more than gale does (and this is good??? because he’s an adult?! like you said he has a much more nuanced view of rebellion and what it entails WHICH MAKES SENSE AND HE IS CORRECT.) he always brings the focus of rebellion back to solidarity in the face of division. i mean, he is the one who initially pushes the lovers narrative because he recognizes that love/solidarity can disrupt the divisive capitol regime and narrative. his statement of “remember who the enemy is” is crucial to the broader commentary of thg.

so, to your point, haymitch is a great example of a different sort of rebel. as you point out, he seems on the surface to have many of the same attributes as gale. yet at the same time, he comes to the rebellion from a different place as a former tribute in the games and a current mentor. so i think contrasting him with gale is a perfectly relevant and valid angle to take.

you can read my extended gale thoughts here but basically i agree with you. in thg, rebellion must have an end goal of a future which transforms the society in some way. one of gales problems as a character is that he doesn’t seem to have a very clear vision of what that future contains. he works to destroy the *present* but he struggles to define what he wants from the *future* — contrast this with haymitch (or even katniss and peeta), who in simple narrative terms, have one goal: end the hunger games. in broader terms, create a society where injustice you faced isn’t happening anymore. and they accomplish that. so as a narrative arc, it works because the goal is clear and it’s achieved. and as a social commentary, it functions as a way of saying: consider not only what you working to destroy, but also what you’re looking to build in its place.

i don’t know. you say the balance doesn’t work for you and that’s fine. personally it does work for me because i don’t think gale *should* be presented as sympathetic in mockingjay. maybe im just getting tired of arguing about it (maybe i will just stop answering gale related asks someday lol) but i literally don’t have a problem with gale being unsympathetic in mockingjay. i just don’t. i think he crosses a line that collins (and katniss) see as irredeemable. that’s the point the book is making. there’s really nothing else for me to say. it’s written in the text.

and i actually do think haymitchs influence on katniss is written all over the series. there’s no need for katniss to “choose” haymitch because she already agrees with him. they’re very similar, haymitch just helps guide her and crystallize her worldview, which *leads* her to her eventual choice between gale and peeta. in that way, haymitch “chooses” peeta (or, his worldview) just as much as katniss does. as he says at the very end: “i’m with the mockingjay.”

anyway hopefully that was vaguely what you were asking. i feel like most of that was just me rambling.

to conclude: YES i am a haymitch stan 4 life