#can you tell i'm mentally normal about videogames

[heartburstings]

sonic frontiers 1-2 s rank you are my enemy and i will kill you

[junegirl06]

An analysis of the funny lil gremlin:

Jevil is a pretty facinating character. He's gotten obviously overshadowed by characters like Spamton. Which is justified as Jevil played an admittedly insignificant role on the plot of chapter 1 and was more confined to his role as a "secret boss" than Spamton, who did play SOME role in the plot (even though he kinda barged into it) and had a much more fleshed out backstory than Jevil. Though the clown man does play a pretty important role in the bigger picture of the game by introducing the theme of freedom in characters other than Kris, and setting the predecent of future secret bosses exploring said themes of freedom.

Jevil's whole "I'm the only one free and everybody else is the one trapped" thing is kinda odd, but it starts to make sense when you really think about it. Gaster, or whoever it was that drove him to insanity most likely gave him some degree of knowledge of the nature of Deltarune. (Or at least a bit MORE knowledge, as even regular darkners seem to be a little aware that their world works on video game logic- ie. the tutorial puzzle guys- Lancer and his sign telling you not to take the darkfruit) This is a videogame. With main characters, npc's, and a set storyline everything is supposed to follow. Everybodies actions are dictated by the plot, the creators, (toby fox) and everything in this world isn't even for the darkners or the lightners. Everything is just for the convinience and enjoyment of some otherworldly being. (the player) Nobody can choose their own fate in this world. Nothing anybody does truly matters because the story will find SOME way to keep going. (take the weird route as a prime example of that)

This knowledge obviously broke Jevil, but his mind rationalized it in an extremely strange way. If nothing he does matters, than that means he could technically do anything. There are no consequences. At least to him. This is what he means by "being free." He is free from the limitations of society, responsibility, morality. This, of course, led to him doing whatever he did to get himself thrown into prison. A prison separated from even the ones in the normal basement.

Though, even faced with obvious consequences, Jevil was way too deep in his insanity. Being stuck in a prison alone defnitely didn't help his mental state either. That's part of what makes Jevil scary in my opinion. He's somebody with absolutely no restraints. He has absolutely nothing to lose and nothing to gain from fighting you. He just does it because he's desperate for SOMETHING to happen after probably years of being stuck and alone.

He represents the joker card (I mean it's pretty obvious, but is there anything actually confirming he's the joker card?) pretty well, with all that said. Obviously there's the whole thing of "being abandoned," as typically for most card games, (there are actually games that require the joker card) the joker is set aside without being used. And also to my knowledge, joker cards can be used for pretty much any purpose you want. They can replace a missing card on a deck, be used in magic tricks, be put in the bottom of the deck to prevent anybody from seeing the bottom card, or even be something like a "skip card," forcing a player to skip their turn. It's specifically because of their lack of functionality and adherence to the 4 suites of the deck that they are able to [I CAN DO ANYTHING!] I found that pretty cool.

I also find it interesting that Spamton seems to have the exact opposite mindset as Jevil. Jevil probably(?) didn't have to struggle too much to get his position as court Jester. Even before he went crazy, he most likely always was just a little goofball who just happened to get the attention of the king with his antics. In contrast, Spamton most defnitely struggled a lot to even keep himself afloat - Wondering why all the other addisons seem to be doing fine, when he was (probably) doing the exact same thing. (at least before gaster/the mysterious entity) He was most likely given the same knowledge the entity gave Jevil, and he absolutely hated it. He actively tried to fight against it, unlike Jevil who basically embraced the idea of a world where your choices don't matter and used it as an excuse to do whatever the hell he wants. Spamton didn't want to be confined to a story. This... game. He desperately wanted freedom, and he would do anything to get it. Even when he failed he would keep trying. After all, perseverence did let him become a big shot, even for a little while, so he just had to keep trying... right? Uhh... this wasn't supposed to be a Spamton analysis, but I just found that contrast cool.

All in all, Jevil and Spamton set a really interesting precedent for the future secret bosses and I'm excited to find out how toby fox handles the next one and how that boss will tie in to the whole freedom theme.

[yandating]

🌹 Name: Alice (Not my real name but I'll tell you when we talk :)))) )

💕 Age: 20

�� Gender: Female, she/her mostly but I do sometimes like they/them

🥀 Are you yandere on non-yandere: Fairly yandere, but it's not really the kind that shows too clearly from the get-go

🩸 Where are you from: Romania!

🕷 Tell us about yourself: I'm usually a reserved, quiet person irl, but I actually do really like talking to people one on one, even though ironically enough it can tire me out pretty quicklu. I'd say I have a lower self esteem than normal, but I am getting better! ...Ever so slowly but hey I'm getting there.

I'm a big fan of writing and doing digital art! I also really love playing videogames, expecially horror games and visual novels. Actually I generally really like horror stuff! I either like things that are extremely funny and lighthearted or stuff that is absolutely scarring. No inbetweens for me.

If you know me in real life I look a bit apathetic and robotic, almost, but I'm the complete opposite. I'm a pretty emotional and passionate person and it's easy as all hell to get fixated on things I like. For example starting to play Sims 3 again is pretty much a death sentence for a few days because it means I will not do anything but play that game.

What kind of yandere am I? Very good question! I'm pretty obsessive when the person's right, and I do have the slightest tendency to get jealous. I'm sorry though if that doesn't show quite enough lmao, after years of conditioning to not act like that it won't show too clearly.

I work the endless hell that is known as customer care, despite the fact I have severe social anxiety. It sounds like it makes literally no sense but it sort of does since it's through messaging (and in english I for some reason hate my own language).

Also I love cute things. Sanrio and lolita fashion is my life and blood. Can't wait til I can finally get the guts to dress that way. 😭

🖤 What are you looking for: Someone who's supportive an non-judgemental, and what I feel like is most important, someone who actually listens to what I talk about and respects me. I want to be treated as an equal, I'm sick of people infantilazing me lmao.

Someone who is fiercely loyal and very obsessive, jealous but doesn't act out on it too much despite it. I want to be as significant to my significant other as they are to me.

I'd love a yandere who is a considerably bigger one than I am, but still not too intense, the kind that wouldn't be able to control their own actions. I also want someone that respects my boundaries and would be okay if I need a bit of time alone when I'm having a tough time mentally. Sometimes I just need a bit of time to calm down, it's never anything personal.

I would love someone who's really affectionate, especially verbally. Nicknames would be really cute! I give really dumb nicknames but they're filled with love I assure you. ♡

Also, someone who's smart and interesting to talk to but doesn't brag about it would be really nice! Narcissism is a huge turn off for me.

In short, if you're warm, smart, supportive and respectful, I'll probably like you quite a lot. ^^

🪦 What's your mbti: INFP! I always get that without one exception lmao

🌌 Contact information: My username is Alice_lied on Discord. Don't be too confused by vaguely ominous username, I pretty much just mixed the name of a rpg horror game I really like, Alicemare and Elfen Lied, an anime I'm not too big of a fan of but the name drew me to watching it alone. :,)

[solarsavoy]

Hey hey, you got anything else about Deshi you’d like to share 🤔 I honestly really like his vibe (It’s usually like that for a lot light haired characters in my case 😅)

I was trying to figure out what to say about him. I just find him so cute sometimes because of the little side stories my muse gives me, so then I thought about sharing a little side story about him.

For context, I have an editor friend (not professional) that thinks Deshi's intellectually stupid, so I was trying to think of something that proves he's not, because he can be quite ingenious sometimes. So here it is. Storytime!

Deshi's friend is based off a friend of Deo's, in a way.

So Deshi loves videogames, which most should know by now, and this is inspired by the types of videogames I like, which some may not know. One major difference is that I'm a fan of horror games and Deshi is not, lol. He just can't handle them, which only makes him that much more endearing to me.

Anyway, when his dad disappeared, his mom got a large sum of money meant to take care of her and Deshi and Sasaki (his little sister) until college, so she doesn't work. This does make funds a little limited though and videogames can get expensive. To still be able to get what he wants, he's patient, saves his money, and then gets things as cheaply as possible. (Yes, he steals games online.) He got the idea from his unnamed friend to build a computer from scratch because the gaming computers/laptops can get a little pricey.

So that's exactly what he did.

He learned how to put together a computer, constantly asking his friend for help of course, and eventually built it from the bottom up, a really good gaming computer, for much cheaper than it would've been on the market. This is why he's a PC gamer. He's very proud of it and protective of it (since Sasaki is constantly pranking him and unlike Karma, her pranks are maliciously destructive) and his mom nor his sister have any idea how hard it was for him to make it. Like, they just think he can tinker around with it for an hour and it'll be fixed. 🙄

So one day, Sasaki actually damages it really badly and Deshi goes to his friend and it takes 3 months and all his miniscule savings to fix it. Mom thinks he was being dramatic, but finally decides to tell Sasaki that the computer is off limits and to just not mess with it ever because "Deshi's sensitive". *glare

After this whole debacle, his friend donates his old monitor (it's a very nice monitor, btw) to Deshi and moves away. They're both kind of pretty bad at keeping in contact, but they try. And that's how he got his computer and became a PC gamer!

Deshi was around 10 when he decided to start building his computer and 12 when he finished. His friend moved away when he was about 13 or 14.

So yeah, definitely not intellectually challenged. 😣 And Deshi's actually really good at finding ways around things. This comes up a lot in the Second Fragment while learning magic. He just has this kind of "how do I make this work?" mentality when it comes to doing things.

Bonus!

He's normally the guy that takes things a little to seriously and is overly cautious in ways (product of his evil little sister's constant pranks) but he's surprisingly playful when it comes to experimenting with stuff to understand it and make it work. Here's a summary of a scene in Second Fragment.

He's trying to understand his limits with magic while working with Master Diette and decides that the best way is to just use magic until he runs out, which causes him to faint. "Ooo, that's bad." Master Diette says, also wanting to test Deshi's limits out of curiosity. "We can't let Master Key know or we'll both be in trouble." And then allows him do this. But you know, forcing yourself to faint just isn't a good idea. 😆 Don't worry, he ends up being fine.

Deshi's nonchalance to danger while experimenting comes from the amount of times he was electrocuted while building his computer. Not super common, but it happened. He made the lights in the house flicker once and has burned through more than one motherboard, trying to figure it all out.

Thanks for the ask! 💙

[moonraccoon-exe]

Hi, Connie. I know it's been a while since you did any headcanons and idk if you still do them, but I'm curious of your opinion. I realize the wall is one giant quarantine bubble, but the people are still free to do as the please inside it. How do you think each of the chocobros would handle an Insomnia-wide quarantine like what's going on in most of the world right now? What if one of them got sick (assuming a FFXV equivalent of COVID-19?) How would Regis, as King, take care of his people?

PS: Aparently the Keep Reading line is having some troubles. May appear right under the question (how did it get THERE?) or nowhere at all lol pls forgive tumblr he trying. 

HEEEEEEEEEELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s definitely been a while since I did any headcanons, but that’s because school has kept me busy like crazy, and when I have spare time, I put it into my two big fanfics going on (I don’t want people to wait too much!) but I’ll definitely keep doing these, every single one of them, until I finish, even if it takes me years and years <3

The ask prompts are one of my favorite things in the world so of course I’ll keep them going!

HOH

YOUR PROMPT IS SUPER INTERESTING!!!!! AYYYYY, let’s see what this raccoonie brain has there!! 

FFXV Insomnia in a quarantine

First things first, the government

Regis, as King:

Regis is going all the way into making sure EVERYONE can stay home.

Regis is going to ask the other countries to lend Lucis money. As in. M I L L I O N S.

“Your Majesty, you ARE aware we’re nowhere half to repaying that debt in a near future?”

“THIS IS A LITERAL PLAGUE WITH NO CURE YET THAT’S KILLING DOZENS SOME OF WHICH THEIR FAMILIES CAN’T SAY GOODBYE TO AND YOU W O R RY  A B O UT   T HE  E  C O NO M Y   ¿¿¿? ?!??”

Regis has brain and, most importantly, humanity. He’s definitely going to put the country in debt for the next 15 kings is that helps people right now.

Mostly because he’s aware it’s no one’s fault. 

Regis is announcing what he’s going to do to keep people safe publicly:

The next three months of any loans are forgiven. Mortgage, rent, water, electricity, and all the public services will be free for the next three months. If you own any debts, be it a house or a little clock, you don’t have to pay on the next 3 months, and instead that amount will be divided into future months in small amounts so it’s recovered in the medium or long run. No one needs to spend one gil in any of the basics, don’t worry about that, it’s covered, government’s got you, SO PLEASE STAY HOME. 

Regis is aware that some people can’t stay home because what little they earn is what they spend in basic food; Regis is going to spend lots of the money he burrowed in them.

Regis is going to pay as well to teachers and artists for online classes and entertainment, because he’s aware of the mental/emotional distress people can be in after certain time indoors. 

Regis is going to put most the money in the medical and cleaning services.

Regis is going to keep online and phone polls for people to fill in particular cases (I still need to go out because I need to go look after my mother each friday, I still need to go out because I need to go get medicines each certain time at this district) so the Citadel’s intel know best what to do.

Regis is going to make sure to have teams sanitizing public transport and places everyday.

Regis is a no-game man, dammit.

((Regis is the reason Insomnia only needed three months before being free))

Makes sure the media broadcasts not only the death cases, but also and most importantly the healed cases. Not gonna let the media get stupid with this for money or paranoia, no sir

Noctis, as prince

DID YOU THINK HE WAS JUST GOING TO MOP, THIS IS THE PRINCE

(Remember the game tells us he was a damn good prince as in politically? what a bean <3)

Noct was taken more off guard; Regis acted immediately like a (good) madman, Noctis still needed a bit to process it

Noct is who comes up with some ideas that Regis puts into action (the phone/online polls, the online classes, for example)

Noct too manages some of the intel going on during quarentine to see how the city is progressing and how else they can help.

Noctis is in charge of the interviews along the...health minister (?) everyday, while Regis stays at work and intel.

Noctis makes sure to do a livestream each certain days to greet the people, answer questions, or just have a bit of fun, and to remind them to stay home and to keep the spirits up. We know Noct would rather rot in boredome in his sofa because Sleepy Boy, but he knows the effect he has on his people, so he does the livestreams for them; to keep them entertained, informed, and simply to keep them sane.

Noctis came up with the idea of making an app/text service for those that suffer of domestic violence; “staying home” sounds easy to him because he has a huge house and a good family, but he’s aware that not do everyone. 

(Putting a keep reading here)

Noctis

Sleeps it away lmao

Honestly Noct doesn’t have much troubles with the whole “stay home” thing. He likes home. He LOVES staying home. LET HIM STAY EVEN AFTER QUARENTINE IS OVER.

Noct has videogames and his bed. You don’t need to tell him twice to stay home. 

Noct sleeps most of the day. 

Noct decides to not shower everyday.

The only trouble Noct goes through is that his room starts getting super messy everyday and Ignis isn’t going to appear to help him out. 

Noctis spends his time doing homework and mumbling about how “teachers didn’t use to give us this much homework until quarentine, this is just their excuse goddammit fuck this shit”

I feel you Noct

Besides that, videogames, trash food, and sleeping.

It’s 9 pm, he’s in pajamas. That he hasn’t taken off in three days. 

It’s 6 am and Noct is out of bed. He hasn’t slept since 2 am.

What is this guy’s sleep schedule.

Despite the careless and carefree attitude, Noct still worries. He still has to stay the most informed, as the prince, of the international and national situation, and it sometimes gets stressful.

When Noct sees numbers grow and a gloomy future, he gets stressed but won’t say it; that careless attitude is his way of coping. Like pretending it’s not true.

Noct worries about the poor, too, and the low and working class. He too came up with more ideas along with Regis to keep them safe too and not force them to work while the middle and upper classes stay indoors like it’s not the big deal.

Noct thinks a lot about Prompto. He knows he doesn’t need to go out too much, but he also knows how much of a terribly, horribly emotional distress Prom is in when staying at his house for too long.

Noct takes up on video-phoning Prom, everyday. His best boy can’t be sad, stressed, or messed up, and he’s going to keep him sane and cheer him up everyday. 

Noct may or may have not ended up inviting Prompto to spend quarentine at the Citadel with him. He hadn’t finished saying it when Prom was already at the Citadel’s door asking to be sanitized before going in.

If he got sick, everyone around him would be more scared than him LMAO

“OHNOTHEPRINCEISILLHE’SGOINGTODIEIAMNOTREADYFORTHISNOOOOOOOOO” 

Noct: so can I skip online school like this?

He’d be looked after with almost paranoia, there’s only two of the Lucis Caelum alive and honestly losing the heir and only one that can have kids at this point to the virus woulnd’t be very epic on history books

Noct IS worried, just pretending he’s not. 

Noct is going to avoid Regis LIKE A PRO. He’s going to ask to live somewhere else, will ask to sanitize his room and keep it locked, will ask that Regis gets nowhere near ANY of his belongings. Basically, Noct is going CRAZY over avoiding Regis...so Regis doesn’t catch it :’’( 

What a pure bean

Even if Regis tries visiting him, and even if the whole place is sanitized and like a little bubble away of the rest of the world, Noct will still not want him to come inside. 

Honestly, this is going to make Regis really, deeply sad and maybe even hurt. He wants to stay positive, but he keeps thinking of what if Noct dies to it, and not only dies, he’d also die without having held him for a last time or seen him.

They meet through the window. They phone each other and just touch through the closed window... :’) </3

Noct knows he may be over protecting Regis, but he’s honestly not going to have it any other way. He has way more than enough watching his old man grow old too fast from the Ring to run the risk of giving him this stupid virus. If he has to make his old man sad in order to keep him healthy, SO BE IT. 

Ignis

He’s fine.

He’s just so cool with this.

“Ah, of course. A plague. It was our turn, as was expected.”

...w...what are you talking about, Ignis.

He’s barely impressed. 

Master of following instructions, they told Ignis to stay home and THAT he did.

The store? The neighbor? Just an inch outside his main door? NO. THAT’S NOT INDOORS.

It’s not that he’s paranoid, he’s just not bothered by the idea fo not going out and he knows that the more he stays home the faster this will pass that he just. Stays in, sometimes not even looking out the window for a day or two.

Ignis still phones Noct each two days to remind him his room is messy do something because I won’t, or do nothing, the cockroaches will help you with the crumbs and leftovers in a day more.

Ignis isn’t bored. He still has home office and paperwork to do, the poor, young, miserable thing. 

In his spare time he likes doing stuff he likes, as he normally didn’t have the time to do. 

Ignis is making sure to call the other chocobros to make sure they’re ok. He’s particularly attentive to Prompto.

Boy is having video calls with Gladio because Best Friends. 

Ignis attempts to do as your raccoonie; will try to finish two-week worth of his paperwork in one or two days t o have the rest of the time free LMAO

(I hope, unlike me, he’s succeeding at that)

Ignis worries mostly about others and the outside Lucis. He takes up on the advantage of being bros with the prince to suggest something, that Noct can suggest to Regis to make it better for as many people as possible.

If he got sick, he’d attend hospital and not go out until he’s 100% okay AND spent 2 weeks with no fall back into it. 

He’d thank the doctors and nurses like every five minutes honestly. Iggy appreciates they’re doing such high risk job, keeps admiring them. Dammit.

He would accept no visits. Is it the prince? tell him to FUCK OFF. 

Mostly the throne family Ignis won’t dare visit even after he’s healed.

“IGNIS IT’S OK YOU’VE BEEN FINE FOR A MONTH”

“TALK TO ME WHEN QUARENTINE IS OVER AND/OR THERE IS A VACCINE, GET THE FUCK OFF MY FRONT YARD”

Ignis is not overly worried about the illness. He has stupidly strong defenses and can see himself getting out of this. He worries just what’s normal but keeps spirits up with all the numbers of healed cases.

Go Iggy! 

Gladio

Surprisingly, he’s taking this really well.

Gladio’s sort of more scared than the rest at the news; he was so prepared for physical enemies, the idea of an abstract, non-physical one suddenly sweeps him off his feet.

But he handles it well. So long he doesn’t watch the news.

Gladio won’t listen or read the news on the virus; he’s aware of it, he’ll take care and be careful, but he won’t read or hear numbers or updates, he’ll just live this out until it’s over.

Gladio takes his mind off it with indoor exercising, lots of it. 

Gladio’s job was mostly physical, so he takes on the advantage that he has nearly no chances of home office to do stuff he likes; mostly, this nerd will drown in history documentaries on KupoTube, will watch the equivalent of Disney and Dreamwork movies, will read like the world is ending, and will take up on online courses.

He likes crafts. Okay? Leave him alone and let him give his baby steps into watercolor painting. 

Gladio is video calling Noctis. To force him to exercise LMAO

“OY, NOCT, THIS IS PRE-RECORDED, DO YOU THINK I’M AN IDIOT? COME BACK HERE TO YOUR COMPUTER OR IT’LL BE WORSE”

Gladio is holding back a Desperate-To-Go-Out Iris.

She’s not irresponsible, she just HATES INDOORS LET ME GO OUT IT’LL BE JUST AROUND THE BLOCK

Gladio’s not letting Jared go ANYWHERE

“SOMETHING HAPPENS TO YOU AND I DIE, YOU STAY HERE, I’LL GO BUY GROCERIES AND DON’T YOU DARE GET ANYWHERE NEAR ME AFTER I’M BACK UNTIL I’VE SHOWERED”

Gladdy it’s ok :’)

A bit paranoid when it comes to others, though will still be a bit paranoid about himself.

Gladio is mostly calm about it; just a few times every now and then he’s stressed and a bit too troubled for an easy sleep.

Video calls Iggy every day because Best Friends.

Iggy keeps him sane, the baby :’(

Honestly, Gladio also makes sure that Ignis is ok. Ignis is always looking after all other three, but Gladio is who’s most aware of looking after Ignis. Ignis won’t say it, but he’s probably feeling very lonely after a month indoors, as his family won’t pay much attention to him. Gladio’s making sure to keep him happy, distracted, and in good spirits, and in company.

If he got sick, he’d probably have a very bad emotional time at first.

Gladio would cry and think nearly for sure that he’s dead already.

Not like in drama, he would seriously get sad and be very, very scared :’(

Same than Noct, he wouldn’t let Clarus near him or any of his belongings, nor Jared. Not Iris either, of course, but he worries more for the older men.

Gladio would probably not do very well emotionally in hospital. He’d spend there the necessary time, but then he would probably like most to be in an apartment for himself if available or in his room without letting anyone near. 

Gladio will keep thinking of the chances to live or die, of how scary the idea of a virus with no cure is, will get really gloomy and negative on it.

His family try to provide emotional support, but every time they call Gladio just drowns himself in ideas like what their family would do if he died and it just makes him sadder

The doctors and Iggy are what keep his spirits up, to be honest.

The sadness lasts the first days. AFter that, Gladio’s going to handle the ilness like a DAMN WARRIOR

“YOU INJECT THAT THING, DOC, BRING IT ON”

A new treatment and the consequences are unsure? BRING IT ON.

Whatever it is, Gladio’s HEAD IN FOR IT

Baby boy just needed some time to process it. After that he’s just taking it so lightheartedly, even the doctors get cheered up at his bright attitude towards it.

“You’ve progressed on a 1%”

“HELL YEAH ONE PERCENT!!!!!!!!!!! :D”

What a beautiful boy omg

Prompto

This one is the chocobro that REALLY gets hit by quarentine.

Prompto’s not hyperactive, he can stay indoors if they ask him to...the problem is his house.

Prompto gets easily anxious staying at home for too long. He spent his childhood locked away in there, isolated. No parents, no friends, nothing. He stayed locked away in what was the toughest moments of his life. He doesn’t hate indoors, he hates indoors at his house. It brings all of that back.

Prompto’s trying to keep all the lights on to make it less like in his childhood; gets easily guilty remembering the huge debt the King put himself into so he doesn’t have to pay for electricity and now he’s wasting it. 

Prompto gets easily anxious around food nowadays. Remembers it was staying indoors doing but eat what got him so fat and lonely.

(Prommy it’s ok, fat is not bad :(( this poor angel )

Honestly Prompto’s so busy emotionally stressing over being indoors at his house that the pandemic in the world isn’t even super concerning, it’s just as if there was a storm outside; he knows it’s bad and that not everyone can stay safe from it, but he’s just worried in his own situation at home.

His parents get to stay indoors with him for home office, which is as good as it is bad.

For some reason it’s not so comforting because it makes Prompto think of how absent they used to me. For some reason, it also IS comforting because unlike his childhood, at least they’re there now.

Prompto tries to make the best out of this and tries bonding with them when they’re not busy.

It actually works <3 They don’t get overly emotional or anything but they get to spend some good time together, watch movies, talk more, etc.

It helps Prom with the food issue that Dad does the cooking this time.

Good as his parents are with him during quarentine, it’s home, like the physical place what keeps gnawing at his emotional health.

Prom is going to try EVERYTHING to keep himself distracted. 

Iggy phones him constantly, which helps a lot. Noct videocalls him everyday, which really keeps him up.

Prom is taking BUNCHES of online courses and classes, bECAUSE THIS BOY LOVES DOING AND LEARNING STUFF

Week 6 of quareantine, Prompto has made his own jacket out of kitchen towels. It’s...actually impressive.

If he got sick, he too would be paranoid.

More than sad, Prompto would be openly scared and nervous.

EXTRA

The chocobros as a Four:

They’re having online video parties and meetings.

The four got a pizza each. They’re video meeting, and pretending it’s the same pizza lol

“YOU ATE THE LAST SLICE HOW DARE YOU, I TOLD YOU I WANTED IT!!! >:’‘(”

The guys are showing their quarentine achievements to each other.

“Look, I’ve let my feet nails long because I don’t need shoes anymore and I shaped them like I’m a dragon haha”

“Oi look, I learned a new trick with my yo-yo”

“Look how GREASY my hair is right now haha. what do you mean if I’m attending the national interview later like this, of course I am”

The chocobros are sending each other online courses that they think the others or one of them will like

They’re having one of those online movie in different computers together. 

Also multiplayer games because they can.

Ignis wins every time. 

The chocobros are playing a 4-members Squad mode in Battle Royale games. Noct and Prom are okay. Ignis is the Pro. Gladio is the bait.

Iris:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Cor: 

Cor is surprisingly calm about this.

Cor is spending his time meditating.

Cor has barely any paperwork, as his work is mostly physical, so he gets a lot of time free with Regis’ politics for a proper literally-no-need-to-go-out politics. Meditation that is.

Cor is phoning Prompto each now and then, too. 

Prompto would answer happily that he’s fine and with no virus. Cor finally once tells him he’s not asking if he’s ok about the virus. Prom needed no more explanation and just said he was ok, if a little sad.

Cor is working out at home.

Cor is getting bored.

Cor is reading, watching series, or meditating, or cooking just for the sake of it.

Cor just has one problem.  He’s a workaholic. You give him no work, this man starts slowly having a meltdown and descent into the abyss of madness. He needs to die of stress, how else do you expect him to live?

The first weeks were fine. After the first few weeks Cor starts getting anxious about needing work to do.

Cor you stupid thing 

Cor is starting to get distracted in meditation because he keeps getting anxious about working in something.

Cor starts phoning Regis.

“Do you have any paperwork for me now?”

This is every two days. 

Regis COULD have given him something. Regis doesn’t. Cor needs to learn to know how to be AT PEACE FOR FUCKING ONCE.

Cor is making paperwork up to work on lol

Cor was diagnosed with the virus. They put the virus in quarentine for its safety. 

[pascalpanic]

Hey sweetie! If you're still doing the Pedro Pascal character ships, may I politely request one? (Please don't hate me for making it so long. I like to talk about myself way too much... 😬)

I know you can tell by my icon, but I'll go into detail anyway. I am an INFJ and a Gemini. I'm 5ft tall, plus sized, and have curly dark brown hair and seafoam blue/green eyes. I struggle with three mental disorders that make normal day-to-day life difficult and it has lowered my self esteem down to the nether realm. I grew up in southeastern Kentucky in the heart of the Appalachian mountains and have a heavy twang to my words especially when pissed off or nervous, but I hate it. I wish I could speak normally, live in a big city, and put the "hillbilly" life behind me for good.

My style is lazy basic bitch. I love makeup, but will chose sleep over doing it most of the time. I love having my nails painted, but am usually too lazy to paint them, and I love to dress nice, bit will often just shove a t-shirt into some jeans and call it day. I love my Starbucks, sunglasses, messy bun, and large oversized sweaters. Don't "@" me.

I have no tattoos, but plan on getting a matching battle cross tattoo with my brother after he completes his basic and only my ears are pierced. I love to learn and I hunger to understand everything around me. In my free time I play videogames, write stories, sing, or play the trumpet. I can also build computers and repair both those and smartphones. I also have three cats who serve as my emotional support animals and are spoiled beyond belief along with a fish tank with two snails and two goldfish.

I would ship you with Maxwell Lord!

As we know, Maxwell is a big proponent of putting your past behind you and looking to the future. He’d absolutely spoil you and take you fully into that big city life you’re looking for! At the same time, he’d appreciate your coziness as he’s a very formal man. Please just cuddle with this man in just your t-shirt and underwear and give him all of the love he deserves! Maxwell loves your different talents and specifically adores listening you to play trumpet. He doesn’t mind the screeching noise when you try to hit a note out of your range; he loves watching you improve and will support you in any way he can. Max is a cat person, and he adores your kitties. He calls them his princes/princesses and even if they’re not naturally affectionate cats, they love Max. I think you’d fit right in in the 1980s, and you’d make a fortune off of being proficient in computers in the era. Your fashion style would fit too; dating Maxwell, you’re always in the public eye, and you’d become a bit of a style icon! Maxwell doesn’t have any tattoos either, as it’s definitely not as big at the time, but he’d love to get a little hidden tattoo to match you, both of you having it somewhere hidden that only can be seen in intimate moments. Max is all about being the best you possible and he’d love to help you make your future in the big city, and he’d most definitely fund any ventures you want to take!

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

1, 4, and 10! (Frankly, I'm interested in all of these, but I'll take these to start!)

Thank you! These are from this ask meme

1. What made you start writing fanfic? 

Hmmm you know, I had read, I think, 3 fanfics ever (i’m lumping the 3 harry potter novel-length Neville POV pdfs a friend sent me in college once into one group tho), before 2015. And always only things friends had linked to me/I wasn’t seeking them out myself. I tried looking some up once to see what the hype was about but never got interested in anything, even when the writing was objectively good (I think some Marvel, some Dr Who, etc that friends posted and which crossed my dash).

Trying to be as brief as possible on the leadup details, after a very low period for all of 2014 and while I was between jobs/living with my parents, I started DA:I just after Christmas and put in 104 hours/beat the game within 8 days, one of which I did not play at all during. So! You can say the Obsession had kicked in as they are wont to do.

I had a job lined up for March onward but nothing to do for the rest of Jan/Feb, so I played the game another two times, joined the good ol Bioware Social Network/forums, followed a bunch of new people on tumblr, and joined an online chat group or two about Inquisition! Fanfic was popular with everyone else, and while at first I wasn’t as interested in it as I was in talking about game meta/lore, after reading a couple I realized I actually enjoyed videogame-based fanfic much more than the kinds I’d bounced off before. I’m pretty sure it’s because in the games you get to make your own character/choices, so you don’t always know what’s actually coming next, and there’s someone “new” you’re reading about even if the other characters are the same. There’s just a lot more room to develop characters and side storylines while not contradicting the main plot, since a lot of what happens in games is implied/off-screen conversation/skipped over time-wise. It was also a good outlet for the mess of emotions DAI left me with (as a solasmancer: :( :( :( ), and it was people I knew who were creating it, so it was a fun way to engage with the online communities that were at the time my only social outlet. 

As someone who has written my own stories since childhood (I’d won NaNoWriMo that year with an original middle grade novel concept), it was pretty natural for me to transition over, about a month after I finished the game. My first couple attempts were very much figuring things out/playing with the genre, but I jumped in pretty fast. I wrote two short/messy one-shots, a few tumblr only drabbles ≤100 words, and then the third fic I ever started is Fallout From the Fade, my on-going longfic that is now the single longest story I’ve ever written and its been uuuhhhhh 5 years whoops. It’s been a long process but I’m the kind of person who jumps around between ideas but if I latch onto something it doesn’t really leave me (even the NaNo novel from 2007… i was 15… please i dont want you in my brain anymore) so even though sometimes life takes me away from stories for a long time I always have them in my head and intend to come back to them :) 

The biggest thing for me though was tumblr prompts/prompt boards. Fanfiction was the first time EVER that I was actually writing for an audience instead of myself (I have entire original novels that no one’s ever read on my harddrive). I very quickly learned that I’m good at writing angst and oh boy it’s a rush to directly hear from people that they Felt Something because of what you wrote. So most of my story stars I get from the kinkmeme or asks because then I know, specifically, that I’m writing something someone else wants to read. It’s also interesting to me in the psychology that way–I will often read through peoples blogs to get an idea of what they’re into theme or headcanon wise, and incorporate those into my works. I am very interested in the reader/work relationship and having that extra element of control over it is something I like to play with. 

Wow, giant answer. Stopping there.

4. Do you think your style has changed over time? How so? 

I think I’ve gotten better at writing for the conventions of the genre. Fanfic is more about emotions than plot than original work, though both can play a role/stories can vary on how much of each they put in. But the more you write about a character the more you explore their backstory, personality, motivations, etc and I think the better you can understand them to write more. Really though, I go into each fic with a different style in mind though. Some are more economical, and I put a lot of work into show-vs-tell. Some I go past purple into ultraviolet with the prose, especially for shorter works. A lot of it is self-indulgent, but I’m pretty mindful about the tone I write in and what I want it to convey when paired with that specific plot.

10. What’s a theme that keeps coming up in your writing?

I have yet to meet someone as into the concept of meta-narrative as I am. I am constantly thinking about the relationship between the reader and what I’m writing, and how that will be affecting their reading experience. I’m big on using  fic to create a sense of tension, leaving people on cliffhangers wanting more, and basically using things like paragraph length/repetition/clues/word choice to either keep the reader engaged or jolt them out of the story for a moment in order to wring as much emotion from them as possible. There’s definitely times I don’t get it right but I think I hit the mark a decent amount. This is one of those things that’s “invisible” to the reader though unless they’re directly looking for it, so, I don’t know that it’s something anyone would think of unless they’ve talked to me about writing–though if you have, you KNOW i go off about meta-narrative within my first three comments.

For more traditional themes, on the physical side: as a career botanist/geologist, I am always very aware of nature and setting. Sometimes maybe too much so. So a lot of my metaphors/allusions/breaks between plot or dialogue involve nature in some way, especially plants, water, and light. I’m being very indulgent in a current WIP and going on about the weather (I HATE that weather is a stereotypical “boring conversation” marker because i LOVE meteorology and its very important!!! esspecially if u spend all day running around outside!! as both I personally and my OCs do) but I try to tone that down normally. 

On the figurative side: I write a lot about mental health while trying to keep it both realistic/non-glamorized but still as big as it really feels; I write about complicated relationships and not being fully aware of your own emotions/reactions (love me a flawed narrator); about things the character has lost like family/identiy/language; and I can’t keep away from stories about self-sacrifice, duty, transcendence, futility, and rage. I have yet to write a piece that can truly be described as fluff, I think.

Aaaand I’ve gone on FAR too much already, so I’ll end it there! Thanks so much for the q’s!

[0tumble-blog]

heat signature: i'm happy, here in this space race

Heat Signature follows a logical progression of ideas from Tom Francis's Gunpoint. "A 2D stealth game about rewiring things and punching people" turned into "a 2D stealth game about rewiring things and punching people, in space." Naturally, there are far many more ways to go about rewiring the proverbial thing and many different methods involving causing harm to people. The progression here seems to follow many commercially-focused indie games in recent years, including a more detailed mechanical foundation for emergent gameplay and randomly generated levels to give a sense of suspense as I fly out to my missions. The ideas are not new, but provide me with another bed of mechanics to fool around with, built by an expert with a very detailed knowledge of how to make this sort of game sing.

Heat Signature's bread and butter involves the following loop:

Choose a mission from a short list.

Read the mission briefing to decide what you need to bring along.

Get in your pod and fly out to the ship in space where the mission takes place.

Kill the people, unlock the doors, do the mission.

Fly home and turn in the mission.

These various meats and potatoes are seasoned with the following spices:

Missions fill up a Liberation Bar. When filled, the game lets one take control of a space station, giving access to challenge missions and new technologies.

Permadeath, with procedurally generated characters that have different starting tools and interconnected stories.

A personal mission for each character to work towards, which is usually where they die trying to rescue my previous character.

A remote control for my pod-ship, and cases in which I need to use it.

The Everything Gun.

Here's my point: There is a huge but somehow-also-knowable amount of stuff in this game. It feels uncharacteristic of space games. Everything takes place in a neat little cloud of space stations that I can always see the extents of just by zooming out a little. Heat Signature actually does quite a lot to make me feel comfortable in between the high anxiety of difficult missions or unexpected events. The art is clean, the music subdued, using dark synth pads to evoke a quiet, reflective space opera. I think Tom Francis was thinking a lot about how to evoke this reflection in the game's off moments. When flying through space, the camera zooms out to show you where you are on the map and where your destination it. Apart from the utility of knowing where I'm going, the zoom also gives me a consistent view of scale. It tells me exactly how small I am in this cloud, as well as how far along I am in the game's metaprogression. A game about expansionism such as Heat Signature should always try to find creative ways to display one's experience diegetically. Heat Signature does this by letting the full zoom show me a map of the spacecloud, with clear lines and nodes telling me the stations I've captured and the stations I've yet to liberate.

I like the way this game presents its character relationships to me. No husbands and wives, girlfriends and boyfriends, just partners. The existence, and prevalence, of they and them pronouns in the character descriptions makes me feel at home. This whole game is comfortable for someone like me, and this extends all the way to its implicit politics. Yes, this is a galaxy of rampant imperialism, unchecked capitalism, and the inequalities therein, but at least I get to be a gay space-murderer. At least it presents me with a world in which these relationships are aggressively normal. I cannot say the same for the real world. In our world we may have carved out communities and safer spaces, but that doesn't make the people actively seeking to destroy our lives any less visible.

Moving on, I feel compelled to talk about the design and structure of missions here. Missions in Heat Signature are about juxtaposing the mental exercise of Tool Decisions and the patience of Waiting for Opportunities. Mission briefings tell me the kinds of guards I will face on the ship I'm infiltrating. Sometimes it tells me they're wearing heavy armor, so I need to make sure I bring along something that can pierce it. Sometimes they have heat-detective fields, so I am required to bring something I can use at a distance. Sometimes these traits combine to give me an even greater headache. If I am trying to kill everyone on the ship these combinations make it that much more of a challenge for me to do so. AI works like this: Guards like to stand in groups of four on the ship, with one leaving every so often to check out some terminal elsewhere. I like to kill this one. When I do that, the next one leaves the group like clockwork. The wall crumbles quickly if I can manage it. If I can't, it's usually because they have heat-sensitive fields and/or armor. I always forget when they have armor... Heat Signature is excellent for giving me room to improve while keeping the my sense of how big that room can get in check.

And this is only speaking to a more violent mode of play. Sometimes in Heat Signature, I'm not allowed to kill anyone. Instead of being like many other games with a nonviolent option that's never enforced, Heat Signature decides to enforce. Why not? If your intention is to get your players to explore different methods of completing missions why the heck wouldn't you build that into your internal structure? As you unlock stations in the area you will gather more mission clauses, requiring you to reapproach your tried-and-tested methods for dealing with missions. Sometimes I'm not allowed to leave anyone who sees me alive. Sometimes I can't kill anyone. Sometimes I'm not supposed to be seen or heard at all. All these missions have this lovely network of things I have to think about, making me feel immersed in this world of infiltration. Get me to think like someone and I'll be them. Flow, baby.

In the end, Heat Signature feels like a game made for me. I feel comfortable in its playspace, probably moreso than a gamer with more specific and consumeristic prejudices would. That's not to say it won't find success in that group. They will probably make up a majority of its playerbase. However, I can't shake the feeling that not many others will decide to engage with this game. It sits in a weird space between popularized indie design pillars and videogame-y impersonality, making it something that will only appeal to the people already here. A niche. In the games I play from this community I don't feel a sense of stability, and I don't see longevity. I see some money being made by small amounts of people that will mostly never surpass what they would be making in a job, working for someone else. You can tell me that the art is more valuable than the money made, but I wouldn't believe you. Can you genuinely look at most games flying the indie banner these days and see artistic intent winning over commercially-required familiarity? If you look only at what you find on steam, change slugs out like a feeder in a cage. Most people here are coming from capitalistic attitudes towards design, anyway. You find The Actual Best Work Being Done In Games Today getting a couple-hundred downloads on itch.io at most, being forgotten just about as quickly as most of the top-selling indie games on steam. Where are we headed with this? Can we honestly say we'll remember most of the games we played here in twenty years? Thirty? I just don't know.

What about Heat Signature? I like it, if only because it staved off the dread for one blissful moment. Thank you, Tom and Co.