#and this is a particularly egregious example

[falmerbrook]

Western Solstice/Season of the Worm Cult 1 Thoughts

TLDR: Liked the zone, liked the side quests, liked the basic narrative of the main quest but wasn't happy with its execution/dialogue.

So you know that thing I’ve brought up before about how the writing in this game tries to have its cake and eat it too? Where they want every zone story to be accessible to new players (and players who forgot anything or don’t pay attention to what’s going on) while still having reoccurring characters and plot threads? And how in the end it does a disservice to both; to the story as its own thing and as a continuation of things? Yeah, well I think I reached the end of my patience in this zone with that problem. I like the story itself, but am frustrated with its execution.

Major spoilers under the cut (also sorry this is so long)

Ok, first of all, things I liked:

Skordo my beloved <3. Always a king. His voice is back to normal. I cherish him.

I liked the zone itself! I was kinda expecting it to be small and empty, and while it was empty in the same way a lot of the more recent zones have been, I was pleasantly surprised by how big and like a real island it felt. Sunport and the Writhing Wall are such good set pieces and are gorgeous at sunrise and sunset, and I thought the sight lines everywhere were really good and helped it feel like an expansive place. I also liked the aesthetics of the tropical setting, the Argonians, and the mix of Argonian and Altmer architecture in Sunport. Just a cool place overall.

I also liked the worldbuilding and side quests! The history and culture and religion of the Corelanyans and Tide Born was very cool and imo a good addition to the world. I always love seeing cultures that are shaped by their environment and having the Tide Born be a hist-less Argonian culture whose way of life and beliefs have adapted to island living was super awesome. The history and development of both cultures just felt very natural to me (e.g. the Corelanyans going from necromancers who made deals with daedric princes to worshipping some of the more morally acceptable princes). I'm excited to hopefully learn more about the Stone Nest in Eastern Solstice since it sounds like they are Argonians still following the older ways with Xanmeers and the lot. The Nords felt kinda out of place, but were interesting enough to get a pass from me (and that quest with them was cute).

On the note of quests, I like the side quests! I had a good time with them! I particularly liked the Meridia temple one (always cool to get more Meridia lore and seeing characters have crises of faith imo), the ghost hunting one, and the Tide Born village one.

My feelings about the main quest are more mixed, but on the positive side I thought the narrative itself (ignoring execution) had enough compelling and interesting point to keep me invested in what was happening next or where things were going. I already like the set up of this storyline being split in two this year because it gives us opportunities to have hints and implication dropped now that we can muse over that will be resolved in the next part (e.g. what's going on with Vanus, who his ally is, etc.).

Also I fucking love angst. Thank you Gabrielle Benele for fulfilling my angsty needs. I am almost certainly not going to be satisfied with the pay off of it but for now I can revel in the heartbreak. Love you Gabby <3

EDIT: forgot to mention but I also liked the roleplaying options. I know some were dissatisfied with the them not having huge effect, but dialogue options that continue the story in the same direction but just elicit a different response from the other characters is pretty much exactly what I wanted.

On the note of dissatisfaction though...

On to my concerns and issues.

Just let me get it off my chest one more time. If I have to here "Gah-bri-elle" or "Gaudy-er" one more time I'm skinning myself. Ok, ok, it's out of my system now.

So I really think the main story here is the most egregious example of the issues I brought up at the beginning so far. This expansion was literally marketed as a sequel to the base game's main quest, yet the characters (almost all of whom are characters we got close to in the base game) barely acknowledge any relationship we may have with them, nor the information we'd likely already know. The Vestige is really at their most moronic here and it was getting to the point it frustrated me. The characters kept explaining things to me that happened in the base game and prologue like our character wasn't there, and the dialogue prompts for the Vestige that were need to progress conversations also assumed we had no idea what was going on. Like I've said before, this is a writing problem that permeates the whole game, but it felt really absurd here given the marketing for this story and the characters present. Especially because, I feel like if I was a new player, I would get, like, nothing out of this story. Outside of a few moments (namely Gabrielle's confession at Li-Xal or optional dialogue with Raz) we don't really get any moments to connect with the characters (and the intention with that Gabrielle moment is probably more to foreshadow her actions later than have a moment to get to know a character tbh, as much as I loved it). I feel like all of my investment in them is based on past adventures with them, so if I was a player who didn't remember them or hadn't met them before, all of the emotional beats at the end of this story would've had no weight I think. Acknowledging that, why is the dialogue written for those players first, and the players who are keeping up with these things are just given a few optional dialogue options at the ends of conversations sometimes? I've had random ass side characters from delve quests I didn't remember have more personal dialogue with the Vestige than these reoccurring characters we've literally been to hell with.

I don't know what kind of player this is meant to appeal to. is it new players? Is it players returning for the first time in awhile who forgot? Is it player who don't pay attention to the stories of quests? I don't know, and to be honest, I feel like they shouldn't be the ones being catered to primarily for a story like this one. Rather than starting out dialogue/conversations assuming we don't know what's going on and then throwing us bones later in the conversation, start out dialogue (if we've completed the requisite quests) assuming we know what's going on and then later throw a bone to the folks who don't. Just accept that people who are going into this without having played a single other story in this game or who mash through the dialogue are going to be confused. Maybe I'm being callous, but I feel like that's on them. I feel a little ridiculous feeling this way, but it was genuinely starting to piss me off in this story that it felt like the stuff I'd done in the past had no impact on what was happening there. No game, I know who Darien and Vanus are. Why are you assuming I don't? I know you can tell I've completed the quests with them before! I'd rather you develop the story or characters more than waste more time reiterating what I already know.

I get that having options to recap who's who and what's going on is helpful because obviously not everyone is going to remember anything, but I was rereading some dialogue from Elsweyr and I feel like that storyline handled balancing that so much better (Elsewyr is honestly peak character writing in general).

The main quest was also weirdly short, which didn't help this issue. Each individual quest in it was a lot shorter than I think they've been in pretty much every expansion, and there weren't many of them either (and the side quests felt longer than usual I think too?). Like, I didn't think it was paced badly, it just didn't have a lot of the waffling around trying to figure out some mystery that other stories have had. Which sounds like it would be a good thing when I type it out like this, but in hindsight I think that length is good for helping us get to know and get invested in the characters, and I just felt like we didn't have almost any of those moments here. It was like the bare minimum was a satisfyingly structured story. There weren't many slower times to get to know the characters or get a vibe on what they are thinking or feeling about current situations. For exmaple with Wormblood, it felt like he barely existed as a person and not a vessel for Mannimarco to possess at the end. While the drama of Gabrielle's sacrifice was *chefs kiss* and I liked the foreshadowing up to it, I am pretty sad she's gone since I wish we had more time with her in this story (I'm huffing copium rn that she ends up coming back somehow, extra permanent death be damned!!). Anyway, I'm hoping part 2 is longer (and doesn't get bogged down trying to explain to me who's who), and I'm choosing to remain optimistic about it.

Any finally, I'm a little worried about Darien. Idk it's hard to explain but also everything at the end happens so fast that I'm still trying to mull over it in my head (and UESP hasn't put up the dialogue yet waaaahhhhhhh). But basically, between Gabrielle and Skordo talking about Darien as if he's been dead since the assaults on Coldharbour (and them not mentioning at all how every other time we've seen Gabrielle she's basically been dedicating her life to finding Darien and insisting he's not dead), the way he's brought back implying he was dead, and Darien's dialogue once he's back, I have this nagging feeling in my head that they're overlooking or ignoring what happened in Summerset?? Maybe?? I might be dumb but I was under the impression he wasn't actually dead. I'm sorry idk how to explain it but the vibes are off and Darien's dialogue was confusing to me. Maybe I'm just being stupid.

idk I think a lot of this is just on me. Maybe I had my expectations too high. Which is a little odd for me because they weren't very high after seeing the reactions from PTS folks. I was thinking I'll try to lower them for part 2 but I also like being excited for things so knowing me I probably won't.

Anyway, hopes and predictions for part 2 to end on a higher note:

I'm hoping (coping) that when the story got split up it got split unevenly and this is more like 1/3 of the story rather than 1/2, so there will be more main story in the next part. I'm also hoping that this will truly be a part 2 of the same story, rather than a wishy-washy kinda part 2 like the DLCs used to be like.

I'm hoping my issues with the dialogue will be at least partly alleviated in part 2 because it’ll be a part 2 (like the epilogues in the yearly storylines)

I'm not at all worried about the side quests really. Looking forward to them.

I'm very excited (and very very nervous) to have Darien back. I don't really have any predictions I just really really hope they don't fuck it up and whatever they do with him feels satisfying.

I'm looking forward to seeing what ends up happenings to Mannimarco/Wormblood and Vanus. Is Wormblood still in there too or are we just facing Mannimarco from here on out? If Wormblood is still present in his body somehow, will there be conflict between him and Mannimarco? hmmmmmm

I wonder who Vanus's ally is? He kept mentioning having one and that didn't get resolved to I bet it will be addressed in part 2.

I'm curious if Gabrielle is truly dead-dead or if they're gonna pull something off with her. Everyone is talking about her like she's dead-dead so I guess that's the case, but also we don't truly know how the Gift of Death/Light of Meridia works. I'll be fine with either I think. If she stays dead, I hope they keep some weight to it instead of just moving on and never bringing it up again (not optimistic about that one), and if she comes back I hope there are still some consequences to her sacrifice rather than it being a return to the status quo. Whatever happens, I just hope it’s narratively satisfying.

[insanedevotion]

breaking from f1 for one (1) post. dan WHY are you looking at him like that in an OFFICIAL MERCH PHOTO? sure. okay. why not

[jakeperalta]

kind of does my head in how people are obsessed with connecting everything certain artists do to their publicised relationships. like no sabrina carpenter performing bed chem at the brits wasn't a petty dig at her ex because it was his favourite song. she's literally promoting her latest single. get a grip

[temperamentalaquarius]

The urge to write a 7 and 1/2 page essay on why engaging with the text and not just grabbing easy fanon traits for characters is important to both identifying our personal biases and strengthening our media literacy, and why it will actually make doing things like drawing fan art and writing fanfic way more fun is so strong but like. It's 100 fucking degrees out and I'm not getting paid for this.

[fillejondrette]

one of my coworker's clients is a victim of domestic violence who was told by the child welfare department social worker that she needed to apologize to her children for her role in the domestic violence (i.e......being abused). hey social worker what's your phone number i just have a few questions for you

[askaniritual]

i really wish i had a setting between fearful prey animal and most annoying person ever. like i feel myself getting too comfortable in a social setting and becoming annoying and it’s like man. my bad for letting myself have fun for real for a second.

[landscaping-your-mind]

none of you robotfuckers know how machines work

[sendmyresignation]

ok one thing that's been pissing me off lately is the way. in both positive and negative opinions holder's estimations. hole is completely reduced to courtney love's band. in ways that completely ofuscate the conributions of the other members. this is very typical in music generally in a way i already find frustrating but it's especially egregious in the case of all-female or mostly female bands where each member had entire histories completely just removed from the discussion outside of the frontwoman. how many female drummers do you know list them top 5 lets go. ok now how about female drummers NOT in all female bands do you take the time to discover these women to listen to them to track the different bands and projects they're in do you CARE outside the list-ification of "diverse bands" about these artists as creative contributors who have tangible effects on music at large. <- guy listening to a lot of shift rn voice

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

I know it’s Netflix and poor quality costuming is just standard for them at this point but why were the SaB costumes so ugly???

[chabbit]

You know how in the US there are those "Chinese" restaurants where you can get American Chinese food, Thai food, and sushi all in one place, plus inexplicably American style fried chicken? This is the Japanese equivalent of that.

[ID: single piece of prepackaged French toast. The label reads ENGLISH FRENCH TOAST in English, Japanese, and katakana, on a background of a Russian flag. The toast is labelled as “American”, accompanied by a Spanish flag, and a small notice in the bottom corner reads “Made in China”. The serving suggestion shows the french toast being used as the base of a pizza.]

[krikeymate]

Something I loathe with a passion, is clicking onto a video that looks interesting, and the creator not providing ANY links or information. Just started watching a Let's Play that does not tell you what game it is. There's nothing in the description, it's not in the title or tags, they just start playing without telling you what the game is. I skip to the end to see if they tell you... and they don't there either. Maybe they have it somewhere in the middle, but I'm not watching this whole ass video to find out information that should be readily available.

[oozeclown]

idk you dont have to like shanspeare but i do think its a little disingenuous to say that a young black girl creator is making shallow analysis just because its not made for an academic audience and its not her strongest video but unless youre hyper online most people dont know what clean girl is and do want accessible content to learn about it

[dollblog4me]

is it finally time for me to complain about how poor i feel the bratz repro's are.

[smallmariofindings]

In 2008, Japanese fashion brand A Bathing Ape/BAPE collaborated with Nintendo for a series of shirts. Due to the popularity of the brand, many unauthorized pieces of clothing exist that purport to be part of the collaboration.

While the more plausible fake items use the same design of Mario used on the authentic items, others attempt no effort to make the designs look plausible and simply add text referencing the brand to seemingly randomly chosen Mario images. A particularly egregious example is shown above, using Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door artwork with a unique coloration.

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings | Source

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Okay, here’s an interesting one.

Before seeing your content, I’d basically only ever heard the term “power fantasy” used as a derogatory term to describe over-the-top protagonists who are strong and cool, but also boringly devoid of personality so the audience can project onto them. But then some of your League videos talked about skins letting characters like Gragas “inhabit more interesting power fantasies.”

So… when are power fantasies a good thing? The best I’ve got is that it only works in interactive media like video games so that the audience can more directly engage with the fantasy (essentially: Dante from DMC works, Kirito from SAO does not)

I mean, power fantasies are just endemic to storytelling as a whole. There isn't really a hard "this is when they're good, this is when they're bad," they are core to several genres of media and can't be extracted from them. Most video games are power fantasies, just by nature of their mechanics.

Power fantasy isn't a genre (usually), it is just a tool, same as any other trope or convention. It is a means to engage the audience with a story.

An RPG where you level up and become stronger to defeat more difficult enemies? That's a power fantasy. Undertale where you get the best ending by finding some way to spare absolutely every monster and end every fight mercifully? Power fantasy. The Tomb Raider reboot games that take an almost sadistic glee in putting Lara Croft through absolute hell both physically and emotionally? Those are power fantasies about overcoming and surviving those impossible challenges.

They're not just power fantasies, they have lots of other stuff going on, but power fantasy is an inherent part of them. Romance stories also often include power fantasies, specifically about the power of love. "He's broody, dark and broken, but my love can fix him" is a power fantasy, for example, as is "an unjust society keeps us apart, but we will defy everything to be together!"

Even being The Final Girl who beats the horror monster and walks away at the end of the movie can be a power fantasy, if a rather grim one.

If there is a general case where power fantasies become "bad," I think it is when the power fantasy is all there is, and it subsumes all other parts of the story. Shonen manga often runs into this as they get longer, and the power system and escalating battles against ever more powerful foes become the overriding driving force of the story, to the exclusion of everything else. Shaman King comes to mind for me as a particularly egregious example, or Bleach.

Isekai is also riven with this. You can't walk two steps these days without tripping on a "TRANSPORTED TO ANOTHER WORLD WITH MY SUPER OP CHEAT SKILL" premise, where the entire purpose of the story is simply to act out unchallenged wish fulfilment with no friction or tension or character development. Those stories get boring very very fast... unless of course the power fantasy being played out is your specific power fantasy. Yes, OP protagonists winning everything with no challenge is boring, but this OP protagonist is building a sapphic cottagecore witch polycule with an ever-expanding harem of emotionally damaged lesbians, so... y'know. Maybe I'll give it a pass.

It's generally less interesting and useful to observe THAT something is a power fantasy, than it is to observe WHAT KIND of power is being fantasized about. Zombie apocalypse stories are often power fantasies, for example, but there's a pretty noticeable difference between stories where the power fantasy is banding together and building a life with a found family in horrible circumstances, stealing joy from the end of the world in spite of everything... and stories where the zombie apocalypse is an excuse to enact paranoid right-wing prepper fantasies where the hero protects their property (home, land and women) against the verminous hordes of the monstrous Other, and is reified and uplifted by the employment of brutal violence.

[leonardcohenofficial]

like if you do this i don’t think you actually like the program i think you like bits and pieces of a whole which fit the made up usually deeply fandom-rotted version of the show that exists in your brain and in many cases i might go as far to say is a fundamental failure in engaging with the source but that’s just me!

i think that if you are recommending people skip entire seasons of narrative-driven (vs. anthology) television programs you are not a serious person lmfao