#and we got stuck in traffic

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

Just got home after spinnin out something feirce off the highway into the ditch. Hope y'all are staying safe and warm tonight ! Remember to use four wheel drive on icy highways and drive slow for winter conditions!

[imperial-agent]

Hello! I just completed the 5some scene witb Halsin and Astarion and I dont really have anyone to comment this with I hope you dont mind me dropping here real quick to say [SPOILERS]

So... he just dissociates no matter what? I completed Astarion's quest and I could swear that meant he wouldnt dissociate in the scene. But I think what bothers me the most isnt even the dissociating itself but the lack of response from the Player Character. I just LET him?? I dont comfort him, I dont stop the whole thing in its tracks??

And its the only way to get Halsin's backstory?? Am I doing something wrong? I feel so conflicted about the whole thing. Opinions? Thanks for reading this far if you have, sorry for any inconvenience!

I don't claim to be the best source on Astarion lore or on his storyline consistencies/inconsistencies since we're like a bitter divorced couple, I can't talk about him without getting slightly annoyed. But,

I got that exact same scene (5some) after Astarion's story conclusion. To me it makes sense that he's still distant - we fixed his Cazador situation but we didnt fix his sexual abuse issue because he never brought up the trauma. I'm assuming you didnt romance Astarion ang got this scene? For me, a non-Astarionmancer it made sense, since he never told me about his intimacy issues in the first place. But if that happened to you, and you romanced him, then I can still understand him being distant in that moment. He's not that into sex with other people and you just asked him to perform in front of 4 others. I can see how he would default to an auto-pilot. But that's assuming you did romance him. If you didn't then there's not much to be surprised about. He's tired of performing seduction.

To me, it's not that big of a deal that the PlayerCharacter doesn't respond to catching Astarion drift away. Without romancing him and learning about his baggage PC at best can only assume that Astarion is not into sex due to his past of sleeping with his victims and that possibly bringing up bad memories. Since the narraror line about him being distant during the encounter was only a brief mention (narrator mentions PC and Astarion catching eyes for a moment, any further descriptions of his performative behaviour are a general description of the scene since nothing is visible, not necessarly describing what the PC is seeing).

What! I! Fully! Agree! With! You! Is how Halsin's mega traumatic backstory is only ever accessible through a hidden option (i wouldn't even call it a mission, just a random NPC conversation) in Act 3. That conversation could have been naturally implemented into the (currently bare-bone) Halsin romance route. This is why I'm still screaming about letting the players have access to Halsin as a companion in Act 1 already, so that he can go with the PC to the Underdark. That could lead to him having some flashbacks to his time there, and perhaps slipping in some titbits during idk the exploration of the wizard tower in the underdark and him seeing the chain mounted to a wall and that bringing up some nasty memories?? Like the story writes itself, it's all there but I'm guessing the devs had better things to do then flesh out their fanservice and fan demands. Like adding Halsin as a romance options SHOULD HAVE BEEN a post release thing !!!

My opinions are more or less summed up here. It's ass that an abuse victim such as Astarion gets all the special treatment and a catharsis while Halsin, who also went through a traumatic experience doesn't. He actually laughs it off. But that's okay, people cope differently. So why not have us explore his backstory more? Well, it's crunch of course. The devs had no time to put love and care into Halsin even tho him being a romance option/companion (so those conversations about his past wouldn't come up) wasn't even on their initial goal list, just something a few discord people suggested.

I feel like the writers had too much on their plates and too little time to make sure inconsistencies in character motivations/ reactions, backstories don't occur. But we should all be happy Astarion got all the attention he deserved. Oh, you're saying there are other companions in this game too? Since when?

[theinfinitedivides]

can't believe i'm saying this but in the current Bollywood economy this absolute trainwreck/komèss of a fucking film that is Fighter (2024) could have been worse. like 'Kashmir Files' level worse. that being said the only way i am watching this all the way through ever again is if i transfer the file to my computer to try and make some fucking gifs and even that's not guaranteed

[zephsthings]

ON TRAIN

[starswhisperwritershear]

When you're on vacation and you told yourself to take a break but the next chapter is physically consuming your every waking thought.

[blue-hi]

i think a friend of mine got me sick earlier this week and this was NOT the weekend for that. wail

[dove-da-birb]

my bus got stuck in traffic for an hour took a fat nyapp

Damn, at least you had a good nap!

[skyward-floored]

Oh goodie today is gonna be rough

[raeathnos]

Adventures in Philly’s Chinatown!

[homostacis]

imma write down some quick thoughts on narratives as living things real quick

Deltarune has got itself a really healthy narrative, alright? It's thriving, its guiding the path in the background, tangible yet invisible. It's the ferris wheel scene for Noelle and Susie -- a convenient set-up marks the deft hand of fate moving to direct the pieces and roles into their correct places, narrative framing, art. Its vigor is its emotion, the satisfaction one feels and it fuels within a desire to live and experience with it. You can feel it within every sequence, the warmth of a song for you.

And then you got the narrative in something like Devil May Cry 5. This narrative is rotting, full decay. The characters must play roles that don't fit them, it's oozing and slippery and they fall into patterns, moving further along with no ability stop what is mundane now. It's later seasons of sitcoms, stories repeating again and again except that it's not a cycle, it's a spiral, and it's been spoiling this entire time. Why do Dante and Vergil have to fight? It's because they're the protagonist and antagonist of an action game that refuses to ever let them die because it has one story it wants to tell. As the narrative dies they corrode with it, continuing to play out their roles and awaiting to be fossilized in them.

so like, games where the narrative is a living, breathing thing am i right?

[hostilecityshowdown]

i've been to nassau coliseum many times and they all sucked. sincerely sorry to everyone who spent two-four+ hours in southern state and meadowbrook traffic just to get into the some of the shittiest parking lots on long island. 10/10, would still routinely go if i wasn't priced out of it and still lived downstate, islanders suck, love da mets ♡

[senzasord]

I already told this to my irl friends but I think tumblr would appreciate it too:

This morning I dreamt I met the Greek god Apollo and he apologised for cursing my namesake.

[lilidawnonthemoon]

[madhatterplushies]

[tiny-tokunaga]

The fact that my INCREDIBLY technologically illiterate mom learned how to use gifs (without my help, I should add!!) makes me so happy. This is the best response I could've asked for.

[itsc]

every day the children on the playground outside my window pummel each other with balls and shout